News

Exclusive: Comedy Dynamics, the world’s largest independent stand-up comedy production and distribution company, has launched a 24/7 free ad-supported TV channel dedicated to stand-up on Amazon Freevee.

The Stand Up Channel will be carefully curated by the Comedy Dynamics team, and feature new and classic stand-up comedy specials, Amazon original specials, and new acquisitions as they become available. Among the comics you can expect to see highlighted are Jim Gaffigan, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Segura, Jeff Dunham, Eddie Griffin, Iliza Shlesinger, Jimmy O. Yang, Bill Hicks, Maria Bamford, Larry the Cable Guy, Anjelah Johnson, Lavell Crawford, Russell Peters, Kathleen Madigan, Gary Owen, Whitney Cummings and more.

Comedy Dynamics launches its new Fast channel following success with the Comedy Dynamics channel, the company’s first Fast channel, which similarly showcases their vast stand-up comedy library to Amazon customers. All Fast channels available on Freevee can be accessed through the Freevee app, as...

We’re getting more episodes of The Toys That Made Us! An announcement was made during San Diego Coic-Con that the popular Netflix docuseries would be returning for two additional seasons. Tttmu fed the appetites of fans who grew up collecting everything from Barbie and He-Man to Hello Kitty and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Each episode brought nostalgic goodness through origin stories told in such a unique and entertaining way. The winning formula of Brian Volk-Weiss and The Nacelle Company led to offshoots like The Movies That Made Us and other programs including Icons Unearthed. It’s hard to believe it has been almost five years since Season 3 dropped. And ever since Volk-Weiss has been asked if or when the show was coming back. Fast forward to the recent news that he is doubling down with topics tackled including Ghostbusters, Hot Wheels, Fast Food Toys, Pokemon, Polly Pocket, Super Hero Toys,...

Five years after the third season arrived on Netflix, the team behind “The Toys That Made Us” has announced that fourth and fifth seasons of the nostalgic series are coming soon.

Season 4 & 5 episodes were revealed during Comic-Con on Saturday, and they include:

Ghostbusters Hot Wheels Fast Food Toys Pokemon Polly Pocket Super Hero Toys Nerf American Greetings

In “The Toys That Made Us,” the minds behind history’s most iconic toy franchises discuss their billion-dollar creations. You can stream all three available seasons on Netflix.

Topics covered in the first three seasons include Barbie, Star Wars, He-Man, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Transformers, Lego, Hello Kitty, Power Rangers, Tmnt, My Little Pony and pro wrestling.

Watch the announce trailer for “The Toys That Made Us” Seasons 4 & 5 below!

The post “The Toys That Made Us” Will Return With ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Madballs’ & More! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Exclusive: Nacelle, the Burbank-based diversified media company known for Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, Disney’s Behind the Attraction, and the upcoming animated series Biker Mice from Mars (co-produced with Ryan Reynolds) and RoboForce (with Dwayne Johnson), is bringing The Toys That Made Us back for at least two additional seasons, which are currently in production.

From 2017-2019, Nacelle released three seasons on Netflix, aimed at peeling back the curtain on childhood wonders and the design, manufacturing and marketing that resulted in little pieces of plastic morphing into cultural phenomena. All previous episodes of The Toys That Made Us can currently be seen on Netflix. No deal has been announced for the new seasons as of this writing.

The new episodes of The Toys That Made Us are being directed by company founder Brian Volk-Weiss, and Nacelle will officially reveal the toys that will be covered in new...

Exclusive: Brian Volk-Weiss’ Nacelle Company on Wednesday announced Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland, an eight-episode unscripted series that’s set to premiere on The CW app and cwtv.com on May 14th.

Directed by Volk-Weis and Ian Roumain, the series pulls back the curtain on how the legendary frontman of alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins takes on the world. When he isn’t churning out albums and touring the world with his band, Corgan works as a wrestling promoter through his storied National Wrestling Alliance, which he intends to restore to its former glory. As if being a rock star navigating the demanding politics of running both a band (Pumpkinworld) and a group of eccentric wrestlers (Carnyland) isn’t tricky enough, he’s also a father of two — and he’s planning a wedding to his longtime partner, Chloe Mendel. Can he possibly keep all these balls in the air?...

It wasn’t until I started writing this article that I remembered something. A new Hellboy movie, titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man, is coming soon, likely to see release sometime this year.

Ketchup Entertainment acquired the rights last year to Millennium Media’s reboot, which will star Jack Kesy in the title role. But we’ll report more on that project in the coming months.

In the meantime, Deadline has announced today that a documentary on Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, titled Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters, is also coming soon.

