from Variety

Movie Version of ‘Eat, Brains, Love’ Zombie Novel in Works at Van Toffler’s Gunpowder & Sky

by TODD SPANGLER / NY Digital Editor

Startup studio pacts with Tony DiSanto’s DIGA, James Frey’s Full Fathom Five on project

Gunpowder & Sky, the youth-focused studio launched by ex-Viacom exec Van Toffler in January, has signed an exclusive deal for a film adaptation of “Eat, Brains, Love,” a comedic zombie road-trip novel by Jeff Hart.

G&S, backed by AT&T and Chernin Group’s Otter Media, is working on the project with DIGA, an independent production studio founded by former MTV executive Tony DiSanto, and author James Frey’s Full Fathom Five media and production firm.

The project reunites Toffler and DiSanto, whose productions at MTV included “Jersey Shore,” “Scream,” “Teen Wolf” and “My Super Psycho Sweet 16.” The companies said they are in talks with potential screenwriters for “Eat, Brains, Love.”

“Eat, Brains, Love” — the title is a play on Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling novel “Eat, Pray, Love” — is the story of a pair of high-school sweethearts who contract a mysterious zombie virus and devour the brains of half their senior class. They set off on a cross-country journey to discover a cure, while being pursued by a teen psychic sent by the government’s top-secret Necrotic Control Division to track them down.

WME negotiated the deal on behalf of Full Fathom Five. DiSanto and Full Fathom Five’s Todd Cohen brought the project to G&S.

[ click to read complete article at Variety ]

from Variety

Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Digital-Content Marketplace Event

By Todd Spangler / NY Digital Editor

from Facebook

New York festival also adds special screenings of projects from YouTube Red, Fullscreen, StyleHaul, Disney’s Maker Studios

Tribeca Film Festival is zeroing in on digital creative talent and studios with the launch next month of the inaugural Tribeca Digital Creators Market.

The daylong event, scheduled for April 21 in New York City, is designed to connect digital influencers and talent with industry buyers, producers and agents, as well as showcase premium digital entertainment content.

Creators currently slated to attend the event include YouTube star Ingrid Nilsen (pictured above), the Gregory Brothers, Matt Bellassai, Joe Penna (MysteryGuitarMan), Mikey Murphy and BlackBoxTV creator Tony Valenzuela.

The Tribeca Digital Creators program also will feature screenings, starting April 20, of new projects from YouTube Red, Fine Brothers Entertainment, StyleHaul, Fullscreen, Indigenous Media, New Form Digital and Disney’s Maker Studios. Tribeca developed the concept for the market with CAA.

Tribeca is touting the confab as the first event aimed at bringing together digital creators and traditional media partners, compared with fan-focused events like VidCon.

[ click to continue reading at Variety ]

from Broadway World

CBS Announces Summer Premiere Dates for BRAINDEAD, ZOO & More!

by TV News Desk

CBS today announced its summer schedule with original series across five nights of the week, including the new event series BRAINDEAD and AMERICAN GOTHIC, the sophomore season of ZOO, based on James Patterson’s #1 bestselling novel, and the return of the summer reality hit BIG BROTHER.

The suspenseful new murder mystery AMERICAN GOTHIC premieres Wednesday, June 22 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). The series, from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, is about a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders. As shocking secrets from the past and present are revealed, their mounting SUSPICION and paranoia that one of them is a killer threatens to tear THE FAMILY apart.

About AMERICAN GOTHIC

AMERICAN GOTHIC stars Juliet Rylance, Antony Starr, Virginia Madsen, Justin Chatwin, Megan Ketch, Elliot Knight, Stephanie Leonidas and Gabriel Bateman. Corinne Brinkerhoff, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, James Frey and Todd Cohen are executive producers for CBS Television Studios in association with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television.

[ click to read complete article at Broadway World ]

from Craigslist

AMERICAN GOTHIC – CASTING FEMALE TWINS (4-7yrs) (Toronto)

Looking for female twins aged 4-7 for CBS’ new television series!

Open call this Friday 3pm-6pm – Send pictures for location details and sides.

Thanks!

