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Julia Roberts will receive an honorary César Award at the upcoming 50th César Awards in Paris.

The Pretty Woman star will be honored at the gala event on Feb. 28, 2025, at the historic Olympia Hall in Paris. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Canal+.

“Julia Roberts is not only a movie star but also a cultural icon whose influence extends far beyond her performances,” the French film academy, which presents the Césars, said in a statement. “Offscreen, she is dedicated to philanthropic causes, serving as an ambassador for Unicef and supporting numerous humanitarian efforts worldwide. An environmental advocate, she has lent her voice to documentaries about protecting the planet and actively campaigns for women’s rights.”

Roberts’ breakthrough as an actress came with Mystic Pizza in 1988, but it was her portrayal of Vivian Ward alongside Richard Gere in 1990’s Pretty Woman that made her a global superstar. She has had...

With DVD boxsets of landmark series like The Wire and Mad Men now gathering subtle layers of ambient cabinet-dust whilst the buffering wheel endlessly churns on your bug-ridden streamer of choice, it’d be fair to say that the so-called “Golden Age” of TV drama has passed. Of course, there were other golden eras of TV before Walter White broke bad or Lena Dunham’s Girls terrorized New York. And there will be golden eras again–full of unforgettable stories and distinct, signature creative perspectives.

Of course, at Film Independent we’re not just going to sit around and wait for the next big episodic storytelling residence to occur out of thin air. No, we’re actively working to make it happen–most recently via this year’s inaugural Imaginar TV Incubator. Or more specifically “The Imaginar TV Incubator for Fearless Latinx Creators”, launched together with our partners at FX and in collaboration with Nalip,...

Writing a feature film is easy. All you need is one gimmicky logline, as cheap and single-serving-disposable as a coffee pod from the complimentary hotel room K-Cup spinner. Once you stumble upon one of these so-called “high concept” ideas, the script practically writes, sells and produces itself. It’s creative work for stupid babies, as all filmmakers will surely agree–totally unlike, in other words, the act of conceptualizing an entire episodic series, a demonstration of storytelling virtuosity so complex and adult it straddles the border between ancient Euclidean geometry and New Age witchcraft.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little extreme. But for aspiring series creators and showrunners, structuring a workable, potentially long-running television concept requires imagination and problem-solving on both the micro- and macro- levels–a mastery of tone, plot and characterization across variable interlocking units of temporal storytelling: scenes, dramatic acts, full episodes, multi-episode arcs and complete seasons.

Exclusive: Film Independent has named the eight writers selected for the seventh edition of its Episodic Lab, designed to provide individualized story and career development for writers with original pilots for television. The participants and projects are Desdemona Chiang (Zhizha! (紙紮!)), Giovanni Maldonado Chinea & Myles Hawthorne (The Machetero), Robert Cohen & Ioana Uricaru (Overcast), Catherine Durickas (Beige Is Not Dead), Azza Malik and Robert ToTeras (Jourdain).

Cohen and Uricaru have been set to receive this year’s $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, awarded to projects with science or technology themes and characters, to support the development of their pilot Overcast through the Lab. Dear Azza,‘s Malik, meanwhile, will receive a $10,000 grant from the Mpac Hollywood Bureau, an organization working to elevate stories by and about Muslims in entertainment.

This year’s two-week, in-person Lab will help to further the careers of Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans — including experienced showrunners,...

Just before G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) embarks on his very public trial for conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping — all tied to the 1972 Watergate scandal — his wife, Fran (Judy Greer), stops him outside the courthouse. “Are you sure you don’t want me to be there?” she asks her husband. “Oh, no, no, no,” Liddy replies. “I am going to act like a jackass — piss off the prosecution, force a few errors, send the whole thing to appeals, and get it all thrown out. If I see you in the gallery, I might be forced to remember my manners.”

Liddy’s trial prep is but one of many, many bad plans the former FBI agent cooks up over the course of “White House Plumbers,” HBO’s five-part limited series about the inept burglars behind the infamous Watergate break-in. But few so succinctly summarize his perpetually cocky, off-kilter demeanor, or what...

Chelsea Handler mocked several controversial topics from last year during her monologue at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards.

“It is an honor to be here hosting tonight after everything that we’ve all been through together over the past few years, between Covid, Monkeypox, the Don’t Worry Darling press tour,” the comedian said. “It’s been a lot.”

“I’m just happy to be here tonight, supporting the critics’ right to choose,” she went on to say in reference to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. “At least someone still has the choice, unless they’re a female critic and then it just depends on what state they live in.”