Deadline reports that Nacelle (“The Toys That Made Us”) has acquired the doc, with no release date announced at this time. The documentary “tells the story of Mignola — one of the most successful independent comic book creators, who has inspired generations of writers and artists — and how he came to create a world-renowned comic book universe.

“The film includes never-before-seen interviews...

Well, "The Marvels" might have been a box office dud, signaling a historic low point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the franchise will always remain one of the biggest Hollywood success stories of all time. By now, we all know how Kevin Feige and his cohorts took under-appreciated Marvel characters and created a run of obscenely popular blockbusters that dominated the box office for the better part of a decade. But there was a lot more involved than simply whacking Robert Downey Jr. in an Iron Man suit and raking in the dough.

2008's "Iron Man" was, of course, where it all started, with the Jon Favreau-directed film proving a massive hit and changing Hollywood forever. But even getting to the point where they could start producing an Iron Man movie proved to be a journey of its own for Marvel. In 2005 the Wall Street Journal reported that...

Exclusive: Comedy Dynamics is set to produce a new comedy special from Paul Reiser — the first from the veteran performer in more than 30 years, which will tape live at the Newman Center for Performing Arts in Denver, Co on November 17.

Details as to topics he’ll cover in the special haven’t been disclosed. But his latest comes on the heels of Paul Reiser: 3 ½ Blocks from Home and Paul Reiser: Out on a Whim, which were respectively released in 1991 and 1987. “People don’t always believe me when I tell them that getting out and doing standup is the most fun part of all these projects,” Reiser told Deadline. “But it’s always been my first love and I’m so excited to be doing another special!”

Comedy Dynamics Founder Brian Volk-Weiss is directing and will exec produce alongside Cisco Henson, Reiser, and Michael Pelmont. Said Volk-Weiss, “Knowing and working with...

Exclusive: Ryan Reynolds and his company, Maximum Effort, have joined Nacelle’s Biker Mice from Mars animated series, a new iteration of the cult classic series. Nacelle plans to co-produce with Maximum Effort and Fubo.

“Some people know that I am a motorcycle enthusiast, so it was only natural for us to jump on board Biker Mice from Mars,” said Reynolds. “Maximum Effort and Fubo look forward to putting a new spin on this cult classic with our friends at Nacelle.”

The Biker Mice From Mars story: on the planet Mars, there existed a race of anthropomorphic mice who enjoyed motorsports and had a very similar culture and society to that of human beings. Eventually, they were all but wiped out by the Plutarkians, an alien race of obese, foul-smelling, worm-eating, fish-like humanoids who plunder other planets for their natural resources.

Three survivors: Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie, manage to find...

Exclusive: Nacelle, the studio behind Down to Earth with Zac Efron and Grant, Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History, has struck a deal to distribute a feature-length doc filmed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company has taken worldwide rights to Comedy of War: Laughter in Ukraine.

The doc comes from filmmakers Christopher Walters and Krista Liney, who runs producer Maiden, and shows the brutal reality of the conflict through the lens of stand-up comedians touring in war-torn Ukraine. Nacelle plans to take the doc to film festivals before launching worldwide sales.

The documentary follows four rising stars of Ukrainian stand-up comedy, each with a unique perspective on the war currently being waged in their homeland. Performing in converted bomb shelters, they laugh in spite of the war, not at it.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began almost a year ago and has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.

Toys have been a part of marketing for shows and films for a long time. The Masters of the Universe line of action figures came before the animated series, as we learned in the Netflix docuseries "The Toys That Made Us." The first "Star Wars" film toys were part of a mail-away campaign in 1978 before they were ready to be shipped. Toy marketing has also caused controversy in the past. Just think of the #WheresRey campaign when her figure was left out of a "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Monopoly set.

According to an interview /Film's own Rafael Motomayor did with animation writer Henry Gilroy, toys were a big reason for the cancelation of his animated series "G.I. Joe: Renegades." The show ran on The Hub from 2010 through 2011 for a single 26-episode season before being scrapped. 

It's interesting to note that Hasbro created the G.I. Joe toy line in 1964, and though we had comics,...

Thanks to the massive success of the 1987 animated series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," toy companies and television networks were all looking for their own anthropomorphic crimefighting animal franchises in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And when they eventually found them, the results were wild. In the words of Guns N' Roses, "Welcome to the Jungle."

"Battletoads" was probably the most blatant ripoff. "Road Rovers" was another swing and a miss. "Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron" had a pretty awesome show, but the toy line didn't deliver as much as the cartoon. Then came "Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa" and "Street Sharks," which excelled in both areas. But when "Biker Mice From Mars" premiered in 1993, both the show and the toys stood head and shoulders above the rest (but always just below Tmnt). The little kid version of me went nuts for this show, as well as the action...

