Debra Martin-Chase: Last News

Angelique Jackson Seven years ago, pioneering film and TV producer Debra Martin Chase was thinking about leaving Hollywood. The first Black woman to ink an overall deal at any studio, she’d produced such genre-defining hits as “The Princess Diaries,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.” While getting projects about women and people of color off the ground was never easy, suddenly prospects were stagnant. “It was at a point where Hollywood just wasn’t interested,” she tells Variety, reflecting on the career crossroads from the living room of her apartment in New York, where she lives while her popular CBS series “The Equalizer” is in production. “You’d talk to people — particularly white men — and their eyes would just glaze over.”

EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy Ryan’s bestselling novel Before I Let Go is in development at Peacock from UCP and Universal Television.

exclusively revealed that was officially in the works at Disney.The confirmation was welcome news to fans of the franchise who’ve been waiting almost two decades for the return of Anne Hathaway’s awkward high schooler-turned-monarch Mia Thermopolis, but rumors of another sequel have, of course, been swirling for years. Back in 2016, Garry Marshall, the director of the first film and its delightful follow-up The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, discussed the possibility of a third film, but plans were temporarily shelved following his death later that year.

Brandy and Paolo Montalban reunited at the Second Stage Theater's annual gala to honor one of the executive producers of 1997's, Debra Martin Chase. Paolo took to Instagram on Monday to show fans the sweet reunion, which included a photo of the two actors with Debra and Jordin Sparks behind the scenes of the gala.«Debra is one of our beloved executive producers of @cinderellamusical. She is also the first African-American female producer to have a deal at a major studio.

Olympic champion figure skater Brian Boitano has signed on to produce the Netflix family film Take the Ice alongside Debra Martin Chase. Charles Randolph-Wright (Delilah, Greenleaf) is aboard to direct.

Angelique Jackson Charles Randolph-Wright, Debra Martin Chase and Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano have teamed to produce the Netflix family movie “Take the Ice,” set in the world of synchronized ice skating.Written by Deborah Swisher, “Take the Ice” follows a rebellious 15-year-old named Tisha Moore, who has dreamed of becoming an ice skater her entire life. According to the film’s logline, however, the closest the Black girl from Brooklyn has come is dazzling people with her roller skating routines while busking in the park.

Kate Aurthur editorLena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Endeavor Content are producing the upcoming documentary “Being Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Documentary.” James Adolphus (“Soul of a Nation”) will direct, and the doc — Hillman Grad’s first documentary project from its inception — will be released in 2022.Endeavor Content bought the rights from the Mary Tyler Moore estate for Hillman Grad, and will finance “Being Mary,” as well as handling its worldwide sales. Debra Martin Chase of Martin Chase Productions, Andrew Coles of The Mission, Rishi Rajani of Hillman Grad Productions, and Adolphus and Ben Selkow of Good Trouble Studios are also producers.

William Earl Variety is pleased to announce programming for its second annual TV Fest on June 8-10.