When announcing that the cast of The Bear was at the ceremony, Handler joked about the drama surrounding James Corden’s ban from a New York restaurant for alleged “abusive” behavior. “They showed us how grueling and how absolutely...

Film Independent has set the participants and projects for its sixth annual Episodic Lab — an intensive program, designed to provide individualized story and career development for emerging television writers with original pilots. The list includes Christopher Au (Cloak & Data), Miguel Orozco & Boris Rodriguez (East Los Aliens), Terry Dawson (Makeba) Gg Hawkins (Murder Podcast), Sarah Mokh (Room 099), and the duo of Ben Gonzales & Erica Bardin (The Deed).

This year’s Lab will be a two-week virtual program helping to further the careers of its Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans who can offer guidance on both the craft and business of writing episodic content. Through personalized feedback from experienced showrunners, creative producers and executives, Fellows will gain the tools to revise and refine their pilots and navigate a changing industry landscape. A final networking and pitch event will then offer participants the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work to studio and network executives.

The sound department for the Starz limited series “Gaslit” earned a pair of Emmy nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. It was the 24th nomination for re-recording mixer John W. Cook II and the second for co-supervising sound editor Kevin Buchholz. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Cook, who won an Emmy in 2007 for “Scrubs,” is thrilled to be a double nominee this year for “Gaslit” and the HBO Max comedy “Hacks.” He says, “We get so focused on the project that we’re currently working on. Consequently, the stuff that we did six months ago or a year ago tends to fall away in our memories. These moments of getting nominated, I really love the feeling of time to not let this experience go away so quickly. Let’s linger on it. Let’s remember some of the...

The buzz for the Starz limited series “Gaslit” began in early 2020, when it was announced that the first season of Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast was being adapted into a limited series. Since its final episode, which aired on June 12, many of Gold Derby’s Emmy Experts are speculating that the thrilling historical drama has the potential to earn multiple nominations in several above and below the line categories.

One of the most compelling narratives on the path to Emmy success is that the “Gaslit” cast is composed of A-list, award winning actors, as well as television and film standouts. The casting is so incredible that Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times television critic, markedly stated, ”Indeed, the series can be watched as dance, a pair of alternating actorly pas de deux, set off by ensemble pieces, and is completely enjoyable as such.”

SEEMaking of ‘Gaslit’: Lively roundtable with creator Robbie Pickering,...

There are 110 submissions on the 2022 Emmys ballot for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Writing, resulting in six nominees. As a reminder, last year’s winner was “I May Destroy You” (Michaela Coel) and the other nominees were “The Queen’s Gambit” (Scott Frank), “Mare of Easttown” (Brad Inglesby) and three episodes from “Wandavision”.

The low number of entries in this year’s Best Limited/Movie Writing category can be attributed to the fact that all the top contenders have submitted only one or two episodes from their series when given the option. Danny Strong, a previous winner for “Game Change” in this category a decade ago, entered the “Dopesick” finale, “The People vs. Purdue Pharma.” Other programs that submitted their final episodes were “Maid” (“Snaps”) and “Station Eleven” (“Unbroken Circle”) by their respective showrunners Molly Smith Metzler and Patrick Somerville, which is not a bad method given that seven...

The Emmy best actress races are becoming increasingly competitive as big-name stars participate in creating shows, reclaiming the power to be leading ladies carrying an increasingly complex narrative. Take Julia Roberts and her role as the Washington socialite turned whistleblower Martha Mitchell in Starz’ limited-series Emmy contender “Gaslit.”

With Mitchell, the actress-producer explores a woman of contradictions: a stylish hostess who tipsily goes over the edge into drug and alcohol abuse; a political player on the arm of Richard Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell (Sean Penn), whose marriage crumbles under the weight of an administration in crisis; and a traumatized wife and mother experiencing Ptsd after repeatedly being roughly thrown under the bus by the powerful white men in the room.

What Roberts and her fellow producers have done here is to take the familiar narrative of the White House burglars first exposed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,...

This week on TheWrap-Up podcast, TheWrap sits down with “Elvis” director, co-writer and producer Baz Luhrmann to discuss his epic biopic, while TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman talks about the week’s biggest headlines and stories with podcast guest co-host and TheWrap assistant managing editor for audience Adam Chitwood.

