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Edy Modica Special ‘I’m Just Like You (And It Sucks)’ Sets Veeps Release Date

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EXCLUSIVE: NYC-based comedian, filmmaker and actor Edy Modica is set to unveil her debut comedy special, I’m Just Like You (And It Sucks), exclusively on Veeps on June 26, with a wide release planned for fall.

Produced by Irony Point, the Emmy and Peabody-winning production company behind projects like I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson and Chris Fleming’s lauded HBO special Live at the Palace, Modica’s special sees her discuss her longing for human connection and all of the ways she’s contorted herself in search of it. Whether it be talking to stains on her aunt’s carpet, making out with a pair of brothers on a cruise in 2007, or talking to a stranger about his late girlfriend who died in a car accident, she will stop at nothing to feel and spread love to the world around her.

In the special, directed by Ben O’Brien, which she shot at The Slipper Room in New York City last summer, Edy guides the audience through her life as an angry poor kid, a sexually deviant teen, all the way to where she is now: a poor yet slightly famous, sexually deviant adult, with a passion for Human Connection.

In a statement on the special, the comic observed, “We are all insane, complex perverts which means none of us are! And isn’t that beautiful?!!?!”

I’m Just Like You (And It Sucks) is produced by Taylor Kowalski. Exec producers included Alex Bach and Daniel Powell for Irony Point, O’Brien, and Modica.

Best known for her role in the Emmy-nominated Amazon comedy Jury Duty, Modica has also been seen recurring on Apple’s Shrinking, HBO Max’s Made for Love, HBO’s High Maintenance, and Tracy Morgan’s multicam series Crutch for Paramount+. On the big screen, she can be seen in 20th/Hulu’s Eenie Meanie, starring Samara Weaving, and recently wrapped on the Cameron Diaz-led Netflix film Bad Day, helmed by her Jury Duty collaborated Jake Szymanski.

A Vimeo Staff Pick, Modica’s debut short film Nicole is currently being developed as a half-hour comedy pilot for HBO. The multi-hyphenate is repped by Heroes and Villains Entertainment, UTA, and Myman Greenspan Fox.

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‘Sorry, I Didn’t Know’s Historic ITV Run Extends To Seventh Season

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EXCLUSIVE: Sorry, I Didn’t Know is again extending its record-breaking run on ITV, and this time it appears to have set another high bar.

The British comedy panel show has been renewed for a seventh season, a decade after UK commercial network ITV first commissioned it from TriForce Productions. The re-order extends Sorry, I Didn’t Know‘s record as the longest-running show from a Black-led production company.

Reps for the show say today’s news means it has now also broken the record for the longest-running Black TV show in British history, passing classic Channel 4 sitcom Desmond’s, which ran for six seasons between 1989 and 1994, and BBC Two’s The Real McCoy, which ran on BBC Two between 1991 and 1996 for five seasons and a special ‘Best of’ clip series. Verifying such records is complicated, but both ITV and TriForce are certain it is the case.

Host Chizzy Akudolu will return for Season 7, which will hit screens later this year on ITV1 and streamer ITV. Team captains Richard Blackwood and Eddie Kadi will also return. The show sees Blackwood, Kadi and guests compete in a quiz on Black history. Akudolu was initially a team captain, but replaced Jimmy Akingbola as host for the sixth season.

Filming is taking place this summer in front of a live studio audience in London. Previous guest talent includes Adjoa Andoh, Susan Wokoma, Munya Chawawa, Stephen K Amos, Marcus Brigstocke, Angellica Bell, Richie Anderson, Oti Mabuse, Jordan Stephens, JB Gill, Babatunde Aléshé, Colin Jackson, Seann Walshe and Jamelia. No word on talent for Season 7 just yet.

“We’re so excited Chizzy is taking her place again as queen of the show,” said Fraser Ayers, exec producer for TriForce. “At 10 years and the seventh season, it’s an incredibly special one, and having been in every episode since the pilot in 2016 she’s the perfect host to shepherd us into this next chapter.

“With lots of surprises planned for this series, it’s going to be a special one. We thank ITV for the support they give us to keep making this ground-breaking show, as it seems like a little bit of knowledge, and a lot of laughs, is needed now more than ever.”

The Season 7 order came from ITV’s Director of Entertainment & Daytime Commissioning, Katie Rawcliffe and Entertainment Commissioner Gemma John-Lewis. Ayres, Minnie Ayres and Akingbola exec produce for TriForce. The series editor is Delia Williams.

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Keke Palmer, Jacob Tremblay, Jeremy Irons Projects Set for TIFF Market

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TIFF on Monday unveiled its selection for its first-ever international financing and project market.

Among the highlights is an animated feature with an all-star voice cast, including Keke Palmer, Alan Cumming, Common, and Regina Hall attached; a collaboration between acclaimed Indian-Canadian director Deepa Mehta (Fire, Earth, Water) and Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons; and a drama headlined by Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin (CODA, Children of a Lesser God) and Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder).

The lineup also boasts a new documentary featuring Booker Prize winner Marlon James (Underground Railroad) and a host of projects from Toronto Film Fest alums, including filmmakers Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Shasha Nakhai, Karen Chapman, Darlene Naponse, and Tyler Hagan.

The 51 projects — 40 features, six series, and five innovative or immersive