Exclusive: The Robo Force toy line has inspired an animated show and The Nacelle Company has given it a straight-to-series order.

The studio behind The Toys That Made Us, Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History, 2019’s Mad About You reboot, Icons Unearthed and Behind the Attraction is self-financing its first animated television series based on the 1980s property they acquired back in 2021.

Tom Stern (Spongebob Squarepants) and Gavin Hignight (Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy) have joined to write and produce as showrunners. The pilot episode will be directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, and the first season is set to have six, twenty-two-minute episodes.

“I didn’t think anything would be more surreal than selling thousands of Maxx 89 and Wrecker figures, but making an animated series come to life takes the suction cup-covered cake… and yes, we will be revealing why Wrecker comes with red roses!” said Nacelle Company Founder and CEO,...

One of this summer’s most surprising television events has been Vice TV’s Icons Unearthed: Star Wars. What makes this program — whose latest episode covering the production of Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, airs Aug. 16at 10 p.m. Et — so compelling is how it somehow manages to be a treasure trove of new information about George Lucas’ space saga.

Even before the internet made information about the original and prequel trilogy easy to come by, Star Wars was the most dissected franchise in motion picture (and pop culture) history. With every bit of minutiae relating to the film’s production having been analyzed to death by this point, what, if anything, is there to learn about Star Wars that we haven’t already heard a million times before?

Enter Brian Volk-Weiss.

The mastermind behind The Toys That Made Us, The Movies That Made Us and At a Toy Store Near You,...

A year after announcing his farewell tour, comedian Bill Engvall is ready to reveal how he’ll wrap things up: With one final stand-up comedy special. Comedy Dynamics has partnered with Engvall to produce his final stand-up comedy special, which will take place in Salt Lake City at Eccles Theater on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2022.

“It’s always great to work with a longtime comedy veteran like Bill, because you know the end product is going to be smart, funny, and an entertaining piece for his dedicated fans worldwide,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, founder and CEO of Comedy Dynamics.

Variety exclusively reported last year that Engvall was signing off with the farewell stand-up tour “Here’s Your Sign, It’s Finally Time,” which launched at the end of last summer and continued into this year.

The comedian/actor/author, who’s also a Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum selling recording artist, is...

Vice TV will world premiere the Nacelle Company’s new Icons Unearthed series July 12, with the first installment of a 6-hour deep dive into the Star Wars Universe.

In Icons Unearthed: Star Wars Marcia Lucas, Oscar-winning film editor and ex-wife of George Lucas, sits down for her first-ever on-camera interview and provides unique insight into the rise of LucasFilm — including her 14-year marriage to and eventual divorce from George Lucas — the editing of the original Star Wars trilogy, the origin of the idea that Darth Vader would be Luke’s father and if there were really originally plans for nine movies.

Icons Unearthed: Star Wars also includes exclusive interviews with Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Paul Hirsch, Phil Tippett, Rick Baker, Ken Ralston, John Dykstra, Howard Kazanjian, Julian Glover, Ian McDiarmid, Gus Lopez, Tom Spina and many more. Icons Unearthed: Star Wars is narrated by Michael Pennington, who portrayed Moff...

After announcing its entry into the toy business this past February, the Nacelle Company, the studio behind Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us, The Movies That Made Us, A Toy Store Near You, and Behind The Attraction on Disney+ is revitalizing Robo Force, the 1980’s property with a new television show, books and merchandise starting with the action figures created by the eminent toy designer, David Vonner.

Yes, the Nacelle Company’s first step into the toy world begins with the highly anticipated, reimagined Robo Force action figure line is now available to pre-order on Nacellestore.com

Part of Nacelle’s Very Important Toy Line of 7.5-inch scale figures that come with packaging featuring artwork and a collector-friendly window box, is the first of Nacelle’s action figure line, with fully articulated versions of Maxx Steele and Wrecker. The second wave of Robo Force figures is set for pre-sale...

The Butthole Surfers, one of the bands that influenced some of the biggest rock bands of the 90s including Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, are getting their own deep dive.

A feature documentary about the band, which was lampooned on The Simpsons and Beavis and Butthead and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, is currently in the works from director Tom Stern.

Stern is a writer, director, producer and showrunner, whose credits include Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History.

