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Veteran comedic actor Martin Mull, who tallied dozens of TV roles over the years, including memorable turns on Roseanne and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, has died at the age of 80.

Mull’s daughter Maggie announced the news on Instagram: “I am heartbroken to share that my father passed away at home on June 27th, after a valiant fight against a long illness. He was known for excelling at every creative discipline imaginable and also for doing Red Roof Inn commercials. He would find that joke funny. He was never not funny. My dad will be deeply missed by his wife and daughter,...

Exclusive: Rotten Science has rounded out the cast for its first feature, Operation Taco Gary’s, enlisting Dustin Milligan (Schitt’s Creek), Brenda Song (Dollface), Tony Cavalero (The Righteous Gemstones), Jason Biggs (American Pie), Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery) and Arturo Castro (The Menu) for roles opposite the previously announced Simon Rex.

Written and directed by Michael Kvamme, the film tells the story of Danny (Rex), an off-the-grid conspiracy theorist takes his estranged brother, Luke (Milligan), on a road trip with a secret agenda. Details as to the characters to be played by our other new cast members haven’t been disclosed.

Matthew Vaughan, Rotten Science and Milligan will produce, with Jimmy Miller and Matt Riley exec producing for Mosaic, along with Brian David Cange. Range Select, a division of Range Media Partners, is repping the film on the sales side.

Said writer-director Kvamme, “We’re so lucky to have Dustin...

Another important moment in the awards season has come our way today. Yes, the Academy has released their lists of what’s eligible in a few of the Oscar categories. In short, we now know what’s up for Academy Award nominations in the Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best International Feature categories. Until we get to a shortlist, everything is up for grabs, but now we know what’s at least in the running, and that’s good… Here now are the lists: Animated Feature Film “Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus” “Bombay Rose” “Calamity” “The Croods: A New Age” “Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train” “Dreambuilders” “Lane” “On-Gaku: Our Sound” “Onward” “Over the Moon” “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” “Ride Your Wave” “Scoob!” “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” “Soul” “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” “Terra Willy” “Trolls World Tour...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday released its official entries for 2021 Oscars in the categories of Documentary Feature, Animated Feature and International Films. The takeaway: As expected, the eligible Documentary Feature lineup shatters the record for the most ever.

A total of 238 features are eligible for consideration in the Doc Feature category, breaking the previous record of 170 set in 2017. Last year, by contrast, 159 feature documentaries qualified. The Academy relaxed eligibility rules in light of Covid-19, so that any film that could make a claim of an intended theatrical release was deemed eligible. Earning awards from film festivals was an alternative way to qualify.

For the International Feature race, Lesotho, Sudan and Suriname are first-time entrants among the 93 eligible titles, the same total as last year. Earlier this year, the Academy’s Board of Governors boosted the number of films eligible for the shortlist from 10 to 15. Under the new rules,...

The Oscars Best Documentary Feature race, which set a new record for entries in December when it passed the previous record of 170, has now left all previous years in the dust with 240 eligible films.

An additional 25 documentary features were placed in the members-only online screening room devoted to the category on Saturday, in what the Academy told voters would be “the final batch” of this year’s entries. It was the last of seven groups of documentaries that qualified and were placed into the screening room: 25 in July, 12 in August, 16 in September, 33 in October, 36 in November, a huge group of 93 in December and now 25 in January.

Academy rules put in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic made it easier than usual for documentaries to qualify for the Oscars this year, which opened the door for a field that obliterated the previous record, which was set in 2017. Films could qualify simply...

The Academy has added 93 more films to the members-only screening room devoted to entries in the Best Documentary Feature category, bringing the total number of eligible contenders to a record-shattering 215.

The previous record for entries was 170 in 2017. And this year’s crop of nonfiction films is expected to pass that number by an even bigger margin — at least 50 — once a final, smaller group of films is added to the screening room in January.

New eligibility rules that were passed in the wake of the Covid-19 theater closings made it easier for documentaries to qualify this year by allowing them to do so by playing at film festivals, even virtual ones, and by easing requirements for theatrical runs. In an email to members detailing the new additions, the Academy said, “The Documentary Branch Executive Committee felt it was important to be inclusive and supportive of documentary filmmakers in this unprecedented and challenging year.

A version of this story about Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard first appeared in the Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine.