The interview with Baz Luhrmann touches on why he wanted to tell Elvis Presley’s story in the first place. “I took it on not to do a biopic but I always thought Elvis would be this great canvas to explore America, because he’s sort of at the center of everything in the 50s, 60s and 70s,” Luhrmann said.

The “Moulin Rouge!” filmmaker also revealed that the project started to coalesce when he learned more about Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker, played in the film by Tom Hanks, and drew inspiration from “Amadeus” to make him a major part of the story.

As Emmy nominations voting comes to a close this Monday, UCP and Starz have found one more way to expose their limited series “Gaslit” to potential voters: Free, over-the-air broadcast TV.

The first episode of “Gaslit,” starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn, will air on NBC-owned TV stations in key markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, this weekend in a final push to expose the series to as many people as possible.

Universal Studio Group’s UCP produces “Gaslit” for Starz. And in a case of Comcast/NBCUniversal synergy, Usg and UCP have turned to their sister NBC broadcast station unit for help. As a result, the first episode of “Gaslit” will air on Knbc/Channel 4 in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 25, at 8 p.m. — in primetime.

In New York (Wnbc), Philadelphia (Wcau), Washington D.C. (Wrc), Boston (Wbts) and Philadelphia (Wcau), the NBC stations will air “Gaslit” at 7 p.

This week on TheWrap-Up podcast, TheWrap founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman talked to Paul W. Downs, co-creator, co-showrunner and co-star of HBO Max’s hit comedy “Hacks.”

They talked of course about the show’s Season 3 renewal — following the speculation that the Season 2 finale felt like a series finale — and about where things might be going in the future. But Downs also spoke at length about his experience as the only man in the show’s writers room and one of the few men in the primary cast, explaining that he thinks women’s stories are important because it can, or should, increase the empathy men have for women.

“I feel like when you’re writing, if you can be empathetic enough to step into someone’s shoes, you know, if you can try it on, I think that’s the goal. In not only writing the show, but making the show,...

In the final episode of “Gaslit,” the Watergate hearings play in the background as socialite truth-teller Martha Mitchell languishes in the hospital, stricken with cancer and ridiculed as crazy by Republicans and members of the media. Five decades later, Wyoming legislator Liz Cheney is playing a similar straight shooter at the congressional hearings about the Trump White House’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. But the media is much more stratified than it was during Watergate, and the consequences for the former president and those political figures complicit with him that day are far from preordained.

Robbie Pickering, creator of the Starz series starring Julia Roberts as a boozy Mitchell, considers the Jan. 6 hearings “remarkably consequential” but questions the ultimate impact they will have. “The difference between this and Watergate is there’s no pretense to these crimes,” he says. “Everyone knows they occurred, especially Republicans.”

Pickering...

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When it comes to pop culture source material, the Watergate scandal is the gift that keeps on giving.

There have been countless books and movies based on different elements of that particularly surreal — at least when viewed through a pre-2016 election lens — moment in history, from All the President’s Men to Dick. And now, Gaslit enters the canon. The Starz series, which is based on the Slow Burn podcast, aims to document the fake robbery and ensuing political fallout through a new lens, forgoing the historically typical main characters like President Nixon for lesser known players like Martha Mitchell (played by Julia Roberts), wife of then-Attorney General John Mitchell (Sean Penn), who became a publicly outspoken critic of the administration. “I think the enduring quality of Watergate comes down to the fact that it is the last time that the powerful were really held to account,...

“I’ve always been a huge Nixon geek, since I was very young,” admits Robbie Pickering, the creator and showrunner of the limited series “Gaslit” on Starz. “The culture around Nixon is kind of the locust point for our current malfeasance in politics and culture war. I grew up in a very Evangelical, Christian, conservative home. That probably has something to do with it. Simultaneously, I’ve always been fascinated with Southern conservative women.”

To celebrate the acclaimed series, watch our special “Making of” roundtable discussion with Pickering and four key players from “Gaslit” — writer Amelia Gray, cinematographer Larkin Seiple, production designer Daniel Novotny and actor Shea Whigham (who plays FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy). Together they are joined by Gold Derby senior editor Denton Davidson for a memorable Q&a. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See over 450 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders

“Gaslit” is a modern take on the Watergate scandal.

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Sunday’s series finale of Gaslit.

The main takeaway from Sunday’s series finale of Gaslit wasn’t what President Nixon knew or what his despicable conspirators did. It wasn’t even who did time or who earned redemption after the stain of Watergate was left on American history. It was this and only this: Martha was right.

