Exclusive: Peabody Award-winning manager and producer Jennie Church-Cooper has joined the team at Levity Talent.
Church-Cooper has spent the last 15 years working with comedic writer-performers — scouting, cultivating, and propelling them into careers as TV and feature writers, showrunners, directors, podcasters, actors and more. She joins from Haven Entertainment, where she spent the last eight years. Prior to that, she built her roster of multihyphenate talent during seven years at Principato Young Entertainment (now Artists First).
Clients Church-Cooper is bringing with her clients including her brother Joel Church-Cooper, a showrunner whose single-camera comedy Going Dutch is in development at Fox; Felicia Day, who recently won an Audie Award for her Audible Original podcast Third Eye; Zibby Allen, who’s currently filming Season 6 of Netflix’s Virgin River; creator Blakely Thornton; podcaster and Emmy-nominated Ted Lasso scribe Dylan Marron; showrunners Erin Gibson (Tiny Toons Looniversity) and Shauna McGarry (The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy); Jerry Minor,...
Church-Cooper has spent the last 15 years working with comedic writer-performers — scouting, cultivating, and propelling them into careers as TV and feature writers, showrunners, directors, podcasters, actors and more. She joins from Haven Entertainment, where she spent the last eight years. Prior to that, she built her roster of multihyphenate talent during seven years at Principato Young Entertainment (now Artists First).
Clients Church-Cooper is bringing with her clients including her brother Joel Church-Cooper, a showrunner whose single-camera comedy Going Dutch is in development at Fox; Felicia Day, who recently won an Audie Award for her Audible Original podcast Third Eye; Zibby Allen, who’s currently filming Season 6 of Netflix’s Virgin River; creator Blakely Thornton; podcaster and Emmy-nominated Ted Lasso scribe Dylan Marron; showrunners Erin Gibson (Tiny Toons Looniversity) and Shauna McGarry (The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy); Jerry Minor,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix announced on Friday that Ready to Sell Out, its newest comedy special from Mike Epps, will premiere globally on the platform on February 20, 2024.
The special is Epps’ fourth for the platform, following Indiana Mike (2022), Only One Mike (2019) and Don’t Take It Personal (2015). In it, he ponders where all of his money has gone, in spite of a thriving career, also getting into the trials and tribulations of his relationships, and a plethora of street observations. Royale Watkins directed his new hour and exec produced alongside Epps, Mark Ritchie, Thomas Cobb, Niles Kirchner, and Kyra Epps. Southpaw Productions Inc. is the production company.
Launching his stand-up career back in 1995, Epps is also responsible for the specials Under Rated… Never Faded & X -Rated and Inappropriate Behavior. Currently starring in Netflix’s sitcom The Upshaws, he’s also been seen on the shows I’m a Virgo, Survivor’s Remorse and Uncle Buck,...
The special is Epps’ fourth for the platform, following Indiana Mike (2022), Only One Mike (2019) and Don’t Take It Personal (2015). In it, he ponders where all of his money has gone, in spite of a thriving career, also getting into the trials and tribulations of his relationships, and a plethora of street observations. Royale Watkins directed his new hour and exec produced alongside Epps, Mark Ritchie, Thomas Cobb, Niles Kirchner, and Kyra Epps. Southpaw Productions Inc. is the production company.
Launching his stand-up career back in 1995, Epps is also responsible for the specials Under Rated… Never Faded & X -Rated and Inappropriate Behavior. Currently starring in Netflix’s sitcom The Upshaws, he’s also been seen on the shows I’m a Virgo, Survivor’s Remorse and Uncle Buck,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix is bringing back its “Netflix Is a Joke Fest,” which so far has lined up more than 300 live events across 35 venues in Los Angeles. The event, last held in 2022, will include Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Nate Bargatze and Sebastian Maniscalco in a night of comedy at the Hollywood Bowl; also holding stand-up shows there are Bill Burr, John Mulaney, Seth Rogen, Matt Rife, Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah and a joint show with Taylor Tomlinson, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser and Michelle Buteau.
Netflix produces the festival with Live Nation; this year’s event will take place from May 2 to May 12, 2024. Besides the Bowl, other venues on tap include The Greek, The Dolby, The Forum, The Palladium, Orpheum Theatre and The Wiltern, as well as well as comedy venues including The Hollywood Improv, Largo, Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store.