[ click to view at Craigslist ]

from TVLine

The Knick‘s Juliet Rylance, Defiance‘s Stephanie Leonidas Join CBS’ Summer Mystery Thriller American Gothic

By Michael Ausiello

Getty Images

CBS is rounding out the cast of its 13-episode summer series American Gothic, adding The Knick‘s Juliet Rylance and Defiance‘s Stephanie Leonidas as series regulars, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Gabriel Bateman, best known as Dylan McDermott’s son on Stalker, has also boarded the mystery thriller.

The trio join the previously cast Antony Starr (Banshee), Justin Chatwin (Shameless) and Megan Ketch (Jane the Virgin).

From Good Wife/Jane the Virgin scribe Corinne Brinkerhoff and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, the drama — which bears no connection to the short-lived, Shaun Cassidy-produced American Gothic series that aired on CBS in the mid-’90s — centers on a prominent Boston family that is attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, all amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

[ click to continue reading at TVLine.com ]

from The Hollywood Reporter

Milo Ventimiglia, James Frey to Debut New Series on Verizon’s Go90 (Exclusive)

by Natalie Jarvey

Milo Ventimiglia
Courtesy of Warner Bros. TV

‘Relationship Status’ follows the lives of 30 young people in New York and Los Angeles as they navigate love and friendships.

Verizon’s go90 will become the home of a new scripted series about love and friendships from digital network StyleHaul and executive producers James Frey and Milo Ventimiglia.

Relationship Status will premiere this spring exclusively on the streaming video app. The dramedy will use the lens of social media to follow the interweaving lives of 30 some young people living in New York and Los Angeles. Among those starring are Shawn Ashmore (X Men: Days of Future Past) and Ventimiglia (Heroes).

Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (Mistresses) will direct from a script by Celine Geiger (The Lying Game). Full Fathom Five’s Frey and Todd Cohen and DiVide Pictures’ Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff are producing alongside StyleHaul.

Ventimiglia explains that the series has a fluency in digital and delves into what it’s like to connect with people in the modern age of online dating, mobile phones and social networking. “There was a moment when I first read the script where I honestly felt like Celine had a window into my own life,” he says. “The stories she was telling and the interwoven moments were plucked out of my different relationships and my own digital life.”

The expansive cast also includes Emma Bell (The Walking Dead), Molly Burnett (Days Of Our Lives), Patrick Carlyle (A To Z), Emrhys Cooper (Vanity), Brant Daugherty (Pretty Little Liars), Brett Davern (Awkward), Willa Fitzgerald (Scream), McKinley Freeman (Hit The Floor), Andy Gala (New Girl), Michael Galante (Aquarius), Evan Gamble (The Vampire Diaries), Mimi Gianopulos (Baby Daddy), Nicholas Grava (The Mentalist), Julianna Guill (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce), Kristen Gutoskie (Containment), Christine Ko (BFFs), Zoe Levin (Red Band Society), Alexa Losey (How To Survive High School), Missy Lynn (Vanity), Jes Macallan (Mistresses), Mekenna Melvin (Chuck), Tony Oller (The Purge), Alexis Rhee (Dr. Ken), Adam Rose (Veronica Mars), Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re The Worst), Karrueche Tran (Vanity), YouTube star Sam Tsui, Rita Volk (Faking It) and Ray Wise (Twin Peaks).

Added Frey: “The effect the digital era has had on all of our relationships — how it conveniences them, complicates them, confuses them — is something I’ve wanted to explore through story for some time, taking full advantage of the very tools the story examines to tell the tale.”

[ read complete article at THR ]

from The New York Times

[ click here to buy DOROTHY MUST DIE ]

from Emirates 24|7 News

121 cars dancing in UAE desert: ‘Black Knight Decoded’ for world record

Final chapter of Pepsi Challenge brings UAE into picture

In the newest chapter of the Pepsi Challenge, Pepsi has released Black Knight Decoded, an epic short film by Pepsi in collaboration with Levity Entertainment Group (LEG) and UrtheCast, the ultra High-Definition video system located aboard the International Space Station, incorporating the world’s largest synchronised car dance, shot in the UAE desert from space.

The short film, which fuses scenes shot from space from 11 countries around the world, includes footage of 121 cars dancing in the UAE’s desert before forming a peace sign, which measures over 80 meters in diameter. The activation, which broke the Guinness World Record for the largest synchronized car dance in the world, was overseen by the renowned UK-based graffiti artist, INSA.