More from TVLinePerformer of the Week: Julia RobertsBecoming Elizabeth Stars on Exploring Monarch's Teen Years, Inappropriate Thomas Seymour RomanceP-Valley Premiere Recap: Covid Hits Chucalissa -- Will The Pynk Survive?

After a scramble to gather damning audio tapes in Washington,...

What’s harder to work with when it comes to writing a limited series — true stories taken from real life, or the stuff of fiction? A panel of top writers debated the challenges of working with headline-driven and historical material during the final hour of Variety‘s Night in the Writers’ Room on June 9 at 1 Hotel in West Hollywood.

“There’s a little bit of a tightrope-walk in a true story that you don’t necessarily have to walk in fiction,” said Dustin Lance Black, the writer-producer behind FX’s “Under the Banner of Heaven.” He noted that the series, about the 1984 murder of a woman and her infant daughter in Salt Lake City, deals with three intertwined stories, one of which is fictional. “That one to me, I had a slightly easier time with. If I hit a dramatic wall and needed a complication, I was able to make it up.

It’s been 50 years since the Watergate scandal broke — but thanks to today’s television landscape, it’s still part of the conversation. With a dozen films and TV shows made about the political scandal, writer Robbie Pickering set out to tell a different story with Starz’s “Gaslit” — the one of Martha Mitchell, the wife of Richard Nixon’s attorney general John N. Mitchell and the first person to publicly speak out about the former president’s role in Watergate.

But heading into the topic was a heavy lift. Pickering, who is part of Variety’s Virtual TV Fest taking place June 7-9, has been obsessed with the topic for years — even more so when he listened to Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast. Still, he felt there was still something new to tell.

“I think Martha’s story just needed to get heard. If you look at the variety...

“Gaslit” kicks off Sunday night on Starz, showcasing lesser known stories from those around the Watergate scandal, including outspoken whistleblower Martha Mitchell, the wife of Richard Nixon’s attorney general-turned-campaign manager John Mitchell.

The drama, starring Julia Roberts as Martha and Sean Penn as John, comes from executive producer Robbie Pickering (“Mr. Robot”), who told TheWrap he had been wanting to do a story set in the Nixon era for quite some time.

“I always wanted to do a show about the culture around Nixon, and nobody was really interested for many, many years,” Pickering said. “[For] about 10 or 12 years, I tried to pitch a show like that. Then, just when I’m going to give up, the podcast ‘Slow Burn’ comes along and really centers [on] Martha Mitchell, who I knew about.

“She’s really tangential and sidelined in a lot of the histories of the period and it kind of...

In Starz’s new Gaslit, premiering Sunday, central Watergate figure John Dean is played by Dan Stevens. In White House Plumbers, an upcoming HBO limited series, Dean is portrayed by Domhnall Gleeson. And in The Last Witness: Watergate, an upcoming four-part CNN original series, Dean himself will “confront his own involvement in the biggest presidential scandal of the 20th century,” in the words of the network.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Watergate complex, the “third-rate burglary” that brought down a presidency, Hollywood is still mining the scandal for storylines, drawing on new perspectives and points of view even as many of the central figures have long passed, the notorious aspects of Watergate have faded in memory, and D.C. has been gripped by so many other moments of abuse of power that are arguably of far more consequence. (Note: January 6).

“Watergate is one of...

Many of us know parts of the story of President Richard Nixon’s fall from grace, leading to his 1974 resignation. Two years before, Nixon’s paranoid streak had led to greenlighting the 1972 so-called White House Plumbers break-in at Democratic Party offices in DC’s posh Watergate Hotel, orchestrated by Attorney General John Mitchell. As a tween, I watched the political scandal unfurl on the nightly news over family dinners, with my outraged lefty father screaming at the TV and broadcaster “Uncle” Walter Cronkite while we booed Nixon alongside him. But, as I picked my way through adolescence, I didn’t know the epic details of the story “Gaslit” reveals.

Based on the first season of Leon Neyfakh’s granular “Slow Burn” podcast, with “Mr. Robot’s” Robbie Pickering as showrunner, the eight-part limited series flips the script. It puts Mitchell’s wife Martha at its center and reexamines the scandal...

You may feel like you’re in a time loop these days watching television. From the porn world of HBO Max’s “Minx,” to the Paramount set of “The Offer,” and the Washington power struggles of “Gaslit,” it may be 2022 but onscreen, it is the 1970s. The three series above, alongside a section of Showtime’s upcoming anthology series “The First Lady,” all take place in the era of Gerald Ford, gas shortages, and snazzy fashions. If media reflects the culture, and vice versa, what is it about the 1970s that is speaking to right now?

