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Chuck Lorre wasn’t about to slap a label on Sheldon Cooper just for the sake of it, even if fans swore he was the poster child for autism. Instead, Lorre took a different approach, opting to let Jim Parsons’ brilliant portrayal stand on its own without boxing him into any diagnosis. His reasoning? If they went there, it had to be authentic, and Lorre wasn’t about to take that responsibility lightly.

Writer and producer Chuck Lorre | Image by: Kemption, licensed under Cc By-sa 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Some say it was a missed opportunity, but for Lorre, it was all about staying true to the character without crossing lines he wasn’t prepared to navigate. It’s a decision that sparked debate but ultimately let Sheldon be Sheldon—quirks, genius, and all.

Chuck Lorre Spill the Beans on Sheldon’s Spectrum in The Big Bang Theory Jim Parsons in...

The 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has launched its entire program for the Aug. 15-21 event, where it will screen 37 new feature films and 18 world premieres.

Ten world premieres will compete for the new Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence as the fest showcases talent from filmmakers in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Mexico, Norway, China, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Iran and beyond. Screenings will take place in the heart of Scotland’s picturesque capital at some of the city’s most iconic venues including Cameo Cinema, Summerhall, and 50 George Square.

Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan, was previously confirmed as the Fest’s opening night film, with the world premiere of Carla J. Easton and Blair Young’s documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands set to close. Its Midnight Madness strand will close with the body horror The Substance, starring Demi Moore.

Daisy-May Hudson’s fiction debut Lollipop, a documentary about a man’s relationship with a life-sized AI-animated doll and Nina Conti’s Cannes Great 8 title Sunlight are among 18 world premieres at the new-look Edinburgh International Film Festival.

A total of 37 feature films form the line-up of Eiff’s 77th edition, which is the first under the leadership of Paul Ridd as festival director and Andrew Macdonald as chair. The line-up includes 10 world premieres in the running for the £50,000 Sean Connery prize for feature filmmaking excellence, plus four retrospective screenings, a Midnight Madness strand and five short film programmes.

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CBS’ Super Bowl Lviii and Disney+/ESPN+ animated Toy Story Funday Football were the top scorers with three wins each at the 45th annual Sports Emmy Awards, which were handed out tonight at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan.

Four other programs tied with two statuettes apiece at the ceremony hosted by The Kid Mero: NFL Networks’ perennial trophy hog NFL 360, Apple TV+’s Super League: The War for Football, Golf Channel’s Unredeemable and HBO’s now-wrapped Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

See the full list of winners recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences below.

Longtime NFL studio host James Brown received the Sports Emmys Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as “a significant influence and a consistent presence in sports broadcasting,” Sharp said. He has anchored pro football pregame shows including The NFL Today, NFL on Fox and Inside the NFL and has hosted the Super Bowl a record 12 times.

Band of Brothers was a groundbreaking HBO achievement, showcasing deep, character-driven storytelling in a war setting. The series, based on a true story, follows "Easy" Company's intense journey during WWII, highlighting bravery and sacrifice. Many well-known actors, like Damian Lewis and Michael Fassbender, got their start in Band of Brothers, showcasing exceptional talent.

Band of Brothers was an incredible achievement by HBO; one that might’ve started the prestige TV era, proving that with good actors and scripts, episodic television can give more time and depth to all of its characters than a two-hour movie ever could. It’s one of the best HBO shows of all time, and one as ambitious as tricky, to the point that writer John Orloff admits they were worried if the disparity of points of view could work.

What is Band of Brothers About?

Band of Brothers ActionDrama Release DateSeptember 9, 2001CastDamian Lewis, Donnie Wahlberg,...

New festival unveils speakers for industry programme running June 26-29.

Senior production execs from Warner Bros and Skydance as well as leading producers and location managers are among the speakers at the inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival convention in Malta.

The programme, running from June 26-29, addresses topics such as film financing models, digital technology in film as well as industry work standards and sustainability.

Among the confirmed speakers are Kevin Trehy, EVP of physical production at Warner Brothers UK; Mark Costa, SVP of production at Warner Bros Discovery - HBO/Max Originals; and Olivia Koterska, manager of production at Skydance.

New festival unveils speakers for industry programme running June 26-29.

Senior production execs from Warner Bros, Skydance and See Saw Films as well as leading producers and location managers are among the speakers at the inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival convention in Malta.

The programme, running from June 26-29, addresses topics such as film financing models, digital technology in film as well as industry work standards and sustainability.