Set to an original track, ‘Miracles’, from Usher, the action-packed adventure film has a star-studded cast and a host of creative talent including Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo, SAG Award winner Freida Pinto, Emmy Award winning director Jabbar Raisani, bestselling author James Frey.

Black Knight Decoded tells a powerful story about a father (Oyelowo), his daughter (Layla Crawford) and co-conspirator (Pinto) on their quest to decode radio signals transmitted from the Black Knight satellite where they rely on support from communities around the world to come together to communicate universal messages of hope, unity and peace.

[ click to read complete article at Emirates 24|7 News ]

from TASS

Oyelowo, Pinto, Raisani, Frey And Usher Come Together For New Short Film

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/. Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo, SAG Award winner Freida Pinto, Emmy Award winning director Jabbar Raisani, bestselling author James Frey, Grammy Award winning entertainer Usher and a host of creative talent have come together to create Black Knight Decoded, an action-packed, first-of-its-kind short film produced by Levity Entertainment Group (LEG) and Pepsi. The film features footage shot from space utilizing UrtheCast‘s ultra High-Definition video system located aboard the International Space Station. Black Knight Decoded will be available November 17, 2015 on YouTube.com/Pepsi.

Black Knight Decoded imagines a rich fictional narrative around what some people believe is a very real entity, the Black Knight satellite. The film, which features an original track, “Miracles,” from Usher, tells a powerful story of a father (Oyelowo), his daughter (Layla Crawford) and co-conspirator (Pinto) on their quest to decode radio signals transmitted from the Black Knight satellite. As they struggle to respond before the government shuts down their mission, the group rely on support from communities around the world to come together to communicate universal messages of hope, unity and peace. Those communities across Australia, China, the Czech Republic, India, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam were filmed from cameras on the ground as well as UrtheCast’s cameras aboard the International Space Station.

“Black Knight Decoded is an ambitious project that marries an all-star cast, innovative use of the UrtheCast technology and unprecedented consumer participation,” said Kristin Patrick, senior vice president of Global Brand Development, PepsiCo Global Beverage Group. “The result is an inspiring, one-of-a-kind film that was truly co-created with top notch creative film talent and consumers from around the world.”

View Black Knight Decoded and learn more at YouTube.com/Pepsi and follow along on social media using #BlackKnightDecoded.

[ click to continue reading at TASS.ru ]

from The New Yorker

Big Shaq

by Jonathan Blitzer

ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

There are fifty-two million items in the New York Public Library, if you count the artifacts, like pieces of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s skull and the walking stick that Virginia Woolf carried to the river’s edge. The other day, Thomas Lannon, a curator, was riffling through the collection, trying to find some objects that might interest Shaquille O’Neal, who was coming to the library that night as part of the N.Y.P.L.’s conversation series to talk about his new children’s book, “Little Shaq.”

Lannon was stumped. He’d considered original Superman comics, but they’re stored off-site. “Shaquille O’Neal isn’t really a scholar,” Lannon said, as he wheeled two boxes into a makeshift greenroom. “But he does have a doctorate”—in education, and also a master’s in business. One of his many nicknames is the Big Aristotle.
When Paul Holdengräber, the library’s resident interviewer, started the series, the staff created a tradition: before each event, the curators pull objects geared to the speaker’s interests. George Clinton was shown correspondence between Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg about psychedelics and jazz. Werner Herzog looked at a register of executions at San Quentin, and Patti Smith got to hold the Woolf walking stick.

[ click to continue reading at The New Yorker ]

from VARIETY

Amazon Picks Up ‘Shaun the Sheep’ Special, Greenlights 3 Kids’ Series

Original shows ‘Dino Dana,’ ‘The Kicks’ and ‘Lost in Oz’ coming to Prime in 2016

Todd Spangler / NY Digital Editor

Amazon is tapping more tyke TV: The company has licensed a “Shaun the Sheep” special exclusively for the U.S. and ordered three kids’ series — “Dino Dana,” “The Kicks” and “Lost in Oz.”

Aardman Animations’ half-hour “Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas” will debut for Prime members in the U.S. on Nov. 13. The three other series will bow on Prime next year in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria.