“This is a special time for comedy, both for Netflix and the genre at large,...
Netflix produces the festival with Live Nation; this year’s event will take place from May 2 to May 12, 2024. Besides the Bowl, other venues on tap include The Greek, The Dolby, The Forum, The Palladium, Orpheum Theatre and The Wiltern, as well as well as comedy venues including The Hollywood Improv, Largo, Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store.
“This is a special time for comedy, both for Netflix and the genre at large,...
- 12/13/2023
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: After impressing with his half-hour set in Season 3 of Netflix’s The Standups, the Nashville-based comedian Dusty Slay has secured his first hour with the streamer, setting a January 16th premiere date for his new special, Workin’ Man.
A former pesticide salesman who started out as a comic in 2008, Slay is known for his irreverent though fairly clean material centered on the blue collar Southern experience. Voted Best Local Comedian and winning the Charleston Stand Up Comedy Competition two years in a row, while honing his craft in Charleston, South Carolina, he went on to become the youngest comic to play Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry when he made his debut, and currently boasts a TikTok following of nearly half a million.
Part of a new wave of comics bringing the South to the forefront once again, Slay has put in numerous late night appearances and has also previously...
A former pesticide salesman who started out as a comic in 2008, Slay is known for his irreverent though fairly clean material centered on the blue collar Southern experience. Voted Best Local Comedian and winning the Charleston Stand Up Comedy Competition two years in a row, while honing his craft in Charleston, South Carolina, he went on to become the youngest comic to play Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry when he made his debut, and currently boasts a TikTok following of nearly half a million.
Part of a new wave of comics bringing the South to the forefront once again, Slay has put in numerous late night appearances and has also previously...
- 12/8/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Top comic Nate Bargatze has announced the launch of The Nateland Company, a new family-friendly content company for audiences of all ages, through which he’ll produce stand-up comedy specials, showcases, sketches, scripted episodic content for film and television, podcasts, music and more.
Up first for release by the company, based out of Bargatze’s hometown of Nashville, is the series Nateland Presents: The Showcase, which debuts on YouTube today. The comic directed all six episodes, to roll out weekly, which place the spotlight on an expansive roster of up-and-coming comics. Among them are Mandal, Donnie Sengstack, Mr. Derick, Jim Flannigan, Renard Hirsch, Alex Velluto, Mal Hall, Jen Fulwiler, Jonnie W., Justin Smith, Mary Santora, Rahn Hortman, Caleb Elliot, Luca Ferro, Matt Taylor, Mike James, Karen Mills and Andrew Stanley.
Hosted by Dusty Slay, Aaron Weber and Brian Bates, The Showcase was taped at Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville...
Up first for release by the company, based out of Bargatze’s hometown of Nashville, is the series Nateland Presents: The Showcase, which debuts on YouTube today. The comic directed all six episodes, to roll out weekly, which place the spotlight on an expansive roster of up-and-coming comics. Among them are Mandal, Donnie Sengstack, Mr. Derick, Jim Flannigan, Renard Hirsch, Alex Velluto, Mal Hall, Jen Fulwiler, Jonnie W., Justin Smith, Mary Santora, Rahn Hortman, Caleb Elliot, Luca Ferro, Matt Taylor, Mike James, Karen Mills and Andrew Stanley.
Hosted by Dusty Slay, Aaron Weber and Brian Bates, The Showcase was taped at Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville...
- 10/3/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
CBS announced its winter 2022 lineup, including the series premiere date of new drama “Good Sam” on Jan. 5 at 10 p.m. and the third season premiere of “Celebrity Big Brother” on Feb. 2 at 8 p.m.
“Good Sam” stars Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs and takes over “CSI: Vegas’s” time-slot after that drama finishes its 10-episode first season. Bush plays the titular Dr. Sam Griffith, who is a gifted heart surgeon who took on the role of chief of surgery after her renowned boss — and father — Dr. Rob “Griff” Griffith (Isaacs), fell into a coma. However, Dr. Griffith wakes up months later and demands to resume his duties, which leaves Sam in a complicated position.
The third season of “Celebrity Big Brother” will launch three years after its prior season. No celebrity houseguests have yet to be announced, but the network did confirm the reality competition will follow its usual pattern...
