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Glendale News Movies/Television HPC News

‘The Killing’ to Return for a 4th Season on Netflix

'The Killing' will be returning for a 4th season, but this time exclusively on Netflix.
‘The Killing’ will be returning for a 4th season, but this time exclusively on Netflix.

HPC News – The Killing cannot be killed. Hollywood Production Center’s longtime tenant will be continuing their work on their popular television series The Killing from our offices. The hit television show first aired in 2011 on AMC, and continued to air three seasons until the cable network announced the show’s cancellation earlier in 2013. However, Netflix recently announced that they would be picking up the series and continuing the 4th season. This 4th season will air 6 episodes and will be considered the “final season.” The series’ stars Joel Kinnaman (who plays Stephen Holder) and Mireille Enos (who plays Sarah Linden) will be returning to the show to explore a new police case.

The Killing has gained a lot of popularity on Netflix’s streaming service, which helped it grow its audience for three seasons. The show had originally been cancelled after two seasons, but Fox TV Studios later announced that it would be returning after all due to a unique deal with AMC and Netflix. In this deal the streaming service, which had already built up an audience from the first 2 seasons being on its service, would stream the 3rd season 90 days after the finale aired on AMC to offset costs. When AMC announced that they would be pulling the plug for good in 2013, Netflix stepped in to pick up a 4th season to be aired exclusively to Netflix users. The wildly popular streaming service believe this show is perfect for on-demand viewing, so they have given Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder the chance at a proper goodbye.

Production for the 4th season of The Killing  is set to begin in February.

View the full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

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HPC News Hollywood News Movies/Television

HPC Welcomes After Dark Films

After Dark Films has moved into HPC to work on their latest project, 'Re-Kill.'
After Dark Films has moved into HPC to work on their latest project, ‘Re-Kill.’

HPC News – A new tenant has moved into Hollywood Production Center, and that is After Dark Films, a horror, original and action film production company and distributor founded by Courtney Solomon. The company is currently working on a horror film called Re-Kill, which is a found-footage zombie film. The footage is of the brave men and women of R-division who must find and destroy zombies. It is five years after the initial Outbreak and just as they begin to think they are almost clear of the disease, they see signs of a second Outbreak. They begin to worry that humanity may not be able to survive a second round of this epidemic. The movie is said to be shot in a wartime documentary style, and is in the vein of 28 Days Later.

Re-Kill marks Valerie Milev’s directorial debut. The film was written by Michael Hurst, who is also credited for House of the Dead 2 and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud.

After Dark Film’s Courtney Solomon current work includes directing the 2013 film Getaway, starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight. Re-Kill will be a collaborative effort between After Dark Films and Valerie Milev. The project was put on pause during post-production as the teams worked on different projects, but they are expecting a theatrical release early in 2014.

View full story at IMDB.com.

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Glendale News Movies/Television Celebrity News HPC News

Wanda Sykes is Bringing Back ‘Last Comic Standing’

Wanda Sykes of Push It Productions will be executive producing NBC's 'Last Comic Standing,' which is set to air in summer 2014.
Wanda Sykes of Push It Productions will be executive producing NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing,’ which is set to air in summer 2014.

HPC News – Hollywood Production Center is currently housing Push It Productions, which is run by the powerful duo Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz. Following a three-year absence, NBC is bringing back Last Comic Standing, and Push It Productions is on board to produce the show. Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz are attached as executive producers, continuing Hurwitz’s relationship with the series as executive producer from 2006 to 2010.

The eighth season of Last Comic Standing, an unscripted comedic competition series is set to be aired on NBC in the summer of 2014. The show first started in 2003 and ran seven seasons until 2010. The show is being revived, and the network is once again bringing together top comedians from across the country to compete in a series of comedic challenges each week until one comedian is left standing with a development contract with NBC and a television special on Comedy Central.

Push It Productions inked the overall deal with Universal Television’s alternative studio in April. Wanda Syke’s credits include a long stand-up comedy career complete with three Emmy Awards and television work, such as HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fox’s The Wanda Sykes Show, Comedy Central’s Wanda Does It. Hurwitz’s own resume includes work on OWN’s The Rosie Show and NBC’s The Marriage Ref.

View full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

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Movies/Television

Disney to Bring us ‘The Princess Bride’

William Goldman's 'The Princess Bride' will be get a stage production with Disney.
William Goldman’s ‘The Princess Bride’ will be get a stage production with Disney.