There are two major elements at play: a desire to indulge in nostalgia and a response to current, perceived revolutionary changes in our society. David Greenberg, professor of journalism & media and history for Rutgers University, said there’s always a desire to present nostalgia in film and television. While he wouldn’t go so...

You’re not imagining things: We are positively drowning in TV docudramas these days. The Girl From Plainville, Inventing Anna, The Dropout, The First Lady… if it made headlines or inspired a podcast, it’s probably on TV right now, with big stars lining up to play famous real-life figures (and earn an easy Emmy nomination). So I couldn’t blame you if you cast a weary eye in the direction of Starz’s Gaslit — premiering this Sunday at 8/7c; I’ve seen the first four episodes — especially since the story of the Watergate scandal has been told and retold...

The story of the Watergate scandal under President Richard Nixon has been told time and time again but never from this perspective. Starz’s “Gaslit” is told from the perspective of Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon’s Attorney General, John N. Mitchell. She was also the first person to publicly speak out about Nixon’s involvement in Watergate.

“I’ve always written southern conservative women. It’s my favorite thing, because I’m writing the church ladies I grew up with and I love them and I hate them,” creator Robbie Pickering told Variety at the world premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday. “I had the world’s most worn-out VHS copy of ‘Steel Magnolias.’ Julia Roberts as Shelby!”

Roberts was at the top of the list to play Martha and Pickering admitted he “couldn’t believe” she agreed. Then came the part of John Mitchell.

“Malum in se.”

In “Gaslit,” as explained by G. Gordon Liddy, Malum in se is a Latin phrase that means “an act of evil in and of itself” — something easily recognized as wrong, no matter the framework. It works in opposition to “Malum prohibitum,” which speaks to an act that violates the laws of man. Maybe it’s not obviously illegal, but society still deems it as such. Liddy, a loyal soldier of President Richard M. Nixon, believes that the leaders who wrote these laws were thus right and good; that, as the strongest men, they had the right to shape history as they see fit; that everyone else should follow their will, for they were the purest and most righteous among us.

Sound familiar? Even before accusations of fascism were being hurled across Twitter, they were being shouted at bars, during protests, and anywhere else Americans felt it was...

Starz has unveiled the trailer and key art for “Gaslit,” its limited series that tackles the Watergate scandal. The show focuses on the perspective of Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts), the wife of Richard Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell (Sean Penn). “Gaslit” will debut on Starz’s digital platform at midnight on April 24, with a linear debut the same day at 8 p.m. Et.

Roberts is on fire in the trailer, Arkansas accent and all, as a political storm swirls around her, and Penn is nearly unrecognizable in his prosthetics and hair pieces. At one point, John slaps Martha across the face, to which she responds by slapping him back, adding, “My momma slapped me harder than that.”

Martha was the first person to publicly blow the whistle on Nixon’s involvement in the infamous scandal, which kicked off an avalanche of political and personal consequences. John was Nixon’s close advisor and friend,...

And the award goes to...

Let's prep for a very exciting awards season with Starz's Gaslit looking to be quite the thrill ride with a cast that makes your hair stand on end.

Sean Penn may be in Ukraine filming the atrocities occurring there, but you'll soon see him supporting leading lady Julia Roberts as the two play married couple, John and Martha Mitchell, and it looks like they'll knock it out of the park!

The series is a modern take on Watergate, focusing on the scandal's untold stories and forgotten characters -- from Nixon's bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers.

They would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell, played by Roberts, a big personality with an even bigger mouth. Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon's loyal Attorney General,...

As Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of President Nixon’s U.S. attorney general John Mitchell, Julia Roberts has a lot to say in the trailer for upcoming Starz limited series “Gaslit.”

The show, which stars an unrecognizable Sean Penn as Martha’s husband, John, tells the “untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.”

The series, which premieres April 24 at 8 p.m. Pt/Et on the premium cabler, is centered around Roberts’ character. She’s described as “a big personality with an even bigger mouth,” and an Arkansan socialite. She’s the first person to sound the alarm about Nixon’s involvement in Watergate.

John (Penn) is a “temperamental, foul-mouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife.

Update, 7:40 Am: Starz has released the full-length trailer for Watergate drama series Gaslit, starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn. You can watch it above.

