A new musical written by Anna Deavere Smith and featuring music from the Ella Fitzgerald songbook is currently in development. Ella: An American Miracle will receive an Aug. 25-Sept. 21 work session, with Tony-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and Charity Angél Dawson portraying the iconic singer at different points in her life.
The work session will conclude with a private industry presentation. A production timeline was not disclosed.
“Composers wanted Ella Fitzgerald to sing their songs because listening to her, they knew how their songs were supposed to be sung,” said Smith in a statement. “A jazz singer, a scat singer, she also famously both sang and defined the American song book. To say she had humble beginnings is a profound understatement. She sang America through some of its most discordant times. She was America’s love song. She was an American miracle.”
Bridgewater, a Tony winner for 1975’s The Wiz, will...
The work session will conclude with a private industry presentation. A production timeline was not disclosed.
“Composers wanted Ella Fitzgerald to sing their songs because listening to her, they knew how their songs were supposed to be sung,” said Smith in a statement. “A jazz singer, a scat singer, she also famously both sang and defined the American song book. To say she had humble beginnings is a profound understatement. She sang America through some of its most discordant times. She was America’s love song. She was an American miracle.”
Bridgewater, a Tony winner for 1975’s The Wiz, will...
- 8/25/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The made-for-tv movie was a programming staple for the broadcast networks in the 1970s and 1980s. While it fell out of favor in the 1990s and was even dropped as an Emmy Awards category for three years beginning in 2011, it has been on an upswing as of late. This year, 28 telefilms are in contention for the five nominations that will be revealed on July 28; last year only 21 TV movies were submitted.
All 22,000 plus voting members of the TV academy have until July 13 to cast their 2020 Emmy Awards nominations ballots for their favorite TV movies. In the past, voters were limited in the number of telefilms that they could put forth. In 2017 that cap (which was usually 10 per category) was lifted. And, as opposed to the Oscars, voters for the Emmys do not rank their choices and nominees are determined by a simple tally.
See 2020 Emmy nominations ballot: 767 programs vie for...
All 22,000 plus voting members of the TV academy have until July 13 to cast their 2020 Emmy Awards nominations ballots for their favorite TV movies. In the past, voters were limited in the number of telefilms that they could put forth. In 2017 that cap (which was usually 10 per category) was lifted. And, as opposed to the Oscars, voters for the Emmys do not rank their choices and nominees are determined by a simple tally.
See 2020 Emmy nominations ballot: 767 programs vie for...
- 7/9/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
In a Gold Derby exclusive, we have learned the category placements of the key Emmy Awards contenders for A&e, History and Lifetime. For this season, the network group has such scripted series as “Project Blue Book” and “Vikings.” TV Movie stars include Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller as part of their 2020 campaign.
Below, their list of submissions for all scripted and unscripted programs. More names might be added by the networks on the final Emmy ballot. Also note that performers not included on this list may well be submitted by their personal reps.
Scripted —
Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story (Lifetime)
Movie/Limited Actress – Alyson Hannigan
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies Of Gospel (Lifetime)
TV Movie
Movie/Limited Actress – Aunjanue Ellis
Movie/Limited Supporting Actress – Christina Bell, Angela Birchett, Shelea Frazier, Raven Goodwin, Kierra Sheard
The College Admissions Scandal (Lifetime)
Movie/Limited Actress – Penelope Ann Miller
I...
Below, their list of submissions for all scripted and unscripted programs. More names might be added by the networks on the final Emmy ballot. Also note that performers not included on this list may well be submitted by their personal reps.
Scripted —
Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story (Lifetime)
Movie/Limited Actress – Alyson Hannigan
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies Of Gospel (Lifetime)
TV Movie
Movie/Limited Actress – Aunjanue Ellis
Movie/Limited Supporting Actress – Christina Bell, Angela Birchett, Shelea Frazier, Raven Goodwin, Kierra Sheard
The College Admissions Scandal (Lifetime)
Movie/Limited Actress – Penelope Ann Miller
I...
- 4/22/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The Lifetime original movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel sang loud and proud on Saturday night, hitting a high note in viewership, netting a staggering 2.7 million total viewers in L+Sd, according to Nielsen. This marks the highest-rated original movie for Lifetime since 2016.
The TV movie, which included lauded performances by Aunjanue Ellis, Angela Birchett, Sheléa Frazier, Kierra Sheard and Raven Goodwin, was the strongest original movie for all television for 2020 across key demos including both broadcast and cable. To add to their winning night, The Clark Sisters was the best ad-supported cable original movie since 2018 in key demos. With the biopic, Lifetime has the boasting rights of having the top three original movies on ad-supported cable in 2020 in key demos, alongside with Stolen By My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story and Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer.
More from Deadline'American Idol' Tops Ratings On Quiet Easter...
The TV movie, which included lauded performances by Aunjanue Ellis, Angela Birchett, Sheléa Frazier, Kierra Sheard and Raven Goodwin, was the strongest original movie for all television for 2020 across key demos including both broadcast and cable. To add to their winning night, The Clark Sisters was the best ad-supported cable original movie since 2018 in key demos. With the biopic, Lifetime has the boasting rights of having the top three original movies on ad-supported cable in 2020 in key demos, alongside with Stolen By My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story and Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer.
More from Deadline'American Idol' Tops Ratings On Quiet Easter...
