Erika Kennair: Last News

Manori Ravindran International Editor Malala Yousafzai has unveiled her first slate of film and TV projects for Apple TV+ through her production banner Extracurricular. The Nobel Laureate struck a programming deal with Apple TV+ last year, and appointed former Berlanti Productions executive and “The Flight Attendant” producer Erika Kennair as president of production at Extracurricular. The resulting projects reflect “Stranger Things” and “Severance” fan Yousafzai’s wide array of interests and tastes — some of which may surprise people. Headlining the slate is “Hyperobject,” a feature film adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s acclaimed book “Disorientation” — a sharp-edged, celebrated satire published earlier this year about a college student’s revealing dissertation on a young poet. The project will be directed by “Don’t Look Up” helmer Adam McKay.

EXCLUSIVE: The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has appointed four to its Board of Directors: Daniela Federman, TV Scripted agent at WME; Erika Kennair, Head of Scripted, US and Canada at The Mediapro Studio; Al Madrigal, actor, writer, and comedian; and Gina Reyes, an agent at United Talent Agency.

Andrés Buenahora editor “Snowfall” writer Jeanine Daniels as the inaugural recipient of Humanitas‘ Starz #TakeTheLead Award. Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming for Starz, will present the award to Daniels at The Humanitas Prizes Awards Show and Toast on Sept.

EXCLUSIVE: The Mediapro Studio, which is behind series such as HBO’s The Young Pope and The New Pope, has bolstered its nascent English-language team with two new executive hires.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Malala Yousafzai used Variety’s Power of Women event, presented by Lifetime, to make the case for representation in Hollywood, specifically highlighting the fact that Muslim actors only make up 1% of popular television series leads. “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson presented Yousafzai with her Variety honor, calling her one of “the most influential advocates of our time.” Yousafzai, who remains the youngest Nobel Laureate in history, recently revealed the first slate of projects out of her production company Extracurricular. The outfit, which is headed by Yousafzai and her head of production Erika Kennair, struck a multi-year programming deal with Apple TV+ last year.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Malala Yousafzai — activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner and film and TV producer — is in production on her first project for Apple, Variety can reveal. Her production company Extracurricular has partnered with indie studio A24 for a still-untitled feature documentary on the legendary ‘haenyeo’ society of fisherwomen, who live on South Korea’s Jeju Island. The Apple Original Films title is directed by Peabody Award nominee Sue Kim (“The Speed Cubers”), and is the first project to go into production from Extracurricular’s Apple TV+ partnership, which was struck in March 2021.