Among the confirmed speakers are Kevin Trehy, EVP of physical production at Warner Brothers UK; Mark Costa, SVP of production at Warner Bros Discovery - HBO/Max Originals; Olivia Koterska, manager of production at Skydance; and Emily Leach,...

Projects come from 34 different countries.

Projects from Rodrigo Reyes, Ike Nnaebue and Sean McAllister are among 48 titles that will be pitched to international and UK industry representatives and experts at this year’s Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket.

One of the world’s largest documentary and factual pitching forums, MeetMarket moved to the beginning of the festival and will take place on June 15-16 with all projects in the development or production stage.

The projects have been selected from more than 500 submissions. Rodrigo Reyes, whose doc Sanson And Me was the winner of DocFest’s 2022 international competition, is pitching Mexican-us co-pro Warrior Mothers.

TNT edged ESPN for the most trophies at the 42nd annual Sports Emmy Awards, which were handed out tonight in a livestreamed virtual ceremony. The Worldwide Leader turned the tables on Turner Sports for the most wins by network group, however.

See the list of wins by network and network group here and wins by program below or here.

TNT scored seven statuettes to ESPN’s six, after the latter came into the night with a dominant 51 nominations. FS1 was third with five wins, NFL Network had four and a half-dozen nets tied with three apiece. ESPN won the network group race with nine trophies to Turner’s seven, with Fox Sports Media Group next with five.

Seven programs earned two nods apiece to lead that race: NBA on TNT, the NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon, NFL Network’s NFL 360, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Netflix’s Rising Phoenix,...

Thursday night featured an opportunity to celebrate the people behind the scenes who put people on the screens. The Casting Society of America announced the winners of the 36th Artios Awards, recognizing the best casting efforts in feature films, television, and theatre. Hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, it was the first virtual ceremony effort from the organization, as Hollywood continues to make adjustments in light of the ongoing pandemic.

It was also a big night for TV shows a little longer in the tooth, as many of the awards went to series that were already in competition for the 2020 Emmy Awards, meaning that the winners will have little, if any, insight as to this year’s Emmy race. That said, wins for “Normal People,” “Succession,” and “What We Do in the Shadows” are always as welcome as they are well-deserved.

On the film side, two Best Picture nominees were Artios victors,...

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Minari,” “One Night in Miami,” “Soul” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” were among the feature films honored by the Casting Society of America at the 2021 Artios Awards.

The 36th annual Artios Awards, held by the Casting Society of America in its first-ever worldwide virtual ceremony, honored excellence in casting across feature films, television and theater on Thursday night.

Television winners included “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Euphoria,” “Normal People,” “Queer Eye,” “Succession” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

The Hoyt Bowers Award went to Robi Reed and Tara Rubin, the first time two casting directors were honored for this award.

The European Chapter Artios Awards also made a presentation to Suzanne Smith with the Capelier-Shaw Award for Excellence in Casting.

The Associate Spotlight Award was presented to associate casting directors Michael Rios and Gianna Butler.

“Tonight’s Artios Award ceremony once again celebrated the...

Two films starring Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” were among the film winners at the Casting Society of America’s 36th annual Artios Awards, which were presented on Thursday evening in a virtual ceremony hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown.

“Borat” won in the big-budget comedy category, while “Chicago 7” won for big-budget drama.

In other film categories, the award for casting studio or independent films went to “The 40-Year-Old Version” for comedy and “One Night in Miami” for drama. “Minari” won the award for a low-budget film, while “The Surrogate” won for micro budget. “Soul” won the award for casting an animated film.

Television winners included “The Great,” “Euphoria,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Succession” and “Normal People.”

Awards for theater, which was closed for most of 2020, included the Broadway shows “Slave Play,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” and “A Soldier’s Play.

A Rainy Day In New York Mpi and Signature Entertainment Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Woody Allen Writer: Woody Allen Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Liev Schreiber, Suzanne Smith, Olivia Boreham-Wing, Ben Warheit, Griffin Newman, Selena Gomez, Diego Luna Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/23/20 Opens: October […]

The post A Rainy Day in New York Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Exclusive: UK management firm Insight Management & Production is launching with a roster of rising talents including Emma Corrin, who will star as Lady Diana Spencer in all 10 episodes of Netflix’s The Crown season four, BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Abubakar Salim and Peaky Blinders actor Jordan Bolger.

Founded by agents Maya Hambro, Tom Jeggo and Charlie Wilson, with Tim Bradbeer as an associate, the London-based boutique agency will offer personal management while also working with clients to option and develop new and existing IP. The aim is to develop a literary department as well.