In “The Kicks,” Devin Burke (played by newcomer Sixx Orange) was the star player on her soccer team back home until her family moved to California midway through the school year — and she has to rally her new team to victory. Based on the books by Alex Morgan, Olympic soccer gold medalist and current U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player. “The Kicks” is executive produced by Full Fathom Five’s novelist James Frey and Todd Cohen, as well as Andrew Orenstein (“Malcolm in the Middle”).

“We’re excited to offer our Prime members a beautifully reimagined world in our first original kids 6-to-11 animated series (‘Lost in Oz’) and bring to the screen Alex Morgan’s successful book series with an inspirational role model at the core,” said Tara Sorensen, head of kids programming at Amazon Studios. “Aardman and Sinking Ship are award-winning producers and we’re excited to debut ‘Dino Dana’ and ‘Shaun the Sheep’ on Prime Video.”

[ click to read full article at VARIETY ]

from The Wrap

Steven Spielberg, James Frey Murder Mystery ‘American Gothic’ Gets Series Order From CBS

By Joe Otterson

CBS has given a straight-to-series order for 13 episodes of “American Gothic,” a new one-hour murder mystery from Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Television and author James Frey‘s Full Fathom Five, TheWrap has learned.

The series, which will be broadcast during summer 2016, centers on a prominent Boston family that is attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades, and amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

“American Gothic” is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television. Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank of Amblin Television, James Frey of Full Fathom Five and “The Good Wife’s” Corinne Brinkerhoff, who is writing the script, will serve as executive producers.

[ click to read complete article at The Wrap ]

from The Las Vegas Sun

Claiming Gold

By Robin Leach

The first puzzle in the “Endgame: The Calling” high-stakes apocalyptic book trilogy brought to life by bestselling authors James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton was solved just 24 hours before today’s deadline.

To win “Endgame,” the winner had to solve an interactive puzzle comprised of clues leading to a real-life $500,000 cash prize. Froyal Moreno del Rio solved the puzzle and this afternoon unlocked the gold vault at Caesars Palace for the big payoff.

Book 2, “Sky Key: An Endgame” was published Tuesday. The New York Times bestselling authors were on hand at Caesars to autograph copies of both books. No word yet on the title of Book 3 or its publication date, but more puzzles and cash prizes await.

[ click to continue reading at the Las Vegas Sun ]

from The Hollywood Reporter

Author James Frey Sells Three TV Projects (Exclusive)

As CEO of Full Fathom Five, Frey reupped his UCP deal and sold projects to E!, Syfy and NBC. 

by Lacey Rose
AP Images

James Frey is nothing if not prolific.

His Full Fathom Five, the 5-year-old outfit behind best-sellers I Am Number Four and Endgame: The Calling as well as Frey’s just-published Endgame sequel, Sky Key, has sold three TV projects through its newly extended Universal Cable Productions deal.

There’s KissnTell, originally an e-book from the transmedia company’s digital imprint, which began releasing a book a week last fall. The Marc Halsey-penned comedy, now set up at E!, follows two young women who start an anonymous gossip blog. Before long, they find themselves living double lives — average single girls by day, life-of-the-party scenesters at night

At Syfy, FFF sold Haunted from Noga Landau, about the four adult children of self-proclaimed paranormal experts who are reunited following their parents’ sudden and mysterious deaths. Together under one roof for the first time in years, they must overcome their issues with each other in order to solve the mystery of what happened to their parents and ultimately survive the literal ghosts from their past. Dan Halsted and Nate Miller of Manage-ment are on board as producers.

Finally, NBC bought FFF’s Michael Golamco-written supernatural kung fu drama Middle Kingdom, which is set in San Francisco, the “Middle Kingdom” between Asia and America, East and West, heaven and hell.

[ click to continue reading at THR ]

GET YOUR COPY OF SKY KEY

Courtesy of Harper Collins

GET YOUR COPY OF SKY KEY

from BUSTLE

8 Awesome Books About Aliens To Celebrate The Discovery Of Water On Mars

by CAITLIN WHITE

Our world may have just turned into a science fiction novel because Monday morning NASA announced that it found water on Mars. This major scientific announcement was teased Thursday when NASA sent out a press release stating “Mars Mystery Solved” using information from the NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This isn’t the first time scientists have found water on Mars — ice has been found at the poles — but it is the first time liquid water has been discovered. It marks a turning point in the study of the planet and whether it could be hospitable to life.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in the NASA announcement. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Rather than through the eyes of space explorers or humans on Earth, I Am Number Four is told by an alien. Teenage John Smith and eight other Loric aliens have sought refuge on Earth, hiding from their enemies of the Mogadorian aliens. But one by one, the Loric aliens are being picked off. And now John, the fourth person on the list, seems to be up next. He’s awaiting his emerging magical powers, which he’ll need to use to fight against his enemies to save himself, his alien friends, and the entire human race on Earth.