The Butthole Surfers Movie will tell the story of the Texas-based band that featured members including singer Gibby Haynes, guitarist Paul Leary and drummer King Coffey. The band hs released eight studio albums since they formed in 1981 including Locust Abortion Technician, Hairway to Steven and the Capitol Records-released Electriclarryland, which spawned a surprising hit single with the song Pepper.

One of Netflix’s most popular shows that I would never consider reviewing — because what would possibly be the point? — is The Movies That Made Us. As befits its status as a spin-off from The Toys That Made Us, The Movies That Made Us is fueled by populist nostalgia instead of cinematic rigor, intended to make you happy about things you (and everybody else) already loved rather than force any examination or introspection about the medium.

Occupying the vast middle ground between The Movies That Made Us and an ultra-meticulous or ultra-intellectual cinematic essay like Thom Andersen’s Los Angeles Plays Itself or ...

One of Netflix’s most popular shows that I would never consider reviewing — because what would possibly be the point? — is The Movies That Made Us. As befits its status as a spin-off from The Toys That Made Us, The Movies That Made Us is fueled by populist nostalgia instead of cinematic rigor, intended to make you happy about things you (and everybody else) already loved rather than force any examination or introspection about the medium.

Occupying the vast middle ground between The Movies That Made Us and an ultra-meticulous or ultra-intellectual cinematic essay like Thom Andersen’s Los Angeles Plays Itself or ...

(Welcome to ...And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.)

A spin-off of the hugely successful "The Toys That Made Us," series, "The Movies That Made Us" will be back for a third season. Last week we were able to announce that one of the focuses of the new season would be horror movies, and with Halloween just around the corner, "The Movies That Made Us" will arrive just in time. Here's everything you need to know about "The Movies That Made Us"...

The post The Movies That Made Us Season 3: Release Date, Cast and More appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: The Nacelle Company (The Toys That Made Us) has greenlighted a documentary about Beanie Babies, the plush toys that became a cultural and economic phenomenon during the 1990s.

The film aims to shed light on how these seemingly simple characters, with little to no backstory, captured the hearts of millions.

H. Ty Warner introduced Beanie Babies to the world in 1993, through his company Ty Inc., seeing the line of collectibles grow into a global fad through the mid-to-late ’90s, due to the air of exclusivity around them. The toys, cited by some as the world’s first internet sensation, were perceived by certain collectors as financial investments because they were deliberately made scarce, each new design produced in only a limited quantity.

Ty Inc. converted its wave of success with Beanie Babies into new technological advancements, including the first business-to-consumer website. The company remains in business to this day,...

Exclusive: The Nacelle Company (The Toys That Made Us) has partnered with Paul Frank via owner Futurity Brands to develop and produce a TV show, centered on its characters.

Paul Frank is a beloved SoCal brand founded in Huntington Beach in 1995 by the American cartoonist, artist and fashion designer of the same name. It’s best known for its character Julius the Monkey—depicted in the logo above—along with other creatures it’s introduced from the idyllic community of Planned Pines.

“In the ’90s and early 2000s, it was nearly impossible to go one week without seeing something from Paul Frank,” said The Nacelle Company’s Founder and CEO Brian Volk-Weiss. “We’re excited to work with these wonderful characters, and hope to help display them to an even larger audience than ever before.”

“Nacelle is the perfect partner for the next chapter of the Paul Frank franchise,” added Futurity CEO Stan Wan.

So many toy stores, so many viewers. The Nacelle Company, which brought us Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us and The Toys That Made Us, is making more toy stories. The studio has given the green light to A Toy Store Near You season 4, which will continue its run on Amazon Prime Video.

Directed by Nacelle Company CEO BrianVolk-Weiss, the series attracted an overwhelming surge of viewership through unexpected times. A Toy Store Near You focuses on the toy collector community, a small and tight knit group, which is apparently growing, partially because of the series.

“People are literally writing to us daily, some even telling us how they’ve quit their jobs and opened their own vintage toy stores inspired by our series. It seemed almost criminal not to make more,” Volk-Weiss said in a statement.

The series premiered during the early onset of Covid-19, and the focus...

The Nacelle Company has partnered with North Maple Productions in a deal intended to broaden Nacelle’s content development strategy with a focus on expanding the company’s reach to historically underrepresented audiences.

Nacelle, founded by Brian Volk-Weiss, is the studio known for developing programs such as “The Movies That Made Us,” “The Toys That Made Us” and “Down to Earth With Zac Efron” for Netflix and “Behind The Attraction” for Disney Plus. North Maple Productions, co-founded by Naisha Arnold and Rushie Perera, focuses on platforming storytellers with diverse backgrounds in regards to race, gender and sexuality. Both women of color, Arnold and Perera work with both emerging and established talent to create both scripted and non-scripted material.