- 4/13/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The Lifetime network has long had a reputation for mediocre films and dramas with a campy aesthetic.In recent years, it has made an effort to distance itself from that renown, investing in the kind of content that draws a larger, more mainstream audience — and hopefully awards — as well as overall industry esteem. One such project just might be the biopic, “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” which premiered on April 11 to much fanfare, especially resonating most with one specific demo: black women. As a man who watched the film, and didn’t quite understand its appeal, instead of writing a critique of it, I asked black women viewers to share their thoughts on why it resounded so much.
To be sure, Lifetime hasn’t completely abandoned the kind of tabloidy women-in-peril stories that they once thrived on, but it has bolstered its efforts recently with Emmy-nominated films, from...
To be sure, Lifetime hasn’t completely abandoned the kind of tabloidy women-in-peril stories that they once thrived on, but it has bolstered its efforts recently with Emmy-nominated films, from...
- 4/13/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
At today’s TCA panel on Lifetime’s TV movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, based on the true-life story of the real singing siblings, one question was gotten out of the way early: Was estranged sister Denise Clark-Bradford consulted in the making of the movie?
“Yes, she was absolutely given the opportunity to participate in her story,” said Executive Producer Holly Carter, who was joined on the panel by Executive Producer Queen Latifah (Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are also Ep’s) and cast members Christina Bell, Kierra Sheard, Sheléa Frazier, Raven Goodwin and Angela Birchett.
Carter did not elaborate on whether Clark-Bradford took producers up on the “opportunity” and what that contribution may have been.
Producers and performers were asked about the role of faith in the story and the challenges of making such a story fit with Lifetime’s movie franchise, as well as...
“Yes, she was absolutely given the opportunity to participate in her story,” said Executive Producer Holly Carter, who was joined on the panel by Executive Producer Queen Latifah (Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are also Ep’s) and cast members Christina Bell, Kierra Sheard, Sheléa Frazier, Raven Goodwin and Angela Birchett.
Carter did not elaborate on whether Clark-Bradford took producers up on the “opportunity” and what that contribution may have been.
Producers and performers were asked about the role of faith in the story and the challenges of making such a story fit with Lifetime’s movie franchise, as well as...
- 1/18/2020
- by Diane Haithman
- Deadline Film + TV
Lorena Bobbitt’s story is getting the biopic treatment.
Lifetime has greenlit “I Was Lorena Bobbitt,” a feature about the woman who became a household name and made tabloid headlines when she cut off her husband’s penis with a knife in 1993 after years of abuse.
Bobbitt was the subject of a Jordan Peele-produced Amazon docuseries which came out less than a year ago, and this new retelling has Bobbitt herself on board as an executive producer. Casting on the project is underway and production will begin later this month. The film, announced by A+E Networks president of programming Rob Sharenow at Lifetime’s Television Critics’ Association winter tour press day, will follow Bobbitt’s “journey from a wide-eyed, immigrant bride to a battered wife into an unlikely media sensation.”
“I Was Lorena Bobbitt” hails from Cineflix International and executive producers Andy Streitfeld, Jeff Vanderwal and Charles Tremayne. Barbara Nance...
Lifetime has greenlit “I Was Lorena Bobbitt,” a feature about the woman who became a household name and made tabloid headlines when she cut off her husband’s penis with a knife in 1993 after years of abuse.
Bobbitt was the subject of a Jordan Peele-produced Amazon docuseries which came out less than a year ago, and this new retelling has Bobbitt herself on board as an executive producer. Casting on the project is underway and production will begin later this month. The film, announced by A+E Networks president of programming Rob Sharenow at Lifetime’s Television Critics’ Association winter tour press day, will follow Bobbitt’s “journey from a wide-eyed, immigrant bride to a battered wife into an unlikely media sensation.”
“I Was Lorena Bobbitt” hails from Cineflix International and executive producers Andy Streitfeld, Jeff Vanderwal and Charles Tremayne. Barbara Nance...
- 1/18/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
Lifetime has given the greenlight to two music-related projects, a miniseries on rap group Salt-n-Pepa and a biopic on gospel group the Clark Sisters. Queen Latifah is an executive producer for both projects via her Flavor Unit production company, with Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott among the executive producers for the Clark Sisters film. Both projects are slated for programming in 2020.
The Salt-n-Pepa miniseries traverses the lives of Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, as they go from nursing school students to entering the world of hip-hop and...
The Salt-n-Pepa miniseries traverses the lives of Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, as they go from nursing school students to entering the world of hip-hop and...
- 3/28/2019
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Lifetime is singing up a storm with two scripted projects based on the lives of rap stars Salt-n-Pepa and The Clark Sisters.
Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are exec producing a TV movie about the lives of gospel singers The Clark Sisters, while the Salt-n-Pepa story is being turned into a miniseries.
Salt-n-Pepa will tell the story of nursing students Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, who fell into the world of rap and hip hop, after recording for a friend’s school project. One of the first all-female rap groups, the series will look at the pair who were unafraid to talk about sex and share their thoughts on men. The show will feature their greatest hits including “Let’s Talk About Sex”, “What a Man”, “Shoop” and “Push It”. It will be exec produced by Cheryl James, Sandra Denton and Jesse Collins as well...
Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are exec producing a TV movie about the lives of gospel singers The Clark Sisters, while the Salt-n-Pepa story is being turned into a miniseries.
Salt-n-Pepa will tell the story of nursing students Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, who fell into the world of rap and hip hop, after recording for a friend’s school project. One of the first all-female rap groups, the series will look at the pair who were unafraid to talk about sex and share their thoughts on men. The show will feature their greatest hits including “Let’s Talk About Sex”, “What a Man”, “Shoop” and “Push It”. It will be exec produced by Cheryl James, Sandra Denton and Jesse Collins as well...
- 3/27/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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