Disney Theatrical Productions will be teaming up with William Goldman on a musical based on his 1973 fairy tale and 1987 screenplay, The Princess Bride. The Rob Reiner film is a cult classic, and so many fans were happy to hear the news.  The project was attempted a few years ago, but that fell through, and now Alan Horn of Walt Disney Studios is leading the project. It has not been decided whether The Princess Bride will be made into a musical or a play, but Disney’s successful history with musicals may point it in that direction.

Told by an old man to his grandson, the story is a comic tale of love and adventure as a beautiful woman engaged to an evil prince is kidnapped on the eve of her wedding by her farmboy lover. The Reiner film starred Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin and Chris Sarandon. It was produced by Reiner and Andrew Scheinman and executive produced by Norman Lear.

One of the Disney theatrical division’s most successful musical had been The Lion King, which recently passed the $1 billion box office mark on Broadway. Disney will be opening its newest stage musical, Aladdin, which is set to debut in March.

View full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

 

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Movies/Television HPC News Glendale News

MTV’s ‘Finding Carter’ Found its Home at HPC

U.K.'s 'Skins' star Kathryn Prescott will star in MTV's upcoming drama 'Finding Carter.'
U.K.’s ‘Skins’ star Kathryn Prescott will star in MTV’s upcoming drama ‘Finding Carter.’

HPC News – There are a lot of new faces at the Hollywood Production Center, and that includes New Remote Productions who is working on a new television pilot for MTV called Finding Carter. The new drama centers on a teenage girl, Carter who has the perfect life being the center of attention at school and living with her fun-loving single mother. Things take a dramatic turn when a police bust reveals that Carter’s supposed mother abducted her as a toddler. Carter now has to navigate the struggles of high school and boys while adapting to her recently discovered biological family, which includes a twin sister and police detective mother.

Kathryn Prescott, known as Emily on the U.K.’s Skins will star as Carter. Lost alumna Cynthia Watros recently announced her role as Carter’s biological mother, and Alexis Denisof from Much Ado About Nothing will play her father.

Emily Silver and Terri Minsky’s Finding Carter was picked up alongside cyber thriller, Eye Candy from the horror producer Jason Blum. These two drama pilot orders come just behind two comedy pickups, Faking It and Happyland, while a Scream series adaptation continues to be in the works. MTV is continuing to expand its scripted lineup, with past successes including Awkward and Teen Wolf.

View full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

 

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Hollywood News Movies/Television HPC News

Kevin Williamson of ‘The Following’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’

Kevin Williamson, the creator of 'The Following' and 'The Vampire Diaries' discusses the uprising trend of horror with The Hollywood Reporter.
Kevin Williamson, the creator of ‘The Following’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’ discusses the uprising trend of horror with The Hollywood Reporter.

HPC News – The Hollywood Production Center is home to FOX’s The Following and The CW’s The Vampire Diaries, and Kevin Williamson, the creator of both shows was recently featured in The Hollywood Reporter. Williamson spoke to them about movies that have scared him the most, which he said was The Exorcist when he was a kid, and now as an adult Hostile. In discussing the uprising trend of the horror genre, Williamson talked about the recent popularity of ‘found footage’ as seen in the Paranormal Activity franchise, while the young adult demographic has seen a rise in the theme of a post-apocalyptic world. Kevin Williamson’s horror background also includes working on the Scream franchise, as well I Know What You Did Last Summer.

The Hollywood Reporter crew came to the Hollywood Production Center and filmed the entire piece in our spacious conference room. The day also included a photo shoot focusing on Williamson’s recent success with The Following. The hit serial killer drama revolves around an ex-FBI agent (played by Kevin Bacon) who tries to track down a serial killer who escaped prison and is growing a huge cult following. The Following was reordered for a second season and has put out a teaser for their new season that is expected to premiere on January 20, 2014.

Watch Kevin Williamson’s interview with The Hollywood Reporter here.
Watch The Following season 2 teaser here.

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HPC News Hollywood News Movies/Television

Xbox Entertainment’s First Unscripted Series

Xbox Entertainment's first unscripted television series will be working out of HPC.
Xbox Entertainment’s first unscripted television series will be working out of HPC.