The roster also includes Lily Newmark, nominated for BIFA’s Most Promising Newcomer for her role in Venice Film Festival drama Pin Cushion and co-star of Netflix fantasy series Cursed, and Sam Clemmett, best known for playing Albus Potter in the original West End and Broadway cast of the hit theatre production Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.

Exclusive: New film and TV participants include crew from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Spectre and The Martian.Scroll down for the full list

BAFTA’s networking and career development programme for UK-based film and TV workers BAFTA Crew will this year include key crew from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Spectre and The Martian.

New vfx department crew attending the programme include Carlos Ciudad (Jupiter Ascending), Jason Brown (Terminator Genisys) and David Michael Schneider (Guardians of the Galaxy).

Art department crew include Sarah Ginn (Beauty & the Beast), Dominic Sikking (Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens) and Matt Wynne (The Martian).

Other new names include Riccardo Bacigalupo (first assistant editor Kingsman: The Secret Service), Jo Beart-Albrecht (costume department Suffragette) and Thomas Wade (2nd Unit camera Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens).

The group will be officialy unveiled by BAFTA next week and will have a private networking event on Tuesday August...

Hulu announced a 10-episode order for Jason Reitman’s “Casual” on Thursday. The decision was unveiled two days after the streaming service expanded its partnership with Viacom. Last month, Hulu got into the mini-series business, ordering J.J. Abrams’ adaptation of Stephen King’s “11/22/63.” “We are excited to continue working closely with immensely talented creators to bring compelling and original content to the Hulu audience,” Beatrice Springborn head of originals at Hulu, wrote in a blog post. Reitman’s series, which is a half-hour, single-camera comedy, is set to debut sometime next year. It doesn’t have a casting director attached yet. In the past, Reitman worked with Jessica Kelly and Suzanne Smith on “Young Adult,” Mindy Marin on “Up in the Air” and more recently John Papsidera on this year’s “Men, Women & Children.” Want more L.A. news? Sign up for our Backstage L.A. newsletter!

Late last year, we learned that Chris Columbus. 1492 Pictures and Cj Entertainment had acquired the rights to adapt Anne Rice's book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt for a feature film. Now it looks like the search for Jesus has begun with a worldwide online casting call. Rice's story follows Christ when he was seven years old and just beginning to come to understand his divine nature. The fictional account is told from Jesus' perspective as his family departs Egypt and heads to Nazareth. As we reported last December, Cyrus Nowrasteh will direct the film, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Betsy Nowrasteh. It's expected to start shooting in Italy in March 2013, and it looks like they're ready to cast their Jesus. Via PRWeb, casting directors Suzanne Smith, Elizabeth Barnes, and Corbin Bronson are going through Cast It Talent to host an online casting call for the part.

Award Winning Casting Director Suzanne Smith who has won Emmys for Band Of Brothers & The Pacific and has cast wonderful children in Horrid Henry, Stig Of The Dump, Lost Christmas (nominated for an International Emmy and a Childrens BAFTA 2012) is looking for two boys for leading roles in an Independent Feature Film Christ The Lord based on the novel Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt By Anne Rice

Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637493/

For 1492 Pictures

Producers: Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Mark Radcliffe.

Storyline: Tells the story of Jesus Christ at the age of 7/8 as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth during the turbulent times of the First Century. Our story follows the young Jesus as he starts to understand his real identity.

Shooting Dates: March 6th to end of May 2013 – shooting Rome and Matera, Italy. There will be a 2-...

Chrystie Street Casting is casting three major child roles for the upcoming film "Labor Day," starring Kate Winslet as Adele, a depressed single mother who helps an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) find shelter over a Labor Day weekend. The film will be directed by Golden Globe-winner Jason Reitman ("Young Adult," "Up in the Air"), who adapted the screenplay from Joyce Maynard's novel of the same title. Production is scheduled to begin this summer in Massachusetts.Casting directors Suzanne Smith Crowley and Jessica Kelly are casting a 10- to 14-year-old boy to play the lead role of Adele's son Henry, and are also looking for a young girl and a young boy to play his friends Eleanor and Barry. They are seeking submissions from union and nonunion actors for these roles. For more information about the project and how to submit, view the full casting notice on BackStage.com. (Subscription required.