Arnold’s previous experience includes more than a decade of talent management. She also produced Polly Draper’s 2018 film “Stella’s Last Weekend.” Perera has also been working in production and development for over a decade,...

Exclusive: Author and actress Jenny Mollen will see her debut novel published by the Nacelle Company, which also has retained the book’s film and television rights.

City of Likes is the first work of fiction for Mollen, who penned a memoir and a book of essays in the 2010s.

The novel centers on Maddie, an unemployed thirtysomething copywriter whose career has taken a back seat to motherhood. When her family moves to New York, she meets the enigmatic and gorgeous Daphne Cole – an Instagram mommy influencer with millions of followers and a soft spot for Maddie. Maddie finds herself with an unlikely new best friend, getting a taste of the access, fame and unlimited chickpea puffs that power Daphne’s life. But soon enough, Maddie begins to suspect this world isn’t as picture perfect as it seems to be. Will she be able to pull herself out of...

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

If you’ve watched any of the many iterations of “Masters of the Universe,” then you’ve probably stopped to think to yourself, at least once: what exactly is Battle Cat? He-Man’s feline companion has the characteristics of a domestic house cat and the stripes and roar of a predatory tiger. But he’s also the size of a horse.

Turns out he was just the last-minute solution to a budgeting issue. When Mattel didn’t have enough money to create a vehicle for He-Man, they repurposed a tiger toy from the Big Jim toy line. The only problem was that what was supposed to be He-Man’s smaller companion came out to be twice his size.

The Nacelle Company is reviving Silverhawks, a sort of space-themed ThunderCats from the mid-eighties.

Silverhawks was a classic animated television show developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and released in 1986. The show consisted of 65 episodes, with a concept that revolved around a team of 29th Century heroes with metal bodies and wings who were tasked to stop an organized crime ring and protect the citizens of the Galaxy of Limbo, which had been overrun by the show’s antagonist, Mon*Star. He ran a mob featuring some interesting characters, including a shapeshifter, a robotic card shark and a man with blades for arms.

The team at Rankin/Bass likely intended to turn the high-concept idea into a space-themed extension of their already-successful ThunderCats, but the show did not enjoy the success of its predecessor.

See the original show’s opening below.

Nacelle produces Disney+’s Behind The Attraction, Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us,...

Exclusive: Producer and publisher The Nacelle Company has acquired the 1980s hit property Robo Force from toy company Toyfinity and said it’s commissioned a script and plans to start producing toys, books and branded merchandise in late 2021 and premiere a TV series in mid-2022.

In 1984, CBS released an animated show based on the toy line and companies from Buena Vista Records (Disney) to Random House, Topps and Hallmark partnered with the network then to support one of the biggest launches in toy business history. Robo Force technology included patented suction cup bases, tubular arms “for crushing action” and a variety of detachable guns and moving parts, Burbank-based Nacelle reminds us, CBS plastered the logo widely from lunchboxes to bedsheets. The Topps collector card company partnered with Robo Force to release a series of trading cards.

The now-defunct Ideal Toy Company created the Robo Force line for CBS in 1984. It...

Everyone wants to be a kid again, and sometimes all it takes is a favorite toy to recapture the magic. Twenty-One Pilots and Megan Thee Stallion both set recent music videos in toy shops. The Nacelle Company explored the power of nostalgia when they gifted us with Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us, Disney+’s Behind the Attraction, and Down To Earth with Zac Efron. Now Nacelle will premiere A Toy Store Near You season 3 on June 23, on Amazon Prime Video.

Season 1 hit during Covid, and the show showcased store owners fighting to stay afloat in the middle of the pandemic. Each of the shops’ unique history was laid out. Season 2 highlighted the vintage toys. A Toy Store Near You season 3 The travels the globe to visit favorite toy stores and meet the small business owners who keep the vintage toy community running.

“Hard work,...

This article is part of our Collector’s Digest content series powered by:

Want to know something about the world of nerdy collectibles? You ask Brian Volk-Weiss, the prolific producer and creator of Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Story Near You, two must-watch documentary series that track the stories of the coolest, rarest, and most valuable toys and collectibles ever made and where to find them.

Volk-Weiss isn’t just a documentarian, though. He’s spent years chasing collector’s items for his own personal collection, and he’s learned a few secrets and heard quite a few stories about the high-stakes world of collectibles along the way.

Star Wars collectibles are of particular interest to Volk-Weiss, who has previously written about the rarest, most expensive Star Wars action figure for Den of Geek. But did you know about the secret Facebook group that deals...

