movies
Josh Johnson HBO Special ‘Symphony’ Unveils Premiere Date, Trailer
UPDATED, May 6, 10:34 a.m.: HBO has unveiled a premiere date, trailer and logline for Symphony, its first comedy special from Emmy nominee Josh Johnson, which we announced in March.
Symphony will premiere on HBO at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Friday, May 22 and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. The special finds Johnson reflecting on strange childhood experiences, the perils of being labeled “nice,” challenging family dynamics, and navigating life’s most awkward moments.
Watch the trailer for Symphony above, and read more about Johnson’s hour below.
EXCLUSIVE, MARCH 19: Comedian Josh Johnson has landed his first HBO special, Josh Johnson: Symphony, which is set to premiere this spring.
Filming at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, the special will feature original material from Johnson about our shared experiences as humans — tackling topics like family, religion, and relationships through his unique point of view.
Coming on the heels of Johnson’s specials Up Here Killing Myself and #(Hashtag) for Peacock and Comedy Central, respectively, the hour will be directed by Jacob Menache, who is also exec producing alongside Johnson, James Dixon, Daniel Bodansky and John Irwin for Irwin Entertainment.
In a statement to Deadline, Nina Rosenstein, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, Late Night & Special, observed: “Josh Johnson releases more comedy in a year than most people do in a career. He tells stories with an incredible rhythm, and it makes the whole room feel like they’re listening to a friend. There’s a musicality to his work and SYMPHONY captures that perfectly.”
The exec added, “We’re so proud to bring Josh to HBO.”
The comic himself told us, “I’m excited to have my breakout piece be with a company that nurtures vision like HBO does. I’m grateful to them, and you, for watching.”
An Emmy-nominated and NAACP Award-winning writer, stand-up and actor from Louisiana by way of Chicago, Johnson was named on our list of the Comics Who Won 2025. Currently a rotating host and correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, where he was a writer for seven years, he’s just recently concluded his global, 112-city Flowers Tour, which he sold out with zero promoter marketing money.
Uncommonly prolific, Johnson is known for putting out new original material on his YouTube channel each week, which has been viewed over a half-billion times by people all over the world. Last year alone, he released 38 hours of topical stand-up that was performed in front of a live audience. Formerly a writer and performer on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he made his late-night debut in 2017, Johnson is repped by Independent Artist Group, Dixon Talent, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
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movies
ASIFA-Showcase Set For November, New FYC Event From Group Behind Annie Awards
As we draw closer to another awards season, ASIFA-Hollywood has penciled in a new FYC campaign. The group behind the Annie Awards has revealed ASIFA-Showcase, a two-day event of screenings, panels and presentations set for next month in Los Angeles.
Billed as bringing together some of the biggest names in animation, ASIFA-Showcase runs November 14-15 at the Audrey Irmas Pavilion as part of the four-day Infinity Festival Hollywood. The goal is to give ASIFA-Hollywood members an inside look at the films, TV shows and creative talent shaping the year in animation.
ASIFA-Showcase Attendees can see the latest toon features and TV programs amd hear directly from the filmmakers and creative teams behind them as they delve into the artistry, storytelling and shaping animation this awards season. From major studio productions to independent animation, the event is designed to create a place where the animation community can discover new work, exchange ideas and celebrate the artists who bring these stories to life.
Studios in the mix include Apple TV, Crunchyroll, Disney/Pixar, Disney Television, IFC, LAIKA, Marvel Animation, Netflix Animation, Paramount+, Sony Pictures Animation, Tierney Corp, Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation and Warner Bros. Animation
“We wanted to create an event that belongs to the animation community and gives the incredible work being produced across our industry a place to be seen, discussed and celebrated as awards season begins,” said Aubry Mintz, Executive Director of ASIFA-Hollywood. “The Showcase has drawn an extraordinary lineup in its very first year, and we’re excited to bring so many parts of our animation community together in one place.”
ASIFA-Hollywood produces the Annie Awards, the annual celebration of animation whose 2026 ceremony saw eventual Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Kpop Demon Hunters sweep all 10 of the categories for which is was nominated.