Previous, Feb. 2: Starz has unveiled its first-look at Watergate drama series Gaslit starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

The series, which launches April 24, tells the story of Martha Mitchell (Roberts), the wife of Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell (Penn), who is the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate.

However, the team behind the series said that it’s not a “girlboss overcorrect of history” or a “Wikipedia rundown” of events behind the taking down of a President.

The series focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

Julia Roberts embodies Martha Mitchell in the trailer for Gaslit, Starz’s forthcoming limited series that takes a new spin on the Watergate scandal. The actress is joined by Sean Penn, who plays Nixon’s loyal Attorney General and Martha Mitchell’s husband, John Mitchell.

The series, premiering April 24, centers on Martha as the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. The show also stars Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham and Darby Camp,...

“Gaslit,” the upcoming Starz limited series about Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts), who blew the whistle on her husband John Mitchell (Sean Penn), Richard Nixon’s attorney general, won’t tell the same familiar story about the Watergate scandal, showrunner Robbie Pickering says.

Instead, Pickering’s goal is to “correct the record.”

“I have a 4-and-a-half-year-old daughter and I don’t want her to learn about Watergate in the same way that I learned about it,” Pickering said Wednesday during a Television Critics Association panel. “I want her to know that Martha Mitchell played an instrumental role in it, and she wasn’t just some drunk crazy lady. She was right. She was the first person to publicly blow the whistle on these people. Hopefully, we can correct the record a little bit with this show.”

The infamous break-in at the Watergate hotel is the background, not the focus, of the series,...

The latest limited series from Starz is "Gaslit," an alleged new take on the Watergate scandal, a story that has been serialized, adapted, podcasted about, and parodied since before I was alive. Showrunner Robbie Pickering claims the series is "the Watergate story you've never heard before," a bold claim to make, but one that will surely impress if pulled off. 

Rather than focus on Richard Nixon and why he did what he did, "Gaslit" focuses on Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts). She was the unlikely whistleblower who was the first person to bring the scandal to light,...

The post Gaslit Trailer: Julia Roberts and Sean Penn Are Gonna Set It Straight, This Watergate appeared first on /Film.

Sean Penn and Julia Roberts are headed to premium cable with Gaslit.

Starz on Wednesday announced the new series will premiere Sunday, April 24 across all Starz platforms, including on Starz at 9 Pm Et/Pt in the U.S. and Canada, and will air day and date internationally on the Starzplay premium streaming platform across Europe, Latin America and Japan.

Starz also released footage and stills to show off the dramatic transformations of the cast to fit into their roles.

“Gaslit is the Watergate story you’ve never heard before," says Robbie Pickering, Creator, Executive Producer, and Showrunner of Gaslit.

"At the center of the show is Martha Mitchell, an unlikely whistleblower who is the first person to bust the whole scandal wide open and ultimately becomes the subject of a vicious White House smear campaign enacted in part by her own beloved husband, Attorney General John Mitchell."

"We also feature John Dean,...

The truth will set you free — if you’re willing to be undermined and called crazy for speaking out.

The first trailer for Starz drama series “Gaslit” shows Julia Roberts transformed into Arkansas socialite Martha Mitchell, who publicly accused President Richard Nixon of being behind the Watergate break-in. Martha’s determination to uncover the Watergate conspiracy jeopardizes the career of her husband, Attorney General John Mitchell, played by an unrecognizable Sean Penn. Accused of being “paranoid” as a “woman of a certain age,” the gaslighting only works to light a fire underneath her even more…

Premiering April 24 on Starz, “Gaslit” is based on the “insane but shockingly true story” that was featured in a first season episode of Slate’s award-winning podcast “Slow Burn.” Watch the trailer below.

“In ‘Gaslit,’ we not only have the opportunity to tell an incredible untold story in bringing Martha Mitchell’s historic role in Watergate to the forefront,...

Starz dropped the first teaser for its Sean Penn and Julia Roberts-led Watergate limited series “Gaslit” on Wednesday, revealing the actors’ on-screen transformations into Attorney General John Mitchell, President Richard Nixon’s most trusted advisor and best friend, and his whistleblower wife Martha Mitchell.

Also announced was the show’s premiere date, which Starz has set for Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m., the pay TV channel said during its Wednesday presentation at the virtual Television Critics Association press tour.

Executive produced by Sam Esmail, “Gaslit” is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal — from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down, per Starz.

Along with Penn (who rattled production with his insistence on strict enforcement of Covid-...