Exclusive: The Nacelle Company is boldly going where no man has gone before. Today it unveiled The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek, an eight-episode limited docuseries that it will produce for History Channel.

Created and directed by Nacelle founder and CEO, Brian Volk-Weiss, The Center Seat is described as the ultimate deep dive into the world of Star Trek. Timed to coincide with the iconic sci-fi franchise’s 55th anniversary this year, it will offer Trekkies a behind-the-scenes look at pivotal moments in the franchise’s history — from its inception at Lucille Ball’s production company Desilu through recent film and television adaptations.

“Star Trek, from before I was 10 years old, gave me the closest thing I have to a code to follow in my life,” Volk-Weiss said. “If it wasn’t for the words ‘I don’t believe in the no-win scenario,’ I’d be very alone, broke,...

Exclusive: The Nacelle Company, the company behind series including Netflix’s Down To Earth with Zac Efron and Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us, is moving into podcasting with the launch of its own studio.

The company has finished construction on the studio in Burbank and will kick off the move with a slate of shows.

Its launch slate includes A Toy Store Near You, Who Do You Think You Are? with Gates McFadden, The Billy Galaxy Podcast, Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries and For The Culture.

“Many companies make podcasts and then try to turn them into TV shows, for some reason we like to do things the hard way, so some of our first shows are based off of TV shows that we already have on the air,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, Founder and CEO of The Nacelle Company.

Launch Slate:

A Toy Store Near You

Actress, vlogger...

If you’re a toy aficionado, you should know the name Brian Volk-Weiss. The creator of Netflix’s popular The Toys That Made Us, Volk-Weiss is perhaps the world’s preeminent toy historian. However, it’s not just the history of toys that interests Volk-Weiss. Rather, he’s concerned with the practice of collecting and, most importantly, supporting the people that deal in these beloved childhood relics. Given the current state of the world,…...

Exclusive: Producer Brian Volk-Weiss’ the Nacelle Company (Down to Earth with Zac Efron; The Toys That Made Us; Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History; Behind The Attraction; Grant) is diving into books with an eponymous new imprint in partnership with Ingram Publishing.

Nacelle will focus on pop history, nostalgia and limited edition reprints, distributed by Ingram to 40,000 locations nationwide including Barnes and Noble and most independent bookstores and through Amazon.

The first set of books are heavy on nostalgic toys, including:

The Toys That Made Us Compendium, by Volk-Weiss: Based on the Netflix docuseries, it reveals all the material left of the cutting room floor during the making of the first three seasons – including a deeper dive into the world of Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Barbie, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Star Trek.

The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures 1977-1985, by Mark Bellomo...

Star Trek star Gates McFadden is no stranger to exploring new planets and galaxies as Dr. Beverly Crusher, but set to host the Nacelle Company’s Who Do You Thin You Are?, McFadden starts a new venture into the podcast realm.

“Pantomime takes too much energy, so I asked if we could use mics,” said Gates McFadden.

The McFadden-fronted podcast will be the first one from the Nacelle Company and serves as a stepping stone for its NacelleCast Studios, the company’s neighboring podcast studio in Burbank. The new podcast studio will serve as the main production space for all NacelleCast productions.

The Nacelle Company has created a number of pop history-focused titles including Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us and the CW’s Discontinued. Branching into the podcast space is a step in the company’s efforts to broaden its reach of pop history-focused content.

In the age before Twitch, Let’s Plays, and exclusive trailer and gameplay drops, video game box art was a crucial part of marketing a game. A new docu-series is set to give the illustrators and artists who made iconic covers their due. The series’ title leaves little to the imagination: Video Game Box Art: The Stories Behind The Cover.

The upcoming documentary project comes from The Nacelle Company, whose recent work in this space includes Netflix’s Down To Earth with Zac Efron, The Movies That Made Us, and The Toys That Made Us, as well as Disney +’s Behind The Attraction and CW’s Discontinued. An official release date has not been set, but it’s expected to premiere in late 2020. The project will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Dish, DirecTV, Spectrum, Google Play and more, according to Nacelle.

Here’s the official...

Presented by:

This story appears in the Den of Geek x eBay special edition trading card magazine. Op-ed by Brian Volk-Weiss, creator of The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us.

The beginning of my adventure with collecting cards was, as with so many things in my life, due to Star Wars. When I was very young I was enthralled by everything about a galaxy far, far away, but we didn’t have a lot of money for the toys.

Even so, at the start of the Star Wars hysteria, there was a real dearth (to use a fancy word) of merchandise. Even if you could afford a Millennium Falcon, you might not be able to find one. But you could find the cards, and they were affordable. I’ll never forget those first ones I had, with the blue background and the little white dots. Then there were the green ones,...