[ click to read full list at BUSTLE.com ]

from exclaim.ca

Motion City Soundtrack – ‘Panic Stations’ (album stream)

By Sarah Murphy

The Minneapolis-based emo kids in Motion City Soundtrack are all grown up and ready to return with Panic Stations next week. But before the nautically-themed set of songs washes ashore, Exclaim! is giving you an early listen to the album in its entirety.

In addition references to water and the ocean, the new record grapples with “an overarching idea of letting go and not being immobilized by your own thoughts.” Inspiration was also taken from works like James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

[ click to continue reading at exclaim.ca ]

from The New York Times

[ click to view full list at NYT ]

Pick up ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS now for yourself – only $2

from Entertainment Weekly

See the electrifying trailer for The Fate of Ten, the penultimate I Am Number Four book — exclusive

from NBC10

Service Dog Saves Blind Owner’s Life During House Fire

By David Chang

A service dog is being hailed a hero after she jumped into action and saved her blind owner’s life by alerting authorities to a house fire in Philadelphia Thursday morning.

The fire started inside Maria Colon’s home on the 4300 block of Oakmont Street in the city’s Holmesburg section. The woman was asleep at the time, but awoke at the smell of smoke.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, It’s smoke. And I can’t breathe,'” Colon, a Puerto Rico-native who lost her eyesight in 1992, told NBC10’s George Spencer Friday.

She shouted the word “danger” to her service dog, a golden Labrador named Yolanda, prompting the dog to dial 911 on a specialized phone. Yolanda had been trained to step in and call for help when Colon used the emergency word.

“I hear the phone — tke, tke, tke. And she’s growling. And I said, ‘Oh my lord, she called the police,'” Colon recalled.

[ click to continue reading at NBC10 ]

from The Hartford Courant

Local Literary Events Include Author James Frey, Twain Summer Program

Author James Frey, who gained fame and notoriety from his 2003 memoir “A Million Little Pieces,” will give a free talk at Avon Public Library on Thursday, July 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. as part of the library’s Local Author Festival that runs through Aug. 24. (Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press)

Avon Local Author Festival

The Avon Free Public Library‘s free Local Author Festival will run through Aug. 24 at the library, 281 Country Club Road.

Children’s Night is Tuesday, July 28, at 7 p.m., with Donna LeBlanc, author of “Explorations of Commander Josh: Book One — In Space” (SDP Publishing, $14.95); Shannon Mazurick, author of “Gemma: The Search For The Gem” (AuthorHouse, $15); J. C. Phillipps, author of “The Simples Love a Picnic” (HMH Books for Young Readers, $16.99); and Martha Ritter, author of “The Nearly Calamitous Taming of PZ” (Bradley Street Press, $13.99).

Author James Frey, who gained fame and notoriety from his 2003 memoir “A Million Little Pieces,” will give a free talk at the library on Thursday, July 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. Frey also is co-author with Nils Johnson-Shelton of “The Calling” (HarperCollins, $10.99).

Local authors will sell and sign books at the library’s Farmers Market from 4 to 7 p.m. on Mondays. Glenn Maynard, author of “Desert Son” (Black Rose, $15.95) and Nan Arnstein, author of “Rocky Shores” (CreateSpace, $16) will sign on Monday, July 27.

In addition, the library is offering a free Story Walk on its grounds during July and August based on the children’s book “Market Maze,” by Roxie Munro, a story about collecting things to take to a farmers market. Visitors can solve the maze and find objects hidden in pictures.

Information: 860-673-9712, ext. 235.