Starz unveiled the first teaser trailer for their upcoming Watergate limited series “Gaslit” on Wednesday, and viewers would be forgiven for doing a double-take when first seeing Sean Penn as former Attorney General John Mitchell. Penn dons heavy makeup for the role, but he’s not the primary focus of the series – instead that’s to his wife Martha Mitchell, played by Julia Roberts.

Martha Mitchell was the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, and as a result she became the focus of an intense White House smear campaign enacted by her own husband meant to discredit her. Her story is the central thrust of “Gaslit,” which will premiere on Sunday, April 24 across all Starz platforms in the U.S. and Canada.

Starz

“’Gaslit’ is the Watergate story you’ve never heard before,” says Robbie Pickering, creator, executive producer and showrunner of ‘Gaslit.

NBC revealed a first look at Celina Smith as Annie in “Annie Live!,” which airs on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m.

The image sees Smith wearing the titular orphan’s famous white-collared red dress, “holding hands” with the dog who will play Sandy in the production. Smith, who is 12 years old, was cast after NBC’s nationwide search for a “future star” to take the iconic role. She’s most recently been seen as Rebecca in “Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan” on Nickelodeon and has also played Young Nala in the touring company of “The Lion King.”

“Annie Live!” also stars Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Nicole Scherzinger as Grace Farrell, Tituss Burgess as Rooster Hannigan and Jane Krakowski as Lily St. Regis. Executive producers include Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Alex Rudzinsky, with Lear deBessonet and Alex Rudzinski directing. Choreography will be led by Sergio Trujillo.

The Television Academy Foundation named two new members to its board of directors: Nne Ebong, vice president of overall deals for series at Netflix, and Jamila Hunter, executive vice president of programming and development at Freeform. Both have been elected to three-year terms.

At Netflix, Ebong leads the development of original series under creative partnerships with Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland, Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and others. She joined Netflix after serving as creative lead at film and television studio Wiip, where she developed and produced projects for cable, streaming and the international marketplace. Her projects at Wiip included HBO’s “The White House Plumbers” and Amazon’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Ebong also developed series such as “Scandal,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and “American Crime” while heading drama development for ABC Studios from 2013 to 2018.

Ebong’s humanitarian work includes being a “big sister” through...

Exclusive: Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio), Nat Faxon (The Way Way Back), Erinn Hayes (Childrens Hospital), Patrick Walker (The Resident), Carlos Valdes (The Flash) and Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon a Time) are set for heavily recurring roles opposite Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in Starz’s Watergate drama Gaslit. Also joining in recurring roles are Anne Dudek (House), Chris Conner (Altered Carbon), Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker), Nelson Franklin (Veep), Reed Diamond (Moneyball), Johnny Berchtold (The Wilds), Adam Ray (The Heat) and Billy Smith (Sully).

Based on the first season of the Slate podcast Slow Burn, Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell...

Exclusive: Sean Penn came back to work today on Gaslit, Starz’s UCP-produced Watergate limited series he stars in with Julia Roberts.

Deadline revealed back in July that Penn had decided that with all the work his Core organization has done with Covid testing and vaccinations since the onset of the pandemic, he could not in good conscience return to work until everyone on the production had been vaccinated for the virus. Especially as the highly contagious Delta variant had just begun to rage seriously enough that Los Angeles had re-imposed indoor mask wearing, with cases among the unvaccinated spiking again at alarming levels across the country.

While the production continued to shoot without Penn, he and the studio finally reached a compromise. The entire crew he is working with today is vaccinated.

Gaslit’s studio, NBCUniversal, had just imposed mandatory vaccinations but limited them to “Zone A,” which...

Film Independent has selected six women from underrepresented communities for its fifth annual Episodic Lab, also naming the recipient of this year’s grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The writers selected, who will hone their original pilots during their time in the Lab, are Carmen Brie, Marissa Díaz, Razan Ghalayini, Steph Ouaknine, Lisa Sanaye Dring and Anna Vecellio.

Vecellio is also the recipient of the $10,000 Alfred P. Sloan Episodic Grant, and will use these funds to support the development of her pilot, Mary Mallon, uncovering the true story of the Irish-born cook otherwise known as Typhoid Mary.

This year’s Episodic Lab will be a two-week virtual program helping to further the careers of its Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans, including showrunners, creative producers and executives, who can offer guidance on both the craft and business of writing episodic content. A final networking and pitch event...

Universal Content Productions is continuing to film “Gaslit,” its upcoming Watergate TV series for Starz despite star Sean Penn’s refusal to return to work until every single crew member is vaccinated, TheWrap has learned.