Presented by:

This story appears in the Den of Geek x eBay special edition trading card magazine.

Garbage Pail Kids gave birth to my anti-authority streak. I was in fifth grade waiting for art class to start and showing off my prized Ashcan Andy to enraptured classmates when my teacher walked in the classroom, sighed, confiscated the card and proceeded to rip it up. “This junk has no place in an art room,” she stoically declared as Andy was transformed into sad confetti before my eyes. Years later, I came to realize that this demonstration was all about jealousy – these cards had instantly engaged students in art in a way that her years of teaching never could.

And let me be clear here: Garbage Pail Kids are most definitely art. Often grotesque and always eye-catching, the unfortunate children showcased on these cards fostered an interest in painting, illustration, and design...

The infamous rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure prototype is up for auction…but it will cost you.

With the possible exception of getting to own a living, breathing Baby Yoda, the most exciting Star Wars item for collectors is the rocket-firing Boba Fett. Why? Because the item was never commercially available. As explained in an episode of Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and spoken about with hushed reverence online and at fandom conventions for decades, a figure of the popular bounty hunter who made his debut in the otherwise regrettable Star Wars Holiday Special was announced for sale in 1978 with an incredible action feature — a red rocket that users could fire at other toys, siblings, pets, etc.

Unfortunately, around the same time a four-year-old child died after asphyxiating following an accident involving a missile from one of Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider toys. The potential of being...

As Hollywood struggles to figure out how to return to filmmaking in the wake of the pandemic, television production has been quicker to adapt. Shows like “Saturday Night Live” embraced Zoom, while the Apple TV+ series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” pulled off an entire episode based on being quarantined. But how quick has the adaptation process truly been for certain shows, and why have some been affected less than before? More importantly, what can shows that never stopped producing content teach bigger studios as they navigate unpredictable waters?

The first series to continue shooting after stay-at-home orders were enacted was the Facebook Watch talk show “Red Table Talk.” Hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith and her family, the series benefited from having much of its production rigging already in place. As Ellen Rakieten, executive producer of “Red Table Talk,” told IndieWire, the production stayed on top of current events, making plans...

The Covid-19 epidemic has put a “screeching halt to business,” we hear in the trailer for the Nacelle Company’s A Toy Store Near You. The docuseries takes viewers inside independent toy stores across the country and the world. Filmed and released during the Covid 19 Pandemic, A Toy Store Near You will debut one or two episodes each week. The docuseries will feature more than 40 independent toy stores. It debuts May 29th through Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vimeo, and other content providers.

A Toy Store Near You‘s release pattern favors speed over designated seasons and will release new episodes as they are ready. The series comes from producer Brian Volk-Weiss and the team behind Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us.

Independent toy stores, not only in America but around the world, are changing business practices to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nacelle Company, Comedy Dynamics’ parent, has promoted Cisco Henson to president of production. The company specializes in comedy and pop cultural historical documentaries.

During his time with The Nacelle Company, Henson has served as an Ep for its Netflix series The Movies That Made Us and The Toys That Made Us. He also helmed comedy specials for Ali Wong, Jim Gaffigan, Iliza Shlesinger, Maria Bamford, Pete Davidson and others. Henson leads the production team in running multiple shows, limited series, feature films, and promotional videos that the company has produced for networks such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO, Bet+, A&e, History Channel, Hulu, Discovery, Viacom, and more. Upcoming projects include Behind The Attraction for Disney + and several other unannounced projects for Bet+, Amazon, Netflix, and others. Henson’s list of production credits include work by George Carlin Dave Chappelle, Russell Simmons, Kevin Hart, Anthony Anderson, and Jim Gaffigan. “I have...

The film company that told the stories behind Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us is getting ready to focus on the stores which sell those toys. Nacelle Company’s upcoming docuseries on vintage toy stores will pay it forward by donating proceeds to stores affected by coronavirus shutdowns, according to Deadline. The as-yet-untitled series will premiere on Amazon Prime Video, Vimeo, and YouTube starting in mid-April. It will expand to other platforms in the future. Nacelle says to expect one to two episodes per week.

Toy collectors are a rare breed, and outlets to indulge their playful nostalgia are very specialized. Nacelle’s new half-hour docuseries will showcase vintage toy stores by focusing on the histories of individual stores across America. The as-yet-untitled series will show how the retailers get their extremely specialized inventory.

The featured stores are currently operating under coronavirus restrictions due to the Covid-19 crisis. Some...