HPC News – HPC has opened its doors to a new tenant Red Card Productions as they work on an unscripted series with Xbox Entertainment Studios, Every Street United. Each episode of Every Street United will be shot in a different country and will focus on one undiscovered local street soccer player. In a finale episode, they will feature each of the top players as they play a soccer match against each other at the ultimate soccer destination, the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.

Xbox’s original programming comes as the Xbox One console was unveiled in May and they announced their Halo-based drama series was to be produced by Steven Speilberg. Just as Halo will be based off of the wildly popular video game, Every Street United finds its base off of the popularity of sporting video games. Documentary filmmaker Jonathan Hock (ESPN’s 30 For 30) is attached to direct a portion of the series, which will be executive produced by Mike Tollin and Jon Weinbach.

The reality show is expected to be shot in countries such as Spain, Holland, France Argentina, Brazil, Ghana and South Korea. The show will also be featuring a global interactive component when it eventually airs on Xbox.

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Movies/Television

You Can Now Watch TV on Twitter

Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo is in talks with NBCU and Comcast for the new "See It" feature.
Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo is in talks with NBCU and Comcast for the new “See It” feature.

NBCUniversal announced last month that they have partnered with Twitter to bring television to the booming social media platform. Expected to begin this month, Comcast engineers created a new feature that will be available to millions of Xfinity customers called “See It.” Twitter users will be able to access TV shows, movies, and sports directly from a tweet, which will give them the option to “See It.” In addition, customers can set their DVR or even buy theater tickets through Fandango. The technology will cover the various NBCU networks including NBC, CNBC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen and E!.

This partnership comes amid Twitter’s move towards being the social media platform for television. Twitter compliments the live viewing experience, which has lured Comcast into drawing up a deal. Comcast wants “See It” to be an instant online remote control, which they hope will get the audience even more engaged with what they are watching.

This partnership also brings to light a new forum for advertising. They are hoping that NBCU’s advertising clients will see the benefit of “See It” and lead them to expand their TV and digital sponsorships to Twitter. Comcast and Twitter are already in talks with distribution partners and television networks to use this “See It” feature to promote their content.

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Movies/Television Celebrity News HPC News Hollywood News Glendale News

‘How to Make Love Like an Englishman’ Continues Filming

Jessica Alba and Ben McKenzie were filming for 'How to Make Love Like an Englishman' this weekend in Malibu.
Jessica Alba and Ben McKenzie were filming for ‘How to Make Love Like an Englishman’ this weekend in Malibu.

HPC News – HPC welcomes the team for How to Make Love Like an Englishman, an upcoming film starring Pierce Brosnan, Jessica Alba, Salma Hayek and Ben McKenzie. The movie is about a Cambridge University professor who finds a woman who is his ideal match, forcing him to reevaluate his life of hedonistic excess, which comes after he impregnates her grad student stepsister. The romantic comedy was written by Matthew Newman and will be directed by Tom Vaughan. Brosnan will star as the professor, Hayek as his love interest and Jessica Alba as the stepsister.

Production for How to Make Love Like an Englishman began earlier last month and Jessica Alba and Ben McKenzie were spotted this weekend in Malibu filming for the movie. The film takes place in Los Angeles, so the crew decided to keep filming local as they wrap up filming in early November. The project is a co-production between Palmstar Media Capital, Southpaw Entertainment, Irish Dreamtime and Envision.

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HPC News Glendale News Movies/Television Celebrity News

The Horror Continues with ‘Incarnate’

Aaron Eckhart is attached to star as the exorcist in Jason Blum's latest horror film, 'Incarnate.'
Aaron Eckhart is attached to star as the exorcist in Jason Blum’s latest horror film, ‘Incarnate.’

HPC News – HPC is happy to once again welcome a fantastic upcoming film to its offices. Blumhouse Productions is preparing for the next big horror film, Incarnate. Incarnate will revolve around an unconventional exorcist who can tap into the subconscious of the possessed until he meets his match, a 9-year old boy possessed by a demon from his past. Aaron Eckhart is attached to star as the exorcist and Catalina Sandino Moreno was recently added to the project to star alongside him.

The film comes on the heels of Blumhouse’s Jason Blum’s latest successful horror project, Insidious: Chapter 2. Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse Productions, has a long resume that includes Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Sinister among others. The company is known for its low-budget, high earning horror genre films that have received huge acclaim in the past couple of years. Jason Blum will act as producer and Brad Peyton will take the role of director on the script written by Ronnie Christensen. Production is set to start this month.