J.J.Johnson: Last News

Monumental Travesties, written by playwright-in-residence Psalmayene 24.“My thought was we would go to the rehearsal room, show you that,” he says, leading me through a maze of hallways, and up a stairway to the second floor. “And then meet Psalm and everybody, and then we could sneak peek into the theater.”Douglas is directing Monumental Travesties, a sharp, D.C.-set comedy centered around a Black performance artist’s radical response to the Emancipation Memorial, that statue of Lincoln lording over a formerly enslaved man on his knees erected nearly 150 years ago in Capitol Hill’s Lincoln Park.Featuring Renee Elizabeth Wilson, Jonathan Feuer, and Louis E.

EXCLUSIVE: The latest instalment in Sinking Ship Entertainment’s Dino kids TV franchise has gone into production.

Selome Hailu “One Step Closer,” the theme song for Apple TV+’s upcoming kids and family series “Jane,” is performed by Leona Lewis from music and lyrics written by Diane Warren. The series follows nine-year-old Jane (Ava Louise Murchison), a budding environmentalist who looks up to Dr. Jane Gooddall and is on a quest to save endangered animals with the help of her best friends, David (Mason Blomberg) and Greybeard the chimpanzee. Warren has also pledged to donate a portion of her profits from the song to the Jane Goodall Institute, a global community conservation organization founded by Goodall. “When I was asked to write the song for Apple TV+’s new series based on Jane Goodall’s mission, I couldn’t say yes fast enough,” she said. “She is my hero. The work she has done has inspired so many including me, and now she has inspired my song, ‘One Step Closer.’ I am so excited to be a part of this! Leona Lewis was the perfect artist for this since along with being one of the best singers in pop music, she is also a fellow animal advocate warrior.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Samantha Bee and Kristen Everman’s Swimsuit Competition production company is partnering with Sinking Ship Entertainment to produce a sketch comedy series for kids, Variety has learned exclusively. Titled “Best Day Ever,” the single-camera show is described as having a style similar to more adult-themed sketch shows like “I Think You Should Leave” and “Key and Peele,” but featuring adults only in supporting roles. The show hails from producer, director, and writer Allana Harkin. The project will be taken out at MIPCOM 2022. “Eleven year old Samantha Bee just blushed so hard she fell off her banana seat bike,” said Bee. “Also, she would have killed for a show like this.”

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Freevee coming-of-age drama series Beyond Black Beauty has begun principal photography, with shooting of the Amazon Studios, Sinking Ship Entertainment and Leif Films show underway in Canada.

EXCLUSIVE: Chinese streaming service Youku has acquired two seasons of Amazon Prime Video’s Canadian live-action series Dino Dana.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has given a straight-to-series order for the children’s series “Jane” from J.J. Johnson, Sinking Ship Entertainment, and the Jane Goodall Institute.The series is titled “Jane.” It will feature a mixture of live-action and CGI as it follows Jane Garcia, a 10-year-old girl with an active imagination.

Is A&E enabling police brutality? That’s what investigators are looking into after a Black Texas man died following a dramatic police chase, while Live PD cameras captured the whole thing.