Ron Howard had already spent about 35 years making scripted narrative films by the time he moved into documentaries in 2013 with “Made in America,” the first of three music-related docs that he would direct before turning to the aftermath of a deadly California wildfire in this year’s “Rebuilding Paradise.” His daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, meanwhile, worked as an actress for almost 15 years before recently turning to directing with episodes of “The Mandalorian” and with her “feature debut,” the documentary “Dads.”

With “Rebuilding Paradise” and “Dads” both in the running for this year’s awards, we got the two of them “together” — him in Connecticut, her in New York City — for some doc talk.

What is the appeal of the documentary form for both of you?

Bryce Dallas Howard For me,...

Director Ron Howard has made four documentaries in the last seven years, but he’s a relative newcomer to the nonfiction format. By the time he made his first doc, he had directed 21 narrative features and had been acting, increasingly intermittently, for more than 50 years.

His first three docs were all focused on music: 2013’s “Made in America,” about Jay-Z’s music festival of the same name; 2016’s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” about the Beatles’ days as a touring band; and 2019’s “Pavarotti,” about the operatic tenor. But his latest one, “Rebuilding Paradise,” isn’t showbizzy at all. Instead, it chronicles the Northern California town of Paradise as it tries to rebuild after the devastating 2018 California wildfires that destroyed most of the town.

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and had its TV debut on the National Geographic Channel in November, follows a...

If you were to look at the members-only screening room where films in contention for the Academy Award for Best Picture stream for voters, you might think that documentaries are going to do very well in the Oscars top category this year.

As of Dec. 7, there were 104 films in the Academy Screening Room for the Best Picture category, 26 of which were documentaries. That’s a full 25% of the field, which seems to suggest that nonfiction filmmakers and the companies that release them are optimistic that Oscar voters will recognize docs when they vote this year. After all, it costs $12,500 to put a film in that screening room — and all 26 docs that paid the cost to be there are also in the separate screening room available to the Academy’s Documentary Branch. Spots in that screening room are free for any film that qualifies in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Common sense,...

If the recent controversies over Johnny Depp’s legal trouble and departure from the Fantastic Beasts and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises weren’t enough, the Animaniacs reboot has also managed to upset fans with an inadvertent reference to the case through a background joke. As can perhaps be expected, Depp supporters have roundly criticized the sight gag on Twitter, and have even called for a boycott of Animaniacs‘ parent studio Warner Bros. What are the reasons, then, behind the fuss?

Well, the first episode of the new series on Hulu features the actor in a throwaway joke whereby a poster shows him promoting Johnny 2: Telling Lies. Although the animation was actually created back in 2018, it seems to be in poor taste that the producers left this in the finished product, considering the amount of tensions caused by the Depp-Heard story in recent weeks. Indeed, given WB’s apparent...

The saga of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has taken many twists and turns over the last couple of years, but only in 2020 could a throwaway joke featuring an animated likeness of the former Pirates of the Caribbean star in an episode of the Animaniacs revival on Hulu cause an online firestorm that’s both completely unexpected and yet totally unsurprising at the same time.

Since being dropped from Fantastic Beasts 3 after coming out on the losing end of his libel trial against a British tabloid that ran a headline calling him a wife beater, fans have rallied behind Depp. They’ve launched petitions in an attempt to have him reinstated as Jack Sparrow and Grindelwald despite both franchises moving forward on new installments without him, while the campaign to have Heard fired from Aquaman 2 sailed past a million signatures as supporters also plan to boycott the Dceu’s superhero sequel.

The Academy dropped another 33 feature films into the online screening room for members of its Documentary Branch on Oct. 30, giving the Oscars doc race its biggest influx of new films to date. The branch now has 86 films to consider, with two or three more batches of films (and potentially more than 50 additional contenders) likely to be added to the field by early January.

Coming the same week that the Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced its nominees and the International Documentary Association’s Ida Documentary Awards revealed the 30-film shortlist from which it will make its final choices, the Academy move kicked the Oscar doc race into another gear in a year that promises to be highly competitive.

Among the docs that were made available to voters this week were Bryce Dallas Howard’s film about fatherhood, “Dads,” which means she’ll be competing against her father, Ron Howard, who is...

Apple TV Plus has scored worldwide distribution rights to “The Velvet Underground,” a new documentary from Oscar-nominated director Todd Haynes.

