By Kurt Balingit
For the first time in the channel’s history, Nickelodeon has casted it’s first trans actor. 13 year old Sasha A. Cohen has been casted for the live-action TV series “Danger Force” along with his twin sister Natalie R Cohen. The teens will appear on the June 19 episode.
Sasha’s co-star actor Michael D. Cohen (no relation), had this to say about Sasha
“I want Sasha to see his own power as an actor and as a human. I want him to feel proud of his work and feel real confident in himself in every aspect and to know that he will help change kids’ lives by being the first kid of trans experience on Nickelodeon in live action.”
Michael D. Cohen
In December of 2020 Michael D. Cohen launched the Trans Youth Acting Challenge to shine a spotlight on trans and nonbinary youth aiming to get into the entertainment industry.
The news was first broke from Variety and in an interview with Sasha, he had this to say
“I had never felt comfortable about who I am, and I always thought that I would never play a transgender role. But there are so many kids out there who need to see someone like them — a role model who has the ability to put themselves out there.”
Sasha A. Cohen
The episode of “Danger Force” starring Sasha and Natalie Cohen will air on June 19, 2021.
by Emily Nagle
The media conglomerate formed by the recent deal between AT&T and Discovery will be named Warner Bros. Discovery. This news was announced Tuesday morning by Discovery chief David Zaslav at a town hall broadcasted to the entire WarnerMedia team.
In a statement, Zaslav announced, “Warner Bros. Discovery will aspire to be the most innovative, exciting and fun place to tell stories in the world – that is what the company will be about.” He continued, explaining the meaning of the company’s new name, specifically how it combines the values of Discovery and WarnerMedia. The new moniker “represents the combination of…authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with…integrity, innovation and inspiration.”
Following the announcement of their new name, Warner Bros. Discovery has already unveiled a new logo, featuring gold letters spelling out their name in a cloudy sky along with the tagline, “The stuff that dreams are made of.” It’s been met with criticism, as Twitter users compare it to Microsoft Word’s WordArt, but the company explained that for the most part, this logo is a placeholder.
For the full story, visit Variety – Warner Bros. Discovery Proposed as New Name for Merged Companies
by Emily Nagle
Gavin MacLeod, an actor best known for his performance as “The Love Boat” as Captain Stubing, died on Saturday, May 29 at the age of 90.
With an acting career spanning more than 50 years, MacLeod first started acting on television with The Walter Winchell File in 1957, when he was only 26. His big break, however, didn’t come until two years later, when MacLeod played the role of a yeoman in “Operation Petticoat”. This role was given to him by Blake Edwards, who ended up also casting him in “High Time” and “The Party”.
MacLeod filmed more than 150 episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” as the character of Murray, followed by over 200 episodes of romantic comedy “The Love Boat” as Captain Stubing. The latter ended up being one of his favorite roles, as even after the show’s 10 seasons finished filming, Macleod became an ambassador for Princess Cruises for 35 years, becoming the longest-serving celebrity spokesperson in the company’s history. Having served as an ambassador for the cruise line until his death, MacLeod loved to share with the world that “cruising gives people something to dream about.”
MacLeod is survived by his wife, fellow actress Patti Kendig in addition to four children with his first wife, Joan Rootvik.
by Emily Nagle
[usr 3]
“We Can Be Heroes” released on Netflix on Christmas, and quickly became the number one film on Netflix that weekend. Not even a month after its release, Netflix announced that it would receive a sequel. Nearly six months later, it’s still in the platform’s Top 10, and even though it’s clearly made for kids, I can see why it has such a broad appeal. The adults who watched “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D” as a kid will be thrilled to see Taylor Dooley return as Lavagirl (Taylor Lautner does not reprise his role as Sharkboy, who is instead played by JJ Dashnaw). Personally, I liked “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” a lot as a kid, mainly for how imaginative it was, and for the crazy, colorful CGI that brought to life ice cream mountains, a milk river with floating cookies, and plug hounds. I knew for over a year that a sequel was in the works, and was excited to see what Troublemaker Studios would come out with.
Prior to its release, a lot of people referred to “We Can Be Heroes” as a sequel to “Sharkboy and Lavagirl”, which is true – Sharkboy and Lavagirl, now married with a daughter, are part of the team of superheroes that gets captured by aliens. However, it’s a little different in the sense that it’s not really about Sharkboy and Lavagirl, instead focusing on the children of the superheroes teaming up to save the world from an alien invasion. Therefore, if you haven’t seen the 2005 film, you won’t feel lost at all.