[ click to read at The Hartford Courant ]

from Casting Pitt

Learn How This Student Brought His Thesis Project To Tribeca

by Katie Maloney

As an undergraduate student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, writer and director Evan Ari Kelman founded production company LIONEYES PICTURES through which he directed and produced commercial content for multinational brands. Kelman was awarded the 2015 Undergraduate Wasserman Directing Award from NYU. Today he’s here to talk to Casting Pitt about how he brought his thesis film, Bandito, to the Tribeca Film Festival.

Casting Pitt: We talk about crowdsourcing a lot at Casting Pitt and we’re always trying to find creative ways to get the most out of a crowdfunding campaign. As someone who successfully funded your film through Kickstarter, what is your number one piece of advice to filmmakers looking to successfully crowdsource?

Evan Ari Kelman: My number one piece of advice is to craft a pitch video that is entertaining, informative and fast-paced. Your video needs to capture and hold people’s attention immediately. If you can entertain them at first impression, they’re going to walk away with the knowledge that you know what you’re doing. Unsuccessful campaigns are boring, they’re dreary. You don’t really get a sense of the filmmaker’s personality. They can be very textbook in a monotone sort of way and I don’t think that gets people excited about a project.

My Kickstarter video features me talking and walking through a multitude of spaces. I made sure there was a sense of movement throughout the entire piece. The combined elements of the fast-paced nature, the quick cuts, humor, and personality, all came together to elicit very positive responses from my backers.

CP: And as far as a budget for a crowdfunding video, can you talk a little about how much you do or don’t have to spend?

EAK: I didn’t spend a dime on my own pitch video, so I know that it’s possible to create one without any money. Of course, I had some basic video equipment, my DSLR, and some props, but the trick is all about taking advantage of what’s already available to you. For example, I shot in the Tisch building at New York University, which has some incredibly cool film facilities. Using those spaces in my pitch, I made it visually clear to an audience that we had the capabilities to create high-quality work. So it’s not about spending money to ‘wow’ an audience, it’s about intelligently using what you already have to communicate your potential. Proving energy, passion, and a commitment to quality doesn’t depend on the amount of dollars spent on a pitch.

[ click to continue reading at Casting Pitt ]

from Dan’s Papers

James Frey Asks Fans to Watch ‘The Kicks’ on Amazon

by Oliver Peterson

Still from Amazon’s The Kicks pilot

from Deadline Hollywood

James Frey Sci-Fi Book Proposal Has Fox 2000 & Publishers In Launch Mode

by Mike Fleming Jr

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a tasty one to end the week. I’m hearing that James Frey has hatched a proposal for an untitled science fiction space franchise: book publishers are hot and bothered, and Fox 2000 is in talks to set it up as a feature with Marisa Paiva overseeing for the studio. The working title is Space Runners, but I don’t have any more specific information than that. This would be produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, who’d be producing with Frey and Mike Larocca. from the Russo’s Getaway Productions banner. They are already plenty busy as directors, with Captain America: Civil War, the next two Avengers installments, and the Ghostbustersspinoff that has Channing Tatum attached.

[ click to continue reading at Deadline.com ]

from The Hollywood Reporter

Amazon Greenlights Six Kids Pilots

Amazon’s new live-action kids pilot, ‘The Kicks,’ is based on a book series by U.S. soccer star Alex Morgan.

Amazon Prime members will be able to watch and vote on the four animated episodes and two live-action episodes during the company’s next kids pilot season this summer.

Amazon Studios has greenlit six kids pilots, which will debut during its next kids pilot season this summer.

The order includes four animated pilots — The Adventures of Knickerbock Teetertop, Lost In Oz, Lily the Unicorn and Bear in Underwear — and two live-action pilots — A History of Radness and The Kicks.

Amazon Prime members will be able to watch and provide feedback on which pilots they want turned into Amazon original series.

“These new pilots will bring sophisticated stories and unique points of view that we hope will resonate well with kids and families,” Amazon Studios’ head of kids programming, Tara Sorensen, said in a statement. “We’re very excited to be working with such passionate creative teams and look forward to sharing these projects with our customers later this year.”

Amazon’s latest pilots feature an accomplished roster of creative talent.

The Kicks, about a star soccer player who switches schools and has to rally her new team, is based on a book series by U.S. women’s soccer player, and Olympic gold medalist, Alex Morgan. The series was adapted for the pilot by David Babcock, whose credits include Brothers & Sisters and Gilmore Girls. The project’s executive producers include novelist James Frey and his company Full Fathom Five. The pilot was directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, whose credits include Ramona & Beezus and Aquamarine.

