The diversity of late-night writers rooms is not a new topic of conversation.
For years, these shows have been accused of being too white and too male, and while that still might be the case, there has been improvement across the board both in terms of gender and ethnicity. Progress is being made, slowly, in the right direction.
So, it was nice to see, earlier this week, that the new team behind the scenes at NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh was incredibly inclusive.
Chelsea Davison, taking over from Sean O’Connor, leads a gender-balanced and diverse writing team of Vannessa Jackson, a former writing apprentice on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; Sabeeh Jameel, who was a researcher on The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; Romen Borsellino, co-creator of Freeform’s Kal Penn Approves This Message; Nimesh Patel, a former writer for Saturday Night Live who was discovered by Chris Rock; Nelu Handa,...
For years, these shows have been accused of being too white and too male, and while that still might be the case, there has been improvement across the board both in terms of gender and ethnicity. Progress is being made, slowly, in the right direction.
So, it was nice to see, earlier this week, that the new team behind the scenes at NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh was incredibly inclusive.
Chelsea Davison, taking over from Sean O’Connor, leads a gender-balanced and diverse writing team of Vannessa Jackson, a former writing apprentice on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; Sabeeh Jameel, who was a researcher on The Opposition with Jordan Klepper; Romen Borsellino, co-creator of Freeform’s Kal Penn Approves This Message; Nimesh Patel, a former writer for Saturday Night Live who was discovered by Chris Rock; Nelu Handa,...
- 12/4/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
A Little Late with Lilly Singh will look a little different when it returns in January with a new set and a whole team behind the scenes.
Neil Punsalan, who was recently showrunner of Comedy Central series Doing the Most with Phoebe Robinson, is taking over showrunning duties from Aliyah Silverstein. John Irwin, who was also an exec producer on Season 1, also has exited.
Chelsea Davison, who has written for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Lights Out with David Spade as well as the first season of A Little Late, becomes head writer, replacing Sean O’Connor.
She is the only remaining writer from Season 1, other than Singh herself, with a new writing staff including Vannessa Jackson, Sabeeh Jameel, Romen Borsellino, Nimesh Patel, Neuli Handa and Natasha Vaynblat.
Polly Auritt, who works with Singh at her production company Unicorn Island Productions, also will exec produce with Singh, and Davison is co-exec producer.
Neil Punsalan, who was recently showrunner of Comedy Central series Doing the Most with Phoebe Robinson, is taking over showrunning duties from Aliyah Silverstein. John Irwin, who was also an exec producer on Season 1, also has exited.
Chelsea Davison, who has written for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Lights Out with David Spade as well as the first season of A Little Late, becomes head writer, replacing Sean O’Connor.
She is the only remaining writer from Season 1, other than Singh herself, with a new writing staff including Vannessa Jackson, Sabeeh Jameel, Romen Borsellino, Nimesh Patel, Neuli Handa and Natasha Vaynblat.
Polly Auritt, who works with Singh at her production company Unicorn Island Productions, also will exec produce with Singh, and Davison is co-exec producer.
- 12/1/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“A Little Late With Lilly Singh” will have a whole new look for Season 2 — and a new writing staff, including Chelsea Davison as head writer. She replaces Sean O’Connor.
Staff writers for Season 2 are Vannessa Jackson, Sabeeh Jameel, Romen Borsellino, Nimesh Patel, Neuli Handa and Natasha Vaynblat. Neil Punsalan is showrunner.
They’re all new — the only carryover writers from Season 1 to Season 2 are Singh and Davison.
The second season of the (very) late-night show will be relocated to “a Los Angeles-based house,” NBC said on Tuesday.
We checked — it’s not Lilly’s home.
“Swapping out a traditional stage for a Los Angeles-based house as the show’s location will give Lilly more space to break the rules and embrace imperfection,” the show’s press release reads.
In addition to sketches, interviews and Singh’s take on current events, Season 2 will also “go behind the scenes,” letting “audiences into...
Staff writers for Season 2 are Vannessa Jackson, Sabeeh Jameel, Romen Borsellino, Nimesh Patel, Neuli Handa and Natasha Vaynblat. Neil Punsalan is showrunner.
They’re all new — the only carryover writers from Season 1 to Season 2 are Singh and Davison.
The second season of the (very) late-night show will be relocated to “a Los Angeles-based house,” NBC said on Tuesday.
We checked — it’s not Lilly’s home.
“Swapping out a traditional stage for a Los Angeles-based house as the show’s location will give Lilly more space to break the rules and embrace imperfection,” the show’s press release reads.
In addition to sketches, interviews and Singh’s take on current events, Season 2 will also “go behind the scenes,” letting “audiences into...
- 12/1/2020
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
Comedy Central has announced the lineups for its January Stand-Up Month, including four new one-hour specials, and talent for a new digital series of half-hour specials under two different banners.
The January Stand-Up Month will feature new specials from Ron Funches, James Davis (Hood Adjacent with James Davis), Chris Distefano and Roy Wood Jr.. The specials will air consecutive Fridays throughout the month at 11 Pm Et/Pt.
In addition, Comedy Central’s digital series Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring will premiere January 8 on YouTube, Facebook Watch, Twitter and Instagram. The series will spotlight a new up-and-coming comedian on Tuesday and Thursday each week.
In the spirit of Adam Devine’s House Party and Live at Gotham, the series will feature short sets from some young voices. The...