“Good Sam” stars Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs and takes over “CSI: Vegas’s” time-slot after that drama finishes its 10-episode first season. Bush plays the titular Dr. Sam Griffith, who is a gifted heart surgeon who took on the role of chief of surgery after her renowned boss — and father — Dr. Rob “Griff” Griffith (Isaacs), fell into a coma. However, Dr. Griffith wakes up months later and demands to resume his duties, which leaves Sam in a complicated position.
The third season of “Celebrity Big Brother” will launch three years after its prior season. No celebrity houseguests have yet to be announced, but the network did confirm the reality competition will follow its usual pattern...
- 11/10/2021
- by Katie Song
- Variety Film + TV
The Standups is returning. Netfix has ordered a third season of the comedy series, composed of six half-hour episodes, for premiere later this year.
The six standalone specials will feature comedians Brian Simpson, Dusty Slay, Janelle James, Mark Normand, Melissa Villaseñor and Naomi Ekperigin.
Per the synopsis: The Standups features all new comedians at the top of their game delivering half-hour sets. Among them, they have starred in the biggest shows on television, performed in festivals all over the world and headlined at the premier comedy clubs across the world.
The third season of The Standups will tape live in NYC this summer and premiere on Netflix later this year.
The six standalone specials will feature comedians Brian Simpson, Dusty Slay, Janelle James, Mark Normand, Melissa Villaseñor and Naomi Ekperigin.
Per the synopsis: The Standups features all new comedians at the top of their game delivering half-hour sets. Among them, they have starred in the biggest shows on television, performed in festivals all over the world and headlined at the premier comedy clubs across the world.
The third season of The Standups will tape live in NYC this summer and premiere on Netflix later this year.
- 7/7/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Joy Bryant and Henry Simmons will star in the second season of Ava DuVernay’s anthology series, “Cherish the Day.”
Production of the OWN drama series will begin in July, with Season 2 expected to debut next year. It will tell the love story of Ellis (Simmons) and Sunday (Bryant), who fell in love in high school and find themselves reunited in New Orleans. In the years that have passed, Ellis has transformed from a basketball player to a single father of two kids, while Sunday is a vegan celebrity chef on the precipice of fame. Each episode of the season-long narrative take place over the course of a single day in order to unveil the significance of both extraordinary and everyday moments to the functioning of a relationship. “Cherish the Day” is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Bros. Television. DuVernay, Paul Garnes,...
Production of the OWN drama series will begin in July, with Season 2 expected to debut next year. It will tell the love story of Ellis (Simmons) and Sunday (Bryant), who fell in love in high school and find themselves reunited in New Orleans. In the years that have passed, Ellis has transformed from a basketball player to a single father of two kids, while Sunday is a vegan celebrity chef on the precipice of fame. Each episode of the season-long narrative take place over the course of a single day in order to unveil the significance of both extraordinary and everyday moments to the functioning of a relationship. “Cherish the Day” is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Bros. Television. DuVernay, Paul Garnes,...
- 7/7/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Since 1974, Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam concerts have been a regular fixture on the Music City event calendar for country and Southern rock fans. That was until 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down large events and the concert’s namesake died in July at the age of 83, rendering its September 2020 staging impossible.
The concert was initially rescheduled to go on as a tribute to the musical legacy of Daniels on February 22nd, 2021, but has once again been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The 2021 Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute to Charlie...
The concert was initially rescheduled to go on as a tribute to the musical legacy of Daniels on February 22nd, 2021, but has once again been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The 2021 Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute to Charlie...
- 2/2/2021
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
With Netflix releasing a comedy special every week and YouTube offering a portal into both cutting-edge performance and the best comedy sets in history, it’s never been easier for audiences to access an endless stream of standup.
But for fledgling comics, there’s still no more game-changing showcase than a five-minute slot on a late-night talk show. The road to a sitcom, a production deal, or even an arena tour often begins with a tight-five in front of a drowsy mass audience.
And now, the late-night shows are capitalizing on a stand-up boom by devoting more airtime to comics than ever before.
Michael Cox, who books standup for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” says when he started in 2015, the bookings were once a month, maybe twice. “Now I’m up to three or four times a month. And I know it’s not just me. Other shows are moving in that direction also.
But for fledgling comics, there’s still no more game-changing showcase than a five-minute slot on a late-night talk show. The road to a sitcom, a production deal, or even an arena tour often begins with a tight-five in front of a drowsy mass audience.
And now, the late-night shows are capitalizing on a stand-up boom by devoting more airtime to comics than ever before.
