A couple of months after production wrapped on the untitled high-school hockey drama series headlined by Michelle Monaghan, Netflix is revealing more cast members — and a title, The Sticks. NCIS: New Orleans alum Scott Bakula, in his return to television, and Logan Marshall-Green, currently filming Season 2 of his hit CBS series Marshalls, are series regulars, alongside young actress Alex MacIsaac (The Social Reckoning, When Calls The Heart).

Bryan Greenberg (Suits LA, Emily in Paris) and Patrick Gallagher (Big Sky, Night at the Museum) are among seven recurring cast members that had not been officially announced.

Netflix also has released behind-the-scenes first-look images from the set of The Sticks, part of a wave of hockey-themed series that includes hits Crave/HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry and Prime Video’s Off Campus.

The Sticks’ previously unveiled cast includes Monaghan (as Harper Sullivan), Emilie Bierre (as Riley Sullivan), Shai Chase (as Henry Sullivan), Josh Macqueen (as Rhett Nelson), Costa D’Angelo (as Owen Boone), Carter Shimp (as Austin Ryder), Ethan Holder (as Cooper Cunningham), Isaac Arellanes (as Manny Rodriguez), Chloe Avakian (as Izzy Miller), Caleb Baumann (as Elu), River Codack (as Tyler Walker), Angus Albinati (as Jack McGrath) and Callum Orchison (as Derek Marchbanks).

In The Sticks, from Nick Naveda, Bridget Bedard and 21 Laps, after tragedy shatters a small Minnesota hockey town, a grieving wife (Monaghan) steps behind the bench of the team her husband built, guiding a found family of wounded young athletes through a season of loss, love, and rivalry that will decide whether South Dorothy has anything left to believe in, and who will lead it into its next chapter.

Bakula (Quantum Leap) plays Coach Brody; Marshall-Green, currently seen in The Odyssey, plays Coach Sully; MacIsaac, who guest stars on Netflix’s upcoming Hollywood Arts, plays Emma Boone.

Here are more details about the newly announced recurring cast additions:
○ Bryan Greenberg plays Cliff Barnes.
○ Chelsea Field (NCIS: New Orleans, The Last Boy Scout) plays Alice Hansen.
○ Patrick Gallagher plays Principal Montgomery.
○ Alison Araya (Peacemaker, Riverdale, Family Law) plays Joan Garcia.
○ Aman Smardon (Allegiance) plays Kai Becker.
○ Krista Bridges (Narc, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy) plays Frankie Ryder.
○ Ben Cotton (Trinity, The Night Agent, Resident Alien) plays Mr. Marchbanks.

Creator Naveda and showrunner Bedard executive produce the eight-episode series alongside Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Robert Atwood for 21 Laps and director Trey Edward Shults (101, 102).

EXCLUSIVE: United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed writer and director Leah Nelson for representation in all areas as her profile continues to rise thanks to her well received directorial debut Tangles.

The moving animated feature – about a young woman who puts her burgeoning graphic art career in San Francisco on hold to return home to Maine to care for her beloved, feisty mother after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, world premiered to an emotional ovation and critical acclaim in Cannes in May.

The animation features an all-star voice cast led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Seth Rogen, Abbi Jacobson, Sarah Silverman, Bowen Yang, Pamela Adlon, Wanda Sykes, Samira Wiley and Beanie Feldstein.

Nelson co-adapted the screenplay for Tangles alongside Sarah Leavitt and Trev Renney, based on Leavitt’s graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me. Drawing from deeply personal experiences with Alzheimer’s disease, the film marks Nelson’s first feature and first screenplay, bringing an intimate, deeply human perspective to a story about memory, family and caregiving.

Prior to Tangles, Nelson built a successful career as a commercial director and animation filmmaker, known for her emotionally resonant storytelling and distinctive visual style.

After earning a film degree from Emily Carr University, she co-founded the multiple Emmy Award-winning Vancouver animation studio Giant Ant, helping establish it as an internationally recognized creative force across film, television, advertising and branded entertainment.

In 2018, she expanded her creative pursuits by co-founding Kiddo Films, a roster-based commercial production company specializing in live-action comedy and documentary content. As she transitions into long-form filmmaking, Nelson is focused on telling stories that elevate female voices while exploring human behavior and the complexities of family dynamics.

Since Cannes, Tangles has continued its festival run in France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June and will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Centrepiece sidebar.

Nelson continues to be represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Brad Pitt knows that there’s resistance to the use of AI in film, but he thinks it could be useful — at least, for movies that aren’t huge-budget operations.

In a new interview with Esquire released on Monday morning, Pitt said that AI is “going to be a very interesting experiment,” but argued that, if it’s used smartly, it can help.

“There’s a lot of pushback against AI, but AI is going to be the very thing that, if used as a tool, is going to help these mid-budget films, $40 to $90 million-budgeted films, get made,” he said.

Pitt was specifically referring to the process of creating visual effects for movies. When asked about the potential for AI to replace actors altogether — and more specifically, whether AI could have re-created his own performance in his newest movie — Pitt wasn’t as firm about the technology’s ability to help.

“Well, it depends on who’s creating it, you know? Who’s behind it, who’s telling the story,” he said. “Who’s saying, ‘I want to see this emotion from him,’ and then being able to mine through whatever AI provides and going, ‘More in this direction,’ and tailoring it in that way. So they could, but the final product might not be my choices and what I found and discovered in the thing.”

Pitt also noted that actors are being told to scan themselves, a practice commonly used for post-production on stunt work, and noted that he’s always ensured that he owned and subsequently destroyed his own scans.

“I’ve been scanned for the last 20 years, and I’ve always put in my contract: ‘I own them and I destroy them.’ I should have kept them!” he said. “All this time I’ve always had them destroyed, because I’m paranoid Ozark boy.”