The first time that writer Diablo Cody teamed up with director Jason Reitman, the result was "Juno." Their latest collaboration, "Young Adult," tackles such topics as regret, reliving the past, and whether or not an individual can change.Charlize Theron plays the unlikable, entitled, and bitchy young-adult novelist and wannabe home-wrecker Mavis, who decides to return to her hometown and win back her old high-school flame after her book series ends. With a failed marriage and a faltering career, Mavis is determined to fix her life, but things don't work out quite the way she expected. While in town, she reunites with former classmate Matt, who is also trying to overcome the past, and the duo forge an unexpected bond. Patton Oswalt plays Matt, who is permanently disabled from a beating in high school.Casting directors Jessica Kelly and Suzanne Smith got the job done in about five weeks. They say Reitman's.

Yesterday, the Canadian Academy released its list of nominees for the 26th Gemini Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy Awards.

Best Animated Program or Series

* Glenn Martin Dds

* Hot Wheels - Battle Force Five

* Jimmy Two Shoes

* Kids vs. Kat

* March of the Dinosaurs

Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series

* Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock

* Degrassi: The Next Generation

* How to be Indie

* That's So Weird

* Vacation with Derek

Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program Series

* Artzooka!

* In Real Life

* Spelling Night in Canada: Canspell 2011

* Survive This

* TVOKids - Mark's Moments

Best Comedy Program or Series

* This Hour Has 22 Minutes

* Call Me Fitz

* Good Dog

* Halifax Comedy Fest 2010

* Living in Your Car

* Rick Mercer Report

Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie

* Fakers

* The Kennedys

* My Babysitter's a Vampire.

* The Pillars of the Earth

* Sleepyhead

Best Dramatic Series

* The Borgias

* Endgame

* Flashpoint

* Skins

* The Tudors...

Casting Director Suzanne Smith is working on a series for ABC called Missing, filming in Prague with Ashley Judd and Sean Bean. The show is about a mother searching for her missing 18 year old son in Europe.

She is looking for two young boys for the series:

Young Michael (age 6)

Must Have Blue Eyes to match with adult actor Michael and ideally looking for an American or Canadian boy or someone who has done an American accent before.

A bright and cheerful boy who travels the world with his CIA parents, innocent to the dangers they put themselves through each day.

Shooting in Prague:

Episode 5 between July 13th - Aug 13th

Episode 8 between Aug 18th - Sept 6th

Episode 9 between Sept 7th - 3rd Oct

Maksim (aged 12)

12 year old Maksim is a Russian boy, obsessed with Western Culture, who speaks English fluently. He has been raised alone by his billionaire...

The following is a list of the top 25 Power Casting Directors in film and television (including Casting Director of the Year, Debra Zane; see page 9). We began with more than 100 candidates. In some cases, collaborations were so closely tied that we considered multiple people as one entity. Several drafts later, all 25 spots were cast.Notably omitted from the list are in-house casting executives at studios and networks, the inclusion of whom would have ballooned our list to 50 or more. But read about them online at www.backstage.com/spotlight. Focusing on independent casting directors leveled the playing field and highlighted people whose puissance is not affected by one scale-tipping affiliation. Now, on to the top 25!Kerry BardenCan you imagine Monster's Ball starring Erykah Badu, or American Psycho starring Leonardo DiCaprio? Kerry Barden can, because he saw them read the parts. "There are so many great actors that sometimes it's a...

Casting Directors: Mary Vernieu and Suzanne Smith Crowley Director: Darren Aronofsky Writer: Robert D. Siegel Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood The Pitch: A retired professional wrestler (Rourke) yearns to get back into the ring to face an old rival.A legend from Broadway: Elia Kazan cast Ed Begley Sr. in the original production of All My Sons not only because he was a fine actor and fellow Group Theatre alumnus but also because he was a recovering alcoholic. Kazan saw Arthur Miller's play as the story of a man who was racked by guilt, and he knew Begley harbored similar demons. Fast-forward six decades to The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky's new film starring Mickey Rourke, about a retired wrestler who re-enters the circuit to face a longtime rival. In addition to speculating about an Oscar nomination, almost every critic who saw the film at the Toronto...

Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Crowley, Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee, and Stéphane Foenkinos Writer-Director: Tom McCarthy Starring: Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass The Pitch: Widower Walter Vale (Jenkins) finds his life changed when two illegal immigrants (Sleiman and Gurira) are found squatting in his New York City apartment.As casting director Kerry Barden describes it, The Visitor was a unique challenge. The easy part, according to Barden — whose credits include the television show Sex and the City and the films Boys Don't Cry, Monster's Ball, and World Trade Center — was attracting Richard Jenkins, who had never carried a feature film before, to play the lead role of Walter Vale, a Connecticut college professor sent to Manhattan to attend a conference and surprised to find that a young foreign couple, victims of a real estate scam, have taken up residence in his New York apartment. Jenkins was best...