Charles John Klosterman is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on American popular culture. He has been a columnist for Esquire and ESPN.com and wrote "The Ethicist" column for The New York Times Magazine. Klosterman is the author of twelve books, including two novels and the essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. He was awarded the ASCAP Deems Taylor award for music criticism in 2002.
Lily Rabe is an American actress. She is best known for her multiple roles on the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story (2011–2021). For her performance as Portia in the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice, she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream media success. The success of the first film led Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
Hamish Linklater is an American actor and playwright. He is known for playing Matthew Kimble in The New Adventures of Old Christine, Andrew Keanelly in The Crazy Ones, and Clark Debussy in Legion. He is the son of dramatic vocal trainer Kristin Linklater.
Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film production label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films that are low budget and that are being released direct-to-disc, on demand, or through streaming services. Some of their films are also being released theatrically. Once a film is finished, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will decide if the film will be released theatrically or on a different platform.
Beastly is a 2011 American romantic fantasy drama film loosely based on Alex Flinn's 2007 novel of the same name. It is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast and is set in modern-day New York City. The film was written and directed by Daniel Barnz and stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer.
Peter L. Wittrock Jr., known as Finn Wittrock, is an American actor who began his career in guest roles on several television shows. He made his film debut in 2004, in Halloweentown High before returning to films in the 2010 film Twelve. After studying theater at The Juilliard School, he was a regular in the soap opera All My Children from 2009 to 2011, while performing in several theatrical productions. In 2011, he performed in playwright Tony Kushner's Off-Broadway play The Illusion and made his Broadway debut in 2012 as Happy Loman in the revival of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols.
Jack Dylan Grazer is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Eddie Kaspbrak in the horror film It (2017) and its 2019 sequel, Freddy Freeman in the DC Extended Universe film Shazam! (2019) and its 2023 sequel, and voicing Alberto Scorfano in the Pixar animated film Luca (2021). The Hollywood Reporter named him one of the top 30 stars under age 18 in 2018.
Tell Me Your Secrets is an American thriller drama television series created by Harriet Warner that was set to premiere on TNT before premiering on Amazon Prime Video on February 19, 2021. The series was also written by Warner who executive produced alongside Bruna Papandrea and Casey Haver.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 2017 film adaptation of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The film is a modern rendition that relocates the story from ancient Athens to present day Los Angeles.
Ed Harris is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. His performances in Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1998), Pollock (2000) and The Hours (2002) earned him critical acclaim in addition to Academy Award nominations. Harris has appeared in several leading and supporting roles, such as in The Right Stuff (1983), Sweet Dreams (1985),The Abyss (1989), State of Grace (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Nixon (1995), The Rock (1996), Stepmom (1998), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Enemy at the Gates (2001), A History of Violence (2005), Gone Baby Gone (2007), Snowpiercer (2013), and Mother! (2017). In addition to directing Pollock, Harris also directed the western Appaloosa (2008). In television, Harris is notable for his roles as Miles Roby in the miniseries Empire Falls (2005) and as United States Senator John McCain in the television movie Game Change (2012), the latter of which earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. He starred as the Man in Black in the HBO science fiction-western series Westworld (2016–2022), for which he earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
The Stand is an American post-apocalyptic fantasy television miniseries comprising nine episodes, based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Stephen King and a remake to the 1994 adaptation. The plot centers on a pandemic resulting from a mishap at a military biological research facility, which allows the escape of a lethal strain of influenza. After the pandemic kills almost the entire world population, the few survivors are drawn to one of two figures, Randall Flagg and Mother Abigail, setting up a final good-vs-evil confrontation. In the novel's dedication to his wife, King describes it as a "dark tale of the ageless struggle between good and evil." The adaptation alters details of some main characters, moves the setting to modern-day 21st century, and features a new final episode co-written with his son, Owen, making it the third variation of the story's conclusion.The first episode was released on Paramount+ on December 17, 2020, and on Starz on 3 January 2021. The series received mixed reviews.
The ninth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled 1984, takes place outside Los Angeles during the 1980s and focuses on the staff of a summer camp reopening after a massacre 14 years prior. It has been described as being heavily influenced by classic slasher films, such as Friday the 13th (1980) and Halloween (1978). The ensemble cast includes Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, Matthew Morrison, Gus Kenworthy, John Carroll Lynch, Angelica Ross, and Zach Villa, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Morrison, Kenworthy, Ross, and Villa. The season marks the first to not feature cast mainstays Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters.
A Mouthful of Air is a 2021 American psychological drama film written, directed and produced by Amy Koppelman, based on her 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Amanda Seyfried, Finn Wittrock, Jennifer Carpenter, Michael Gaston, Amy Irving, and Paul Giamatti.
The tenth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Double Feature, is composed of two stories, each taking up half the season. The first story, Red Tide, focuses on a family in Provincetown, Massachusetts, who meet the town's mysterious true inhabitants. The second story, Death Valley, follows a group of camping students who find themselves in the midst of a conspiracy involving extraterrestrials. The ensemble cast includes veterans Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Finn Wittrock, Frances Conroy, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Adina Porter, and Angelica Ross, as well as newcomers Macaulay Culkin, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Neal McDonough, Kaia Gerber, Nico Greetham, Isaac Powell, Rachel Hilson, and Rebecca Dayan.
The First Lady is an American anthology drama television series created by Aaron Cooley which premiered on Showtime on April 17, 2022. It stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Viola Davis, and Gillian Anderson, among others, and portrays life and family events of three First Ladies of the United States: Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, and Michelle Obama. The series received mixed reviews, with praise for Pfeiffer's and Anderson's performances, as well as the costuming, set design, and themes, but criticism for its pacing, plot, and Davis's performance. In August 2022, the series was canceled after one season.
The Tender Bar is a 2021 American coming-of-age film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by William Monahan. Adapted from the 2005 memoir of the same name by J. R. Moehringer, it recounts Moehringer's life growing up on Long Island. It stars Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Daniel Ranieri, Lily Rabe, and Christopher Lloyd. It was the final film appearance of Sondra James before her death in September 2021.
Long Weekend is a 2021 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Steve Basilone, starring Finn Wittrock, Zoë Chao, Damon Wayans Jr., Casey Wilson, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Jim Rash. It tells the story of a struggling writer named Bart (Wittrock) who meets Vienna (Chao), an enigmatic woman who enters his life at just the right time.
Downtown Owl is a 2023 American comedy drama film directed by Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater, in their directorial debuts, from a screenplay by Linklater. It is based on the 2008 novel by Chuck Klosterman. The film is produced by Rabe, Bettina Barrow, Linklater, and Rebecca Green under Kill Claudio Productions, Three Point Capital and Esme Grace Media, in association with Stage 6 Films. It stars Rabe, Ed Harris, Vanessa Hudgens, August Blanco Rosenstein, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wittrock, and Henry Golding.
The Nickel Boys is an upcoming American historical drama film based on the 2019 novel by Colson Whitehead. It was directed by RaMell Ross, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes, and stars Aunjanue Ellis, Ethan Herisse, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater and Brandon Wilson.