Exclusive: The Nacelle Company is adding another notch of nostalgia on its belt with a new docuseries about vintage toy stores across America.

Known best for binge-worthy series such as Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us as well as Disney+’s Behind The Attraction and the forthcoming documentary about iconic TV exec Margaret Loesch, Nacelle will showcase vintage toy stores in a half-hour series to show the history of these stores, what they sell, how they keep their shelves stocked with unique items and how they are navigating such a specific market.

More from DeadlineNacelle Company To Produce Docu About Margaret Loesch, TV Exec Behind 'Batman' And 'X-Men' Animated Series, 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers''The Chi' Actor Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine To Helm Docu On Ugandan Photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo - Film BriefsComedy Dynamics To Produce First-ever Televised Razzie Awards...

Exclusive: There is a certain generation that finds a distinct joy in the X-Men and Batman animated series as well as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Smurfs, Goosebumps, Muppet Babies and Fraggle Rock — and we have TV exec, Margaret Loesch to thank for all of these childhood treasures. That said, Nacelle Company is looking to champion Loesch with a feature-length documentary about her life and career.

The film will be co-directed by Brian Volk-Weiss and Brian Stillman — who, as you can see, have directed some pop culture docus of the nostalgic variety. Cisco Henson will serve as Executive Producer for The Nacelle Company.

More from DeadlineComedy Dynamics To Produce First-ever Televised Razzie AwardsThe Nacelle Company Ups Kieran Dotti...

Matthew Byrd Feb 14, 2020

The Nacelle Company, the studio responsible for the popular Netflix series The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us has announced a partnership with Cavegirl Productions and X-Ray Films which will see them produce a documentary about Magic: The Gathering.

“We’re honored to be producing this documentary, which is sure to introduce the iconic game to a new audience while at the same time preserving its rich history,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, CEO of The Nacelle Company via a press release.

The documentary, titled Igniting the Spark, The Story of Magic: The Gathering, will cover the "game’s history, explosive growth, and enduring popularity." It will be co-directed by Brian Stillman (Plastic Galaxy: The Story of The Star Wars Toys) and Kelley Slagle (Of Dice and Men) who expressed their own enthusiasm regarding this opportunity.

“Magic: The Gathering is a classic success story, a...

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, who was recently seen in the Sundance film, Farewell Amor, is set to write, direct, and produce a feature-length documentary about Ugandan studio photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo. Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh is attached as an executive producer. Soderbergh and Ntare worked together on the Cinemax series, The Knick. Ntare, who is perhaps best known as one of the stars of Showtimes’ The Chi, first encountered Kibaate’s studio in 2002 driving through the Ugandan countryside doing research for his play Biro. Kibaate sadly passed away in 2006 leaving behind six wives, 36 children, and over 4000 medium format negatives and thousands of 35-millimeter prints and negatives. To carry on Kibaate’s legacy, Ntare has returned to Mbirizi and met with over 60 of his former photo subjects thus far, recreating their decades-old images by photographing the former subjects as well. “Kibaate’s artistry as a photographer and the rich history surrounding him,...

Comedy Dynamics Acquires Worldwide Rights to the First Gay Male Stand Up Comedy Anthology Feature Special‘Brash Boys Club’ from Brash Girls Club’s and Comedy InvAsian’s Creator Quentin LeeLos Angeles — Ahead of the show’s world premiere and taping, Comedy Dynamics has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Brash Boys Club, the first gay male stand up comedy anthology feature special staring Owen Alabado, Dash Kwiatkowski and Brad Loekle to be directed and produced by the creator of Comedy InvAsian and Brash Girls Club’s producer Quentin Lee through his shingle Margin Films.Scheduled to be taped on January 30, 2020, Brash Boys Club is a one-night stand of gay comedy, daring to be the first gay male stand up comedy special and addressing the dearth of gay male comics in the stand up world. Come watch Brad Loekle, Owen Alabado and Dash Kwiatkowski record a 90 min. comedy special on Thursday,...

I am always skeptical of shows that are about other shows as it can often seem like the new shows are just cashing in on the success of an older film but the creative team behind the Netflix original show The Movies That Made Us made sure that this was not the case while always giving the viewers a fresh perspective on iconic films that’s they know and love.

The Movies That Made Us looks at some really iconic and well-known films such as Dirty Dancing, Ghostbusters and Die Hard (to name a few) and allows the audience to learn how the movie was made. They start each episode with a quick and vague recap of what happens in the original movie before meeting with and chatting to people who worked in the movies when they were made. The original recap and narration throughout are done by Donald Ian Black...