Haynes tackles the hugely influential 1960s avant-garde group, at one time managed by Andy Warhol and considered the “house band” of his iconic workspace The Factory.

Haynes’ film aims to prove how the group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions: timely yet timeless; literary yet realistic; rooted in high art and street culture. The film will feature a trove of never-before-seen performances, studio recordings, Warhol movies, and other experimental art that underscores what founding member John Cale called the band’s creative ethos: “how to be elegant and how to be brutal.”

The group, which counted Lou Reed among its ranks, was largely considered a commercial flop during its run, but has proven hugely formative in the music landscape in the decades that followed.

Filmmakers include Haynes...

“Patria,” the signature series of HBO España, has struck a chord at Spain’s San Sebastian Festival.

“’Patria’ is the most important series of the year, and also a marvel, which will move everyone and give us a lot to talk about,” tweeted Javier Zurro of El Español. Cineuropa hails it an “extraordinary HBO series.”

The eight-parter was screened in its entirety on Friday evening with a 90-minute interval. Near all the audience returned for the second half, though it finished at 1.30 a.m.

The robust reception for “Patria” at San Sebastian, which is located in the Basque Country, was no given when one considers the series’ subject.

Depicting the visceral impact of the Basque Country’s armed conflict on normal people on both sides – as well as many somewhere in between – the series’ main storyline turns on Bitorri and Miren, two women who were once the closest of friends.

The Tom Hanks WWII thriller “Greyhound” was meant to open theatrically through Sony, but it wound up with a big opening weekend with its premiere on Apple TV+ on July 10.

The film starring and written by Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider broke the viewership record for an Apple TV+ original film in its opening weekend, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap, and 30% of the viewers of “Greyhound” were, in fact, new to the service.

No specific viewership numbers were disclosed, and it’s unclear what titles it beat out for the opening weekend record. This year Apple TV+ has so far debuted “The Banker” and the documentaries “Beastie Boys Story” and “Dads.”

Also Read: 'Greyhound' Director Explains Why Tom Hanks' WWII Movie Constantly Repeats Military Commands

In “Greyhound,” Hanks stars as a longtime Navy veteran who, as a first-time captain, is tasked with protecting a convoy of...

Will Ted Lasso beat the odds?

Apple TV+ has dropped the first trailer for new original comedy series from Jason Sudeikis and Bill Lawrence, that will premiere globally on Apple TV+, alongside a slate of acclaimed and award-winning original series and films, on Friday, August 14.

Sudeikis is on board as the titular characer, a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer.

It's a true fish out of water scenario, and the trailer zeroes in on how he reacts in his new environment.

In addition to starring, Sudeikis serves as executive producer, alongside Lawrence (Scrubs) via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Content.

Doozer’s Jeff Ingold also serves as an executive producer with Liza Katzer as co-executive producer.

The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt,...

Days of Our Lives is the last of the daytime soaps reportedly set to resume production, having hit pause earlier this year as part of an industry-wide shutdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

According to our sister site Deadline, the cast was informed on Thursday that the series is on track to restart production on Tuesday, Sept. 1. (TVLine has reached out to NBC for comment.)

More from TVLine'General Hospital' Planning to Resume Production on New Episodes in July'Young & Restless': CBS Soap's Return to Production (Slightly) DelayedRatings: Council of Dads Steady With Series Finale, Reruns Top Night

CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful...

Did you know on the set of “The Mandalorian” they referred to The Child (or Baby Yoda as fans have christened) as “Baby?” That was one of the biggest revelations to at least this writer when Bryce Dallas Howard joined the latest episode of the Four Quadrant podcast. Howard was a guest not only to discuss her experiences directing an episode of both the first and upcoming second season of Disney Plus’ monster hit but her feature documentary debut, “Dads.”

Read More: Jon Favreau says “The Mandalorian” season 2 is still on track for October

Acquired by Apple TV+ after debuting at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, “Dads” premiered on the streaming service appropriately on Father’s Day.

Continue reading Bryce Dallas Howard On ‘Dads’ & Returning For ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 [Podcast] at The Playlist.