Michael Cox, who books standup for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” says when he started in 2015, the bookings were once a month, maybe twice. “Now I’m up to three or four times a month. And I know it’s not just me. Other shows are moving in that direction also.
- 7/16/2019
- by Akiva Gottlieb
- Variety Film + TV
ABC has put in development a single camera blue-collar family comedy from writer Paul McLalin, Smilf executive producer Lee Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer and David Bernad’s The District and ABC Studios.
Written by McLalin, the Untitled Factory Town Project follows a blue-collar family in Kalamazoo, Michigan who are adjusting to life after the family’s patriarch is laid off from the local manufacturing plant by his son and both have to adjust to their new roles in the family.
McLalin executive produces with Eisenberg, who supervises the project, and Fleischer and Bernad via The District. ABC Studios is the studio. Elias Gertler will help oversee the project for The District.
ABC has been in the market for blue-collar, Middle America family comedies following the massive early ratings success of the Roseanne revival, since-canceled over star Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets, and the subsequent spinoff The Conners. The network also recently...
Written by McLalin, the Untitled Factory Town Project follows a blue-collar family in Kalamazoo, Michigan who are adjusting to life after the family’s patriarch is laid off from the local manufacturing plant by his son and both have to adjust to their new roles in the family.
McLalin executive produces with Eisenberg, who supervises the project, and Fleischer and Bernad via The District. ABC Studios is the studio. Elias Gertler will help oversee the project for The District.
ABC has been in the market for blue-collar, Middle America family comedies following the massive early ratings success of the Roseanne revival, since-canceled over star Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets, and the subsequent spinoff The Conners. The network also recently...
- 12/7/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
ABC has put in development The Long Game, a half-hour single-camera family comedy from writer Chadd Gindin, director Randall Einhorn and ABC Studios, where both Gindin and Einhorn are under deals.
Written by Gindin, The Long Game follows a family of scam artists led by Loni — who, 16 years into being a mother, decides it’s time for her to be a good one. She tries to get her family to go straight despite a husband who still slips, a lifetime of bad examples that the kids won’t let her forget and no idea how to accomplish this in a society that seems to have embraced the morally gray area she’s trying to get them away from.
Einhorn executive produces. Gindin’s Gizmotech Industries Incorporated and Einhorn’s Randall Einhorn Films co-produce with ABC Studios.
Gindin also has a comedy with Nashville-based comedian Dusty Slay in the works at ABC.
Written by Gindin, The Long Game follows a family of scam artists led by Loni — who, 16 years into being a mother, decides it’s time for her to be a good one. She tries to get her family to go straight despite a husband who still slips, a lifetime of bad examples that the kids won’t let her forget and no idea how to accomplish this in a society that seems to have embraced the morally gray area she’s trying to get them away from.
Einhorn executive produces. Gindin’s Gizmotech Industries Incorporated and Einhorn’s Randall Einhorn Films co-produce with ABC Studios.
Gindin also has a comedy with Nashville-based comedian Dusty Slay in the works at ABC.
- 11/28/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
ABC has put into development a half-hour comedy from Nashville-based comedian Dusty Slay, Santa Clarita Diet writer/executive producer Chadd Gindin, Levity Live! and ABC Studios.
Written by Gindin, the untitled comedy is inspired by Slay’s childhood, growing up the youngest of three in an Alabama trailer park. The story centers on a middle-aged single mother, who despite her blue collar lifestyle strives to give her loved ones all the joys of a normal life. Slay is also set to co-star. Judi Marmel and Alex Goodman executive produce via Levity Live! ABC Studios is the studio.
Slay became known following his breakout performance at the 2018 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, followed by an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He also has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and his albums, Son of a Ditch and Makin’ that Fudge are played regularly on Sirius and Pandora.
Written by Gindin, the untitled comedy is inspired by Slay’s childhood, growing up the youngest of three in an Alabama trailer park. The story centers on a middle-aged single mother, who despite her blue collar lifestyle strives to give her loved ones all the joys of a normal life. Slay is also set to co-star. Judi Marmel and Alex Goodman executive produce via Levity Live! ABC Studios is the studio.
Slay became known following his breakout performance at the 2018 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, followed by an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He also has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and his albums, Son of a Ditch and Makin’ that Fudge are played regularly on Sirius and Pandora.
- 11/14/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
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