The broader Infinity Festival Hollywood features programming across entertainment, animation, gaming, sports and emerging media.
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movies
‘Women Like Us’ Netflix Movie Adds Nine To Cast (EXCLUSIVE)
EXCLUSIVE: Women Like Us, the Netflix film from the Obamas’ Higher Ground and Charles D. King’s Macro Film Studios, has rounded out its cast with nine additions: Greg Tarzan Davis (Top Gun), Melanie Liburd (Bad Boys: Ride or Die), Harry Lennix (The Blacklist), Joy Bryant (Parenthood), Danielle Pinnock (Ghosts), Dewayne Perkins (The Studio), six-time Grammy winner Samara Joy, Tiffany Boone (Mufasa: The Lion King) and Gail Bean (The Drop: A Snowfall Saga).
Character details haven’t been disclosed. Announced in July, the film is led by Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa Williams, Jenifer Lewis and Whoopi Goldberg.
Women Like Us is the story of a recently widowed woman is dragged to the Hamptons by her lifelong best friends and sister on what should have been her 30th anniversary. The weekend becomes a reckoning with grief, with marriage, with the sisterhood that’s carried them throughout the years, and with the realization that dreams don’t have an expiration date.
Tasha Smith is directing from a script by Ali Kinney, with writing from Tracy Oliver. James Lopez and Poppy Hanks are producing for Macro, whose founder King is exec producing. Anikah McLaren and Mark R. Wright are producing for Higher Ground, whose Michelle Obama is exec producing.
Women Like Us is the latest of many projects stemming from a partnership between Netflix and Higher Ground, which won an Oscar for its work on their doc American Factory. Others upcoming include the series The Altruists and All the Sinners Bleed, as well as an untitled mother-daughter comedy starring Julianne Moore.
Davis is repped by CAA, Untitled, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Liburd by Accelerate, Independent Artist Group, Untitled, and Christopher D. Abramson, P.C.; Lennix by Innovative Artists and Untitled; Bryant by Gersh, Principal Entertainment LA, and Schreck Rose Dapello; Pinnock by IAG, Mainstay Entertainment, and Hansen, Jacobson; Perkins by CAA, Artists First, and Schreck Rose Dapello; Boone by CAA, Vault Entertainment, and Toczek Suddleson; and Bean by Innovative, Echo Lake Entertainment, and The Hay Law Group.
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movies
Lindsay Lohan, Henry Golding to Star in Netflix Movie Return to You
For her next lead role, Lindsay Lohan is embracing nostalgia with a very important DVD.
Lohan and Henry Golding are set to star in the Netflix romantic feature Return to You. Lohan also serves as a producer for the film that Mark Waters will direct from a script by Eric Champnella.
Set in 2008, Return to You stars Lohan as a high-powered but lonely attorney who mistakenly receives a heartfelt DVD from a dying woman to her husband. Lohan’s character uses clues from the recording to attempt to track down the husband.
Lohan and Brad Krevoy serve as producers for the movie that counts Olivia Krevoy, Jimmy Townsend and Galen Fletcher as executive producers.
For Lohan, Return to You marks a reunion with Waters, her director on two hit films — 2003’s Freaky Friday and 2004’s Mean Girls — that helped propel her to Hollywood stardom. Lohan reprised her role as Freaky Friday’s Anna Coleman in 2025 sequel Freakier Friday opposite co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, but that feature had Nisha Ganatra in the director’s chair.
Waters’ recent projects include last year’s Netflix romantic comedy La Dolce Villa and the forthcoming biopic Hershey.
Lohan can soon be seen starring on the Hulu series Count My Lies, alongside Shailene Woodley and Kit Harington. Golding is set to star with Brie Larson and Lily Collins in the Amazon MGM Studios comedy Close Personal Friends.
During a recent cover story for Vogue Arabia, Lohan discussed having become more vocal throughout her career. “With age comes a different kind of confidence,” she said. “When I was younger, I wasn’t so comfortable saying how I felt about a character and being involved with the process of it. And I love that part now.”
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