With the first half of 2020 nearly in the books, the Hollywood Critics Association (including Daily Dead Managing Editor Heather Wixson), has announced the nominees for their 3rd Annual Midseason Awards, and the horror and sci-fi genres and their innovative creators are once again well-represented, with The Invisible Man, Shirley, The Vast of Night, What We Do in the Shadows, and Westworld among the nominations.

You can check out the full list of nominees below (including two separate performances by Elisabeth Moss), and to learn more about the Hollywood Critics Association, visit their official website.

Press Release: –The Hollywood Critics Association has revealed its full list of nominees for the 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards.

Every June, the members of the Hca vote on the best in film, television, and streaming for the first half of the year. “We weren’t 100% certain that we were going to do the...

LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Usain Bolt are among the variety of star athletes who will discuss the pivotal moments of their careers in Apple’s upcoming “Greatness Code.”

The Cupertino, California tech company unveiled the trailer for its upcoming sports documentary on June 29. Though the show’s new trailer doesn’t delve too deeply into what those untold stories will be, the promise of never-before-revealed experiences from some of the world’s most beloved athletes should be an easy sell to Apple TV+ subscribers. The series’ complete first season will premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 10.

Per Apple, the upcoming short form unscripted series will spotlight the untold stories from some of the world’s greatest athletes and Olympic gold medalists. Season 1 will contain seven episodes, with each focusing on a pivotal moment from a specific athlete’s careers. The subjects that will be featured in Season 1 of...

Apple TV+ has released the first official trailer for Little Voice, a new original series from J.J. Abrams and the team behind the Broadway musical Waitress, Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson.

A half-hour coming-of-age drama series set in New York, Little Voice follows Bess King (Brittany O’Grady), a young musician struggling to pay rent and to take care of her brother. The series features original music by Bareilles in her very first television credit. Nelson, who wrote the book for the Broadway adaptation of Waitress, serves as showrunner and wrote and directed the first episode.

Bryce Dallas Howard made her feature directorial debut, “Dads,” a personal project, since she enlisted her family’s participation in the documentary after some initial protest from her father, Ron Howard.

“I just will never get over the fact that I needed an expecting father in this movie and my brother [Reed] and his wife ended up getting pregnant. That allowed me to interview my dad in a way that was, I think, way more comfortable for him than it would have been if it was just like, ‘I love you Dad, tell me about yourself,’” Howard tells Variety. “He was able to contextualize the experience of being a father because his son was about to become a dad.”

Howard was also able to include footage of her late grandfather, Rance, who died in 2017. “That was an interview that I had done years prior, and he was an incredible father and just kind of overall patriarch.

Bryce Dallas Howard chose for her directorial debut film to make a movie about dads. But at first, her own father, Ron Howard, didn’t want to include their own family story.

That changed halfway through the filming of her documentary “Dads,” however, when her brother discovered that he and his wife would be expecting their first child.

“I also pitched maybe that I could integrate some of my own family story, and my dad was like, ‘No. No. You’re not allowed to,” Howard told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven. “The whole time, I kept being like, we need to profile a dad who is an expecting dad, who hasn’t had a kid yet. We need to capture that before and after. And as filming was progressing, we just kept not finding him. And when I learned that, I was like, hmm, we’re going to be in this movie.

In filming her new documentary, Dads, Bryce Dallas Howard spoke to a lot of fathers — including some very famous ones — about what it’s like to be a father in today’s world. She says she discovered the role’s been changing and evolving, and what she found was a lot of men who have been [...]

The post After ‘Dads,’ Bryce Dallas Howard Sees The Role Of Fathers Changing appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Exclusive: Imagine Entertainment Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have made a substantial investment and take an ownership stake in Oscar-winning documentary director Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. The intention is to help Jigsaw’s elevation into a flourishing mini-studio, and further the ambitions of the Imagine Documentaries banner led by Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein for a stepped up output of docus for multiple platforms.

Imagine steps up after one of Jigsaw’s co-owners, Kew Media Group, fell into receivership and had become, as Gibney explained it, “a ball and chain around our ankle. I had been talking to Ron and Brian over a number of years about the possibility of joining forces in some way, and the timing suddenly seemed perfect,” Gibney told Deadline. “They had always seemed enthusiastic about what we did, and wanting to invest in that and see if there were ways to enhance our reach,...