The January Stand-Up Month will feature new specials from Ron Funches, James Davis (Hood Adjacent with James Davis), Chris Distefano and Roy Wood Jr.. The specials will air consecutive Fridays throughout the month at 11 Pm Et/Pt.
In addition, Comedy Central’s digital series Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring will premiere January 8 on YouTube, Facebook Watch, Twitter and Instagram. The series will spotlight a new up-and-coming comedian on Tuesday and Thursday each week.
In the spirit of Adam Devine’s House Party and Live at Gotham, the series will feature short sets from some young voices. The...
- 12/3/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The New York Television Festival has selected 21 scripts for its third annual Nytvf Scripts Competition. The 13 half-hour comedies and eight hour-long dramas will be showcased to industry executives before and during the 14th Annual New York Television Festival, which runs July 14-20 in Manhattan.
This year’s Nytvf Scripts Official Selections join the 59 pilots and series in the Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition.
Of the 21 selected scripts, 62 percent are credited to a female writer or co-writer, and 30 percent are credited to a person of color, according to competition organizers. More than half of the selected scripts come in to the festival without representation, and five of the scripts are written as animated or potentially animated.
The slate includes scripts penned by Fox News/Fox Business Network’s Melissa Francis (Fake News), NY Magazine writers Jesse David Fox and Halle Kiefer (The Curse) and Granted, written by Alison Barton (Friends from College...
This year’s Nytvf Scripts Official Selections join the 59 pilots and series in the Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition.
Of the 21 selected scripts, 62 percent are credited to a female writer or co-writer, and 30 percent are credited to a person of color, according to competition organizers. More than half of the selected scripts come in to the festival without representation, and five of the scripts are written as animated or potentially animated.
The slate includes scripts penned by Fox News/Fox Business Network’s Melissa Francis (Fake News), NY Magazine writers Jesse David Fox and Halle Kiefer (The Curse) and Granted, written by Alison Barton (Friends from College...
- 5/30/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Viacom’s message to Madison Avenue at its first Digital Content NewFronts song and dance: It is, finally, strategically positioned to deliver concentrated internet audiences at scale.
To be sure, the core of Viacom’s business remains locked in traditional TV and film. But with the coming-out party for the recently created Viacom Digital Studios, the conglomerate’s story is that it has a boatload of digital-first programming, partnerships and talent deals — designed to extend existing brands MTV, Comedy Central, Nick and Bet more broadly online across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat as well as create new programming franchises.
“The launch of Viacom Digital Studios is an amazing opportunity to reimagine our iconic brands for a new generation of young, mobile-first audiences,” said Kelly Day (pictured above), the former AwesomenessTV exec who was tapped as president of Viacom Digital Studios last fall.
In addition to Viacom Digital Studios’ plans for...
To be sure, the core of Viacom’s business remains locked in traditional TV and film. But with the coming-out party for the recently created Viacom Digital Studios, the conglomerate’s story is that it has a boatload of digital-first programming, partnerships and talent deals — designed to extend existing brands MTV, Comedy Central, Nick and Bet more broadly online across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat as well as create new programming franchises.
“The launch of Viacom Digital Studios is an amazing opportunity to reimagine our iconic brands for a new generation of young, mobile-first audiences,” said Kelly Day (pictured above), the former AwesomenessTV exec who was tapped as president of Viacom Digital Studios last fall.
In addition to Viacom Digital Studios’ plans for...
- 4/30/2018
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Comedy Central Unveils a Pop-Culture Show for the Internet, Inspired by ‘The Daily Show’ (Exclusive)
Comedy Central is hoping it’s whipped up the recipe for a daily dose of digital comedy, patterned on the success of its long-running TV mainstay, “The Daily Show.”
The Viacom-owned cable programmer is unveiling a new project called “The Creators Program”: a team of five stand-up comedians, writers and improv performers who will produce a short weekday take on pop culture and entertainment, as well as a weekly scripted workplace comedy — about working at Comedy Central.
The Creators Program crew was picked through an open casting call, and Comedy Central is aiming to launch the first fruits of their labor the last week of May on its YouTube channel (6.3 million subscribers) and Facebook page (6.3 million followers).
“This is Comedy Central’s biggest investment ever in digital and social content,” said Jennifer Danielson, Comedy Central’s senior VP of digital, although she declined to put a dollar figure on the initiative.
The Viacom-owned cable programmer is unveiling a new project called “The Creators Program”: a team of five stand-up comedians, writers and improv performers who will produce a short weekday take on pop culture and entertainment, as well as a weekly scripted workplace comedy — about working at Comedy Central.
The Creators Program crew was picked through an open casting call, and Comedy Central is aiming to launch the first fruits of their labor the last week of May on its YouTube channel (6.3 million subscribers) and Facebook page (6.3 million followers).
“This is Comedy Central’s biggest investment ever in digital and social content,” said Jennifer Danielson, Comedy Central’s senior VP of digital, although she declined to put a dollar figure on the initiative.
- 4/26/2018
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
NBC has named the 2018 class for its Late Night Writers Workshop, an initiative dedicated to discovering and developing late night and sketch comedy writers of diverse backgrounds. Chosen from among more than 1,000 applicants, Alyssa Feller, Jonathan Giles, Michael Hartney, John Mahone, Cameron Smith, Natasha Vaynblat and Bryan Yang will participate in an intensive six-day program this month that will ready them to be staff writers on late-night and sketch-comedy…...
- 3/23/2018
- Deadline TV
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