UCP stipulates that only those designated in Zone A on a production are required to get vaccinated, which is all that is allowed under the current Return to Work protocols. Zone A includes the cast and everyone who comes in close contact with them. Penn, however, wants those in Zones B and C to also be required to take one of the three available vaccines.

At the moment, the production is filming the scenes that don’t include Penn, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. Reps for UCP and Starz declined to comment, while a rep for Penn did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. It is not known...

Back from the Cannes Film Festival where he launched his new directorial effort “Flag Day,” Sean Penn has made a bold move on the set of his latest project. The two-time Academy Award-winning actor has refused to return to working on the UCP-produced Starz limited series “Gaslit” until all cast and crew involved on the production are vaccinated. Penn’s move on the series, which shows the Watergate scandal from previously unseen perspectives and also stars Julia Roberts and Dan Stevens, is an effort to challenge Hollywood to demand Covid vaccine requirements for film and TV sets. (Deadline first reported the news.)

Through his organization Core (Community Organized Relief Effort), which launched in response to the Haiti earthquake of January 2010, Penn is offering to organize vaccines for cast and crew free of charge. The news comes as the Delta variant has caused a spike in Covid cases around the country — in Los Angeles,...

Sean Penn has set an ultimatum on the set of the upcoming Starz Watergate series “Gaslit”: either the entire cast and crew receive Covid-19 vaccines, or he’s not returning to work. Although NBCUniversal, “Gaslit’s” studio, imposed mandatory vaccines for “Zone A” cast and crew members (those in close proximity during production), and provided an on-site vaccination clinic for those involved with the production, Penn is putting his foot down. The actor’s representatives confirmed his decision to Variety.

Penn has offered to facilitate the mandatory-for-all vaccination effort, free of charge, through his nonprofit organization Community Organized Relief Effort.

“Gaslit” focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of Watergate, from Nixon’s opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring down the whole enterprise. Penn will play Attorney General John Mitchell, Nixon’s most trusted adviser...

Sean Penn will not return to film Starz's upcoming Watergate TV series "Gaslit" until mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations are instituted for all crew members, TheWrap has learned.

The limited series' producer, Universal Content Productions, currently stipulates that only those designated in Zone A on a production are required to get vaccinated. That would include the cast and everyone who comes in close contact with them. Penn, however, wants those in Zones B and C to also be required to take one of the three available vaccines, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

Reps for UCP and Penn declined to comment, while a rep for Starz did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.

Although Penn wants vaccine requirements for all zones, a separate individual with knowledge of the production told TheWrap they can only go as far as the current agreed-upon Covid protocols allow them to -- which,...

Exclusive: After returning from the Cannes launch of his film Flag Day, Sean Penn has drawn a line in the sand, one that challenges Hollywood leadership to go further in imposing vaccination requirements for everyone on a film or TV set.

In a move that likely will reverberate across an industry still trying to deal with Covid, Penn is refusing to return to work on Gaslit — the UCP-produced Starz limited series he stars in with Julia Roberts — until everyone on the production has been vaccinated for the virus. With the highly contagious Delta variant raging enough that Los Angeles has re-imposed indoor mask wearing and cases among the unvaccinated are spiking again at alarming levels across the country, Penn has insisted to the production that the vaccinatipn of everyone must be mandatory. Through his organization, Core, Penn has offered to facilitate the vaccination effort, free of charge.

Gaslight’s studio,...

Starz has added five actors in recurring roles to its upcoming Watergate series “Gaslit.”

Allison Tolman, Chris Bauer, J.C. MacKenzie, Hamish Linklater, and Chris Messina have all joined the series. They join a cast that will be led by Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, and Dan Stevens.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell (Roberts). A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to President Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell (Penn). Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the Presidency and her personal life to unravel.

Tolman will play Winnie McLendon, the DC journalist who would ultimately become Martha Mitchell’s biographer. An intrepid young journalist trapped in the “pink ghetto” of society stories, Winnie first sees Martha Mitchell as just another puff piece in Ladies...

Allison Tolman (Fargo) J.C. MacKenzie (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Chris Bauer (True Blood), Hamish Linklater (Legion) and Chris Messina (Birds of Prey) are set for recurring roles in Starz’s Watergate drama Gaslit, starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

Based on the first season of the Slate podcast Slow Burn, Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The series is created and executive produced by Robbie Pickering. Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) will direct and executive produce.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell (Roberts). A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General,...