The film starts off with Missy (YaYa Gosselin), daughter of former Heroics leader Marcus (Pedro Pascal), suddenly getting pulled out of school when she is whisked away to Heroics Headquarters and forced to hide in a vault filled with other kids of Heroics. She gets along pretty well with them, but there’s only one problem: Despite being the child of a superhero, Missy doesn’t have powers (unlike the rest of the kids). Because of this, she doubts herself when the Heroics are all captured by aliens threatening to take over the world and the kids decide to band together to save their parents (and the world). Missy doesn’t have elastic limbs, waterbending powers, or the ability to alter time – what use does she have in saving the world?
Inspired by her dad, whose last words before his capture were that “A leader leads by example,” Missy takes charge of the team, and realizes that she doesn’t need powers to be a valuable teammate. By the end of the film, all the kids figure out how to work as a team. They are reunited with their parents, and discover that the whole thing was just an elaborate training exercise to prepare them to become the new generation of Heroics (with Missy as the leader!).
Something I liked about the story was that Missy never got powers. I spent the whole movie thinking she would end up getting them later on, maybe because the beginning where all the superhero kids were in a room together, along with Missy, who doesn’t have powers, gave me serious “Sky High” vibes, where there’s a kid at a superhero high school who takes a little while to get his powers. To my surprise, Missy didn’t get powers at all, instead coming to a realization at the end that it’s not powers that make a good team member. I’m glad director Robert Rodriguez made the decision not to give her powers later, because I feel like the whole thing of the protagonist going through their whole journey and then obtaining their powers is a little cliche.
Visual effects is what Rodriguez’s studio is known for – Troublemaker Digital is the company’s visual effects sector – and they were pretty good in this movie. I went into the movie expecting it to be like the CGI effects in “Sharkboy and Lavagirl”, which were pretty good for the time it came out, but the effects in “We Can Be Heroes” were actually even better. My particular favorite CGI creations in this movie were when Guppy moved water around, particularly at the end when she made liquid metal into a giant shark that she rode to attack the aliens.
My final thoughts? This movie was okay – I’d watch it again. However, because I wasn’t the target audience, that might have affected my viewing experience. Still, I found it to be creative and fun, and reminded me of the Avengers but for a younger audience. I recommend watching it if you grew up with Robert Rodriguez films like “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” or even the “Spy Kids” series, or if you’re a kid (or have your own!).
By Kurt Balingit
Gloria Calderón Kellett has landed a deal with Amazon for her first series. Amazon has given the green light for the romantic-com series “With Love,” which follows Lily and Jorge Diaz, who are on a mission to find love and purpose. The siblings cross paths with seemingly unrelated residents during the holiday. The series will begin production in June with plans to launch it at the end of 2021. Kellet states…
“I started writing as a way to create characters and stories that represented myself and the community I love. After such a heavy year, there was nothing I wanted more than to see a happy, warm, loving family that looked like mine, celebrating trauma-free and falling in love. So, to be bringing that family to life as my first project with Amazon Studios feels especially personal and is incredibly exciting. I cannot wait to share ‘With Love’ this holiday season!”
Gloria Calderón Kellet
With Love is Calderon Kellett’s follow up series to the dramedy One Day at a Time which appeared on Netflix and was co-created by Gloria alongside Mike Royce. Kellett has sinced moved her deal from Sony TV to Amazon in 2019 following a multiple-studio bidding war. Marc Resteghini, the US and Global Head of Development for Amazon Studios had this to say about Gloria and her creativity
“With Love is a special project and Gloria at her best, creating a world with a vibrant family at its center, hysterical circumstances, and so much heart and soul. We’re so proud of what’s to come of this series and can’t wait for the world to fall in love with it,”
Marc Resteghini
by Emily Nagle
As part of their new multiyear deal, Turner Sports has recruited Wayne Gretzky to be a studio analyst for their new National Hockey League coverage, which will begin in October.
The agreement will last seven years, and cover the 2023, 2025, and 2027 Stanley Cups, as well as the regular seasons.
Previously the vice chairman of the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky played in the NHL for 20 years before he coached the Phoenix Coyotes for 4 seasons. Having seen hockey from all different angles, he will apply these different perspectives to his new position to allow WarnerMedia to attract new customers to their channels, including TNT and TBS.
Gretzky announced regarding his upcoming position, “I’ll be honest and forthright, but I’m not, by any means, controversial. And just so we’re very clear,” Gretzky continued, “I’m going to be way more positive than I am negative. That’s just my nature. You can still be critical without going over the edge.”
Also on board for the next season are Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk as the announcers.
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