[ click to continue reading at THR ]

VARIETY – Amazon Studios Greenlights 6 Pilots in Next Wave of Kids’ Programming

from The New York Times

[ click to check out I AM NUMBER FOUR on the NYT List, too! ]

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from St. Louis Public Radio

Crowdfunding and an alternate reality game provide a modern boost for ancient mounds

By MARY DELACH LEONARD

Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen construction in [the Americas]
PHOTO COURTESY CAHOKIA MOUNDS STATE HISTORIC SITE

After word spread that the cash-strapped Cahokia Mounds Museum Society was crowdfunding to raise $7,500 to print brochures for the storied Illinois landmark — the largest prehistoric Indian site north of Mexico — donations poured in from down the road, around the globe and from a mysterious alternate reality.

More than 500 people pledged upward of $8,500 to the campaign on gofundme.com after St. Louis Public Radio’s storyon Feb. 23 made the rounds on social media. Many of the donors are players of Endgame, an alternate reality game created by Google’s Niantic Labs, which adopted the cause because Cahokia Mounds is one of the ancient societies included in the game’s lore.

Lori Belknap, the society’s executive director, said she was surprised and grateful when the Endgame players began driving the contributions upward. They used the hashtag #AncSoc to designate their connection to Ancient Societies, an Endgame website.

Belknap said the campaign touched a nerve.

“It says to me that a lot of people are passionate about our site and are appalled at what’s happening with funding — and how we’re affected by the state’s politics and budget concerns,’’ she said.

Unlikely allies from an alternate reality

The crowdfunding effort by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society was slow-going until the Endgame players jumped in. The gofundme.com page, which was posted nearly a month ago, had about $550 in contributions when St. Louis Public Radio highlighted the need behind the campaign.

Brian Rose, community manager at Niantic Labs, says a player alerted Endgame to the story after it triggered a Google alert on Cahokia Mounds. Endgame issued a “call to action,” offering to match contributions of $5 or more marked with the #AncSoc hashtag, until the goal was reached. The players were also added to a beta list for a mobile game app that will launch soon.

Rose noted that some of the players live in the St. Louis area, but most of the contributors live across the United States, and some are from Europe and Australia.

“It was really great to see how quickly people leapt to action on this,’’ he said. “Players wanted to contribute because that’s sort of what the game is all about — rediscovering and supporting these ancient societies.”

Niantic matched about $2,100 in donations, and author James Frey, who wrote the Endgame trilogy on which the game is based, donated $1,000.

Rose said the challenge fit with the mission statement for Niantic Labs —  “adventures on foot with others” — which seeks to build real-life experiences into its games.

“We were looking at how people were playing video games and it’s somewhat of a solitary hobby. Usually, people were sitting behind TVs or computer monitors,’’ he said. “We wanted to give people some encouragement or incentive — some reward to explore neighborhoods around them and to travel more and to rediscover their neighborhoods and find the hidden gems in their towns.”

[ click to read complete article at St. Louis Public Radio ]

from G/ST

JAMES FREY VISITS PHL FOR A BOOK SIGNING TOUR

WHAT: James Frey book signing tour
WHEN: January 31 and February 1
WHERE: National Bookstore Cebu and Manila
ABOUT: facebook.com/pages/National-Book-Store

[ click to view at G/ST ]

from KCUR Kansas City Public Media

Best Books Of 2014 For Children And Teens

By STEVE KRASKE & ELIZA SPERTUS

Books have the remarkable ability to enthrall, captivate and inspire. When kids are trapped indoors during the cold winter months books  can transport them into new and fascinating worlds.

On this edition of Up to Date, Steve Kraske and three Johnson County librarians review their top picks in children’s literature.

The Best Children’s Books of 2014:

From Kate McNair, young adult librarian at the Johnson County Library: 

• Dorothy Must Die by D.M. Paige (Grades 8-12): Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, has been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop Dorothy who has found a way to come back to Oz, seizing a power that has gone to her head — so now no one is safe!

Up to Date Intern Eliza Spertus reads from “Dorothy Must Die” – CLICK TO LISTEN

[ click for all KCUR’s 2014 Best Book Picks ]