Miep Gies: Last News

The streaming wars have led to an excellent time for well-crafted television. The quality of TV shows keeps elevating with compelling dramatic performances from actors from both the worlds of film and television alike as it’s not as taboo these days to move between the two mediums.

Aramide Tinubu There has been no shortage of television series centering the horrors of the Holocaust. Last year alone, Netflix’s “Transatlantic” depicted a group of resistors living in Marseille, and National Geographic’s “A Small Light” offered a retelling of Anne Frank’s experience through the eyes of Miep Gies, the woman who aided the Franks during their years in hiding. Though both of these series and those like them are important, Hulu‘s “We Were the Lucky Ones,” an adaptation of Georgia Hunter’s best-selling novel based on a true story, showcases something different.

Marta Balaga “Peaky Blinders” breakout Joe Cole enjoyed “little moments of levity” in his upcoming show “Nightsleeper.” “I play a lot of serious, moody characters. But I read this role and went: ‘This is close to me as a person.’ I could be free and use my life experience, everything I have been through. I try to have fun in life and bring it to the parts I play.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Writers of nine limited series ranging from “A Murder at the End of the World” to “Tiny Beautiful Things” traded shop talk and stories of how they crafted muscular worlds to tell extended, standalone stories. Ed Solomon of Max’s “Full Circle” astounded the crowd at Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room at Hollywood’s NeueHouse with the origin story of his 586-page spec script for the twisty thriller.

Liev Schreiber‘s son Sasha is almost just as tall as he is!

Editor’s note: The interviews conducted in this podcast were recorded at Deadline’s Contenders TV event, prior to the WGA’s strike starting on May 2.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Musical tag-teaming doesn’t have results much more fruitful than what came about when the showrunners of “A Small Light” picked Ariel Marx to compose the score for the limited series and Este Haim to serve as executive music producer. Neither Haim nor Marx was in a position to take anything about the job lightly, given that the eight-episode series for National Geographic and Disney+ tells the story of a Dutch woman, Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis. Yet, in their very separate roles, both found ways to bring musical light or even levity into a drama that inevitably skews toward tension. Este Haim took on the EMP job for the first time with “A Small Light” after previously scoring or co-composing “Maid” and “Cha Cha Smooth” — on top of her day job as one-third of the rocking sister trio Haim. For “A Small Light,” she produced episode-ending covers of songs from the first half of the 20th century, performed by Angel Olsen, Moses Sumney, Kamasi Washington, Sharon Van Etten with Michael Imperioli, Remi Wolf, Weyes Blood, duet partners Orville Peck and King Princess, and her sister Danielle.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor National Geographic’s “A Small Light” takes the well known story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid in a cramped Amsterdam attic with her family during the Nazi occupation, and presents it though a new lens. The narrative focuses on a tenacious young woman, Miep Gies (Bel Powley), Otto Frank’s secretary, who risked everything to save the Frank family and many others. While the story centers around the horrors of World War II, the story finds resilience and hope through it all. Here the artisans behind the limited series break down how their respective crafts reflect hope, resilience and the atrocities of war.

Bel Powley and Este Haim are celebrating their new series A Small Light with a screening party at the San Vicente Bungalows on Thursday (June 15) in West Hollywood, Calif.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Bel Powley stars in the National Geographic series “A Small Light” as Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide Otto Frank and his family during WWII. During a reception for the show Thursday at the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood, the actor recalled being on set when she first heard about Kanye West’s antisemitic comments in October 2022. “We were filming the show when all of the Kanye stuff was happening,” Powley told me. “I was obviously living in the world of the show, which has a lot of Nazi rhetoric because we’re making a show about the Nazi occupation in 1942, but then suddenly seeing and hearing that same rhetoric spoken now by a world-famous celebrity with huge influence was so freaky and unsettling and saddening.”