Father’s Day is next week, and Apple TV+ will be shining a light on six different fathers around the world with a new documentary called Dads, marking the feature directorial debut of Bryce Dallas Howard. The first trailer for the film has arrived, and in addition to the stories of various fathers around the world, […]

The post ‘Dads’ Trailer: Bryce Dallas Howard’s Documentary Focuses on Fatherhood with the Help of Famous Dads appeared first on /Film.

This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings.

With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Darren Criss' Royalties Premiere, Very Cavallari Ends and MoreBillions, Black Monday to Air Split Seasons Due to Pandemic ShutdownBillions Trailer: See Julianna...

Famous fathers share their adventures in parenting in the new trailer for Apple TV’s upcoming documentary Dads, premiering on the streaming service on Father’s Day weekend.

Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien, actors Will Smith, Neil Patrick Harris and Patton Oswalt and filmmakers Judd Apatow and Ron Howard — father of Dads director and actress Bryce Dallas Howard — each provide their own stories of fatherhood in the film.

“Dads is a heartfelt and humorous documentary that celebrates the joys and challenges of parenting in today’s world,...

"Your only as happy as your family." Apple TV has unveiled the first trailer for a feature documentary titled Dads, which originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. It also marks the feature directorial debut of actress Bryce Dallas Howard; she has made a few shorts but this is her first real film. Director Bryce Dallas Howard teams up with her father, Ron Howard, to explore contemporary fatherhood through anecdotes and wisdom from famous funnymen such as Will Smith, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris, and more. Described as "a joyful exploration of modern fatherhood, this doc gathers the testimonies of dads around the world, from famous comedians to everyday parents. Their unfiltered stories speak to the beauty, struggles, and ridiculous hilarity of being a dad today." This looks so delightful and heartwarming! Jump in. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Bryce Dallas Howard's doc Dads, from Apple...

Playtone Production from Sony Pictures/Stage Six Films will debut in more than 100 countries.

Apple TV+ has set a July 10 exclusive release date for the Tom Hanks Second World War Greyhound.

The film, which the platform acquired from Sony amid theatre closures during the pandemic lockdown, will debut in more than 100 countries.

Sony pulled the film from the theatrical release calendar in late March after it was scheduled to open on June 12 this year.

Hanks wrote Greyhound and plays a Us Navy captain who must shepherd a convoy stalked by Nazi U-boats.

The drama is inspired by an episode during...

Apple has set a July 10 release date for Greyhound, the World War II drama that stars Tom Hanks, who wrote the script from C.S. Foreste’s novel The Good Shepherd. The film will make its global premiere exclusively on streaming service Apple TV+ in more than 100 countries.

Greyhound was slated to be released theatrically by Sony Pictures, but Deadline revealed on May 19 that the uncertainty over the Covid-19 theater closures prompted a worldwide rights deal in what became Apple’s biggest investment in a feature film, at around $70 million. The pic is produced by Playtone Production, FilmNation Entertainment and Sony Pictures/Stage Six Films.

Hanks stars as a longtime Navy veteran who, as a first-time captain, is tasked with protecting a convoy of 37 ships carrying thousands of soldiers and much-needed supplies across the treacherous waters of the Atlantic during WWII. For five days with no air cover, the captain...

Tom Hanks’ WWII-set “Greyhound” will make its debut on Apple TV+ on July 10, Apple announced on Thursday.

In May, the WWII drama and action film moved from Sony Pictures to Apple TV+. Sony originally planned to release the film theatrically on June 12 before pulling it from the release calendar altogether.

Directed by Aaron Schneider from a screenplay by Hanks, “Greyhound” is inspired by events during the Battle of the Atlantic, which took place in the earliest months of America’s alliance with England and the Free Forces.

Also Read: Tom Hanks WWII Movie 'Greyhound' Moves From Sony to Apple TV+

Hanks’ script is adapted from C.S. Forester’s 1955 novel “The Good Shepherd,” Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan and Elisabeth Shue also co-star in the film along with Hanks. Gary Goetzman produced the film.

“Greyhound” is a Playtone Production from Sony Pictures/Stage Six Films.

Also Read: 'Greyhound'...

It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In this case, the tree is Ron Howard, the apple is his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, and the fall? Well, there’s an apple there, too, because the younger Howard’s full-length directorial debut — the documentary Dads — is landing on Apple TV+. It’s a contemporary [...]

