Following several months of submissions, reading, and re-reading entries from 24 countries around the world, we, along with our partners Ridley Scott, Inkshares publishing, and Energy Entertainment, are thrilled to announce the second round of finalists in our inaugural Launch Pad Manuscript Competition.
2016 Launch Pad alum Kristen Bartlett has recently signed with Mackenzie Roussos, Jonathan Levy, and Gregory McKnight of UTA. Earlier this year, she signed with Brillstein and was also hired as a writer on Saturday Night Live.
Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is set to get a modern makeover from Disney with the help of Ice Cube and Tommy Kail, the director of the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton.
More News From Around The Web
Ed Helms and Tracy Morgan are attached to star in the New Line comedy TAG. Jeff Tomsic will direct the film, which is based on the true story of a group of friends who played a bizarre cross-country version of tag for 30 years. (Variety)
The AFI Fest 2016 will present the world premiere of Disney’s animated film Moana as well as a screening of the documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. (The Wrap)
Lauren Ambrose has been tapped to play the female lead in TNT’s high-profile pilot Monsters Of God. She will co-star alongside Garret Dillahunt in the period drama set in post-Civil War Texas. (Deadline)
After a long and rocky path through development, Sony’s long-gestating Uncharted movie is now taking a big leap forward. Shawn Levy has just been set to direct the video game adaptation, replacing Seth Gordon who departed last year. (/Film)
Julia Garner has been cast as a series regular in Netflix’s upcoming drama series Ozark, opposite Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. (Variety)
Emmy-winning actor Jim Parsons is tackling a drama series project about eight top scientists conducting a grand experiment involving the future of humanity. The project, titled The Terranauts, has been set up at the CW. (Deadline)
Fox Animation has acquired the rights to Kelly Barnhill’s acclaimed children’s novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Marc Haimes of Kubo and the Two Strings has been set to adapt the script for the film which is expected to be a hybrid live-action/animation. (Dark Horizons)
Olga Kurylenko will star at the titular character in the crime thriller Jane Millen, written and directed by Cynthia Mort. The story centers on the titular character, a seasoned cop battling her own demons. (The Hollywood Reporter)
CBS has bought Family Business, a multi-camera comedy from One Big Happy creator Liz Feldman and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. CBS Television Studios, where Feldman is under an overall deal, is the studio. (Deadline)
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