Behind the tragic story of Anne Frank and her family, there is an oft-unsung hero who risked her life to protect them in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

Aramide Tinubu The story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid in a cramped attic with her family during the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam, is widely known, and amid the atrocities of the Holocaust, Anne’s diary presents a story of resilience and unrealized dreams. Nat Geo’s new limited series “A Small Light” isn’t Anne’s story, though the precocious teen’s legacy is embedded throughout. The brainchild of former “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, the series is a tale of resistance, activism and humanity. The narrative centers on one tenacious young woman, Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s secretary, who risked everything to save the Frank family, and countless others. Beautifully shot by Phelan, Susanna Fogel and Leslie Hope, with a slight sepia tone to ground the audience in the time period, the series opens on July 6, 1942, when the Frank family goes into hiding. Miep (Bel Powley) is tasked with getting Otto’s (Liev Schreiber) eldest daughter Margot (Ashley Brooke) through a Nazi checkpoint and into the secret annex above the office building where Miep and Otto work. Quick thinking and determined, Miep ushers the teen to safety via bicycle past the gun-toting and cruel German soldiers. It’s the first of many risks she takes to combat the racist, authoritarian regime.

A Small Light.The eldest sister and bassist in Haim will be joined by composer Ariel Marx in creating the soundtrack to the Disney+ and National Geographic series that focuses on Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who hid Anne Frank and her family during the Holocaust of World War II.According to Billboard, the soundtrack will include covers of classic hits from stars like the bassist’s sister and bandmate Danielle Haim, along with Kamasi Washington, Angel Olsen, Weyes Blood, Remi Wolf and Moses Sumney.The soundtrack will also feature duets between Sharon Van Etten and Sopranos star Michael Imperioli as well as King Princess and Orville Peck.“I can’t begin to express what an honour and a privilege it is to be a part of this series, especially as my first role as an EMP,” shared Este.“Miep’s story is one of a modern woman standing up for what is right, and that should continue to inspire all of us. I am so thrilled to be able to help bring this to life through the power of music,” she added.Each week, two songs from A Small Light will be made available to stream.

Most people have learned the story of Anne Frank. In many schools, her story is taught in history classes and her diaries are read as classic works.

The first premiere of National Geographic’s A Small Light took place in Amsterdam!

A Small Light star Bel Powley and creator, writer and executive producer Joan Rater joined Deadline’s Contenders TV event Saturday to discuss the Holocaust-centric series and the importance of highlighting a different aspect of the era onscreen. 

of Anne Frank, the young woman who kept a diary during her time hiding from the Nazis during World War II and who, along with most of her family, was killed in the Holocaust. But the story you may not be as familiar with is that of Miep Gies, who went to great lengths to hide the Franks and other families for two years. Now Gies's story is coming to the small screen across several Disney properties in the eight-part limited series A Small Light, which as Gies and Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank, Anne's father.

Prime Video’s Rachel Weisz-starrer “Dead Ringers,” Paramount+’s “Fatal Attraction, with Lizzy Caplan, and Joshua Jackson, and Netflix’s awaited French bio “Tapie” pack out a 6th Canneseries which boasts its biggest U.S. presence yet, with titles from nearly all the major global streamers. They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will also be represented by Korean smash hit “Bargain.” The main Competition features seven world premieres, Lewi said at a Paris lineup presentation on Tuesday. 

A Small Light, National Geographic’s limited series that depicts the Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis, steers clear of pointing any fingers at the person (or people) who betrayed the family.

EXCLUSIVE: Amira Casar (The Contractor), Billie Boulet (The Worst Witch) and Ashley Brooke (The Blacklist) are set as series regulars, joining Bel Powley, Liev Schreiber and Joe Cole in A Small Light, a National Geographic limited series that tells the remarkable story of a Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis for more than two years and then preserved Anne’s diary. The project comes from Grey’s Anatomy alums Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, Susanna Fogel, ABC Signature and Keshet Studios.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBel Powley, Liev Schreiber, and Joe Cole are set to lead the limited drama series “A Small Light” at Disney Plus, Variety has learned.The eight-episode National Geographic series tells the true story of Miep Gies (Powley), who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis.20-something secretary Gies didn’t hesitate when her boss Otto Frank (Schreiber) asked her to hide him and his family during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan (Cole) and several other everyday heroes watched over the eight souls hiding in the secret annex.