The post For Her New Documentary ‘Dads,’ Bryce Dallas Howard Got Started Without Hers appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

From the moment Marvel and Disney veteran Jon Favreau pitched the bones of a “Star Wars” show to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy at her Kennedy/Marshall office back in 2017, everyone got behind “The Mandalorian,” the first live-action TV series in the “Star Wars” universe. But it took a team of creative collaborators versed in both technology and storytelling to successfully deliver the show, which took off like a rocket at the November 2019 launch of Disney+.

Creator Favreau seemed to have a mindmeld with his Lucasfilm partner Dave Filoni (a “Star Wars” savant who had previously hired Favreau to voice a character on his animated series “The Clone Wars”). The two executed a list of smart choices on the road to “The Mandalorian.” As Kennedy can attest, it’s not easy to strike the fancy of the “Star Wars” fanbase, who can make or break any project set in the “Star Wars” universe.

From the moment Marvel and Disney veteran Jon Favreau pitched the bones of a “Star Wars” show to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy at her Kennedy/Marshall office back in 2017, everyone got behind “The Mandalorian,” the first live-action TV series in the “Star Wars” universe. But it took a team of creative collaborators versed in both technology and storytelling to successfully deliver the show, which took off like a rocket at the November 2019 launch of Disney+.

Creator Favreau seemed to have a mindmeld with his Lucasfilm partner Dave Filoni (a “Star Wars” savant who had previously hired Favreau to voice a character on his animated series “The Clone Wars”). The two executed a list of smart choices on the road to “The Mandalorian.” As Kennedy can attest, it’s not easy to strike the fancy of the “Star Wars” fanbase, who can make or break any project set in the “Star Wars” universe.

The American Film Institute has revealed its full slate of films being presented online for the AFI Docs 2020 Film Festival, which will take place digitally this year. The lineup features 59 films from 11 countries and 12 virtual world premieres, with 61 percent of the films directed by women, 25 percent by Poc directors, and 14 percent by LGBTQ directors. The festival runs June 17–21, with films available to view on Docs.AFI.com. See the full lineup below.

“Now more than ever, it is important to expand our perspectives and listen to voices that may differ from our own, and this year’s festival includes a diverse range of insights and experiences for audiences to share in,” said Michael Lumpkin, AFI Festivals director. “These films explore political and social issues in the U.S. and across the globe, introducing us to the next generation of leaders and shedding new light on figures of the past.”

The...

Laurel Canyon, the two-part docuseries Alison Elwood directed for Epix, opens as the Los Angeles folk music scene went electric and The Byrds found a place to nest. Rock and roller Bobby Darrin put a backbeat to folk tunes in the early ‘60s, but his then-guitarist Jim “Roger” McGuinn transformed the genre into folk rock by electrifying Bob Dylan songs with an electric 12-string Rickenbacker when he formed the Byrds. The band, which also included future David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman, was known for a short while as “The American Beatles.” The Byrds put out one of the first psychedelic rock songs, and went on to create country rock.

They were also one of the first groups to move into the woody enclave above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, starting with their then-19-year-old bass player. They would soon be joined by The Monkees, The Mamas & The Papas,...

Imagine Entertainment is furloughing less than 20 members of its staff and laying off some employees in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

The company, founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, joins other film and TV companies who have had to come to terms with the impact of the virus. Blumhouse Productions was hit with layoffs and pay cuts in April, while MGM also faced the same fate later that month.

Many major Hollywood studios and production companies, including Disney, have been hit with layoffs due to the pandemic.

Also Read: Blumhouse Productions Faces Layoffs, Senior Leadership Hit With Pay Cuts

Imagine Entertainment has a few projects slated for release in the upcoming months. In the fall, the company will premiere “Hillbilly Elegy,” an adaptation of J.D. Vance’s bestseller. Howard directed.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s documentary, “Dads,” was produced by Imagine,...

Imagine Entertainment has furloughed less than 20 people and laid off a handful of employees, Variety has learned.

The cuts come as the film and television production company behind “Empire” and “A Beautiful Mind” is grappling with the impact of coronavirus on the entertainment landscape. Covid-19 has shut down production and closed most movie theaters, which, in turn, has put pressure on companies’ revenue streams and profits. The hope is that many of the furloughed employees will be able to return to work once production resumes.

Imagine is hardly alone in reducing staff. Across Hollywood, in businesses large and small, staff cuts and furloughs have become a painful fact of life. Giants such as Disney and ViacomCBS, as well as more boutique players such as Anonymous Content and MGM, have all resorted to pink slipping as the public health crisis has worsened.

A spokesperson for Imagine declined to comment. The furloughs...

On Wednesday, Apple announced Greatness Code, a short form documentary series co-produced by LeBron James’ Uninterrupted and Tom Brady’s Religion of Sports and directed by Emmy-winner Gotham Chopra (Facebook Watch’s Tom vs. Time). Greatness Code will debut globally July 10, exclusively on Apple TV+.

Apple describes Greatness Code as “a landmark, short form unscripted series that spotlights untold stories from the greatest athletes in the world.” The first season consists of seven mini-episodes, each examining a pivotal moment that defined a legendary athlete’s career.

Those athletes include three-time NBA Champion LeBron James, six-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady, Olympic Gold Medalist and co-captain of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Alex Morgan, world’s fastest man and eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, five-time Olympic Gold medalist and 15-time World Champion swimmer Katie Ledecky and 11-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater.

Greatness Code is a co-production between powerhouse...

Exclusive: In a real shocker, the WWII battleship drama Greyhound that Tom Hanks wrote and stars in has abruptly changed course and will berth at Apple. Originally on the Sony Pictures theatrical calendar for Father’s Day weekend, the film instead will become the biggest feature film commitment made by Apple to premiere on Apple TV+. It is the latest in a growing indication that Apple is making its move, and becoming as aggressive as any streamer or studio in auctions for the acquisition of films and TV projects.

Hanks will test the waters in putting out one of his star-vehicle films direct to a streamer for the first time with a premiere in more than 100 countries, and it is all because of the coronavirus pandemic and how it has wrecked studio theatrical release calendars this year. Hanks already had been indelibly linked to the pandemic when, on the set...

Exclusive: In a highly competitive situation, Apple has given a straight-to-series order for an untitled four-part documentary series from acclaimed filmmakers Brian Lazarte and James Lee Hernandez, directors of the docuseries McMillion$. Multiple bidders were in the mix and it was a seven-figure deal, sources said.

The new untitled docuseries tells the unbelievable true story of one of the largest scams in government history. Lazarte & Hernandez will produce through their Fun Meter Productions banner. Their 6-part docuseries McMillion$ bowed on HBO in February and told the true story of how $24 million was stolen from the McDonald’s Monopoly game of the 1990s, the mystery mastermind who orchestrated the scam, and the FBI agents who pursued the criminal. Lazarte’s previous credits include Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D, HBO’s Emmy-winning miniseries Sonic Highways and Showtime’s Time of Death. Hernandez’s credits include the Emmy Award-winning Feeln docuseries Wonder Women...

Sarah Wayne Callies has done enough fighting for a lifetime — or at least, for a television-acting career. The star of NBC’s upcoming tearjerker “Council of Dads” told reporters on Saturday why she was so dead-set on finding the opposite of another “Walking Dead.”

“I hit a little bit of an ‘I will fight no more, forever” moment,” Callies said of her recent gigs, which also include “Prison Break” and “Colony,” while sitting on a panel to promote “Council of Dads” at the Television Critics Association press tour. “I felt like I had put a lot of violence into the world.”

Of course, she’s not the only one. By this point, we have no shortage of violence on TV — a fact reflected by Callies’ own viewing habits, as well as her auditioning choices.

Also Read: 'This Is Us': Sterling K Brown on Why Randall and Kevin Are Estranged in...

One Tree Hill vet Hilarie Burton has landed a recurring role on NBC’s midseason drama Council of Dads, TVLine has learned.

In the series, loving father of five Scott Perry calls upon his most trusted friends to step in as back-up dads after an unexpected health scare. Burton will play Margot, a funny, intelligent foodie and restaurant group executive manager who becomes a love interest for Clive Standen’s character Anthony, who is Scott’s oldest pal.

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Hulu's Dollface proves that the most important relationships in a woman's life are the ones between her and her best girlfriends. The new series, which hit the streaming service on Nov. 15, centers around a young woman named Jules (Kat Dennings) who recently broke up with her longtime boyfriend. But the true love story isn't between Jules and some dude - it's about how she's able to repair her relationship with her former best friends in the process.

Starring as one of those former best friends, Madison, is actress Brenda Song. The 31-year-old first rose to fame with her roles on the Disney Channel in the early 2000s, but is probably best-known for her role as the bubbly heiress London Tipton on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Most recently, Song has appeared on Scandal, New Girl, Dads, as well as in movies like The Social Network and the Netflix thriller Secret Obsession.

It came as no surprise last week that Disney CEO Bob Iger had resigned from the Apple board since the two companies are poised to launch competing subscription streaming services in less than two months.

But Iger’s departure (announced the same day that Apple revealed its Nov. 1 launch date and $5-a-month price point) underscores how radically the media landscape has transformed just over the past year, with every major entertainment enterprise, including Comcast and WarnerMedia, unveiling plans to take on streaming giant Netflix in a race for consumer eyeballs and dollars.

When Iger joined the Apple board in 2011, Netflix was only one year into expanding from a mail-order DVD rental service to a streaming business. Consider how much has happened since Netflix served up “House of Cards” as a 13-episode series on Feb. 1, 2013, and went on to become the most ubiquitous supplier of streaming content on the planet.

Then,...

After an explosive last ten years or so that kicked off with Hunger and Inglourious Basterds, Michael Fassbender has left the spotlight recently. Call it a Snowman-induced break, but since that unfortunate bomb, he’s only been seen in the contractually-obligated Dark Phoenix. While he’s currently filming Kung Fury 2, the actor has now found his next leading role.

Deadline reports he’s set for Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, an adaptation of Mike Brett and Steve Jamison’s 2014 documentary, which explored the underdog story of the national football team of American Samoa. In 2001, they lost 31–0 to Australia, but would (spoilers?) go on to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Fassbender will take the role of the team’s Dutch coach Thomas Rongen. Only recently announced, filming will begin this fall before Waititi returns to the McU with Thor: Love and Thunder.

Meanwhile, the director won the top...

Director Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit” took home the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2019 Audience Award on Sunday, with Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” claiming the runner-up prizes.

The Tiff People’s Choice Award has, in recent years, presaged an eventual Best Picture Academy Award nominee — and, in some cases, a winner. Last year’s prize went to Best Picture winner “Green Book,” and previous winners include “La La Land,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Room,” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Critics were not in love with “Jojo Rabbit,” as the film currently sits with a score of 52 on Metacritic. This is an arthouse movie, not a destined-for-the-mainstream global phenomenon, which is anomaly in Tiff Grolsch People’s Choice Award history.

“We saw firsthand how Toronto International Film Festival audiences responded to ‘Jojo Rabbit.’ We’re incredibly proud of this film,...

Box office is down. Streaming services aren’t yet willing to take center stage. What does a mid-range festival acquisition have to do to get a little attention around here?

As the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival nears its midpoint, the success stories so far lie in the small buys of foreign-language films and titles designed for limited releases. Kino Lorber bought Italian historical drama “Martin Eden” and “Beanpole,” the sophomore feature from Russian director Kantemir Balagov, while Greenwich Entertainment bought the rights for French director Quentin Dupieux’s “Deerskin.”

And on the festival’s first day, IFC and Magnolia Pictures respectively announced acquisitions of Australian folk epic “True History of the Kelly Gang” and the documentary “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.”

For films with broader theatrical ambitions, the action has been more limited. Fox Searchlight acquired North American rights to Armando Iannuci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield...

Box office is down. Streaming services aren’t yet willing to take center stage. What does a mid-range festival acquisition have to do to get a little attention around here?

As the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival nears its midpoint, the success stories so far lie in the small buys of foreign-language films and titles designed for limited releases. Kino Lorber bought Italian historical drama “Martin Eden” and “Beanpole,” the sophomore feature from Russian director Kantemir Balagov, while Greenwich Entertainment bought the rights for French director Quentin Dupieux’s “Deerskin.”

And on the festival’s first day, IFC and Magnolia Pictures respectively announced acquisitions of Australian folk epic “True History of the Kelly Gang” and the documentary “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.”

For films with broader theatrical ambitions, the action has been more limited. Fox Searchlight acquired North American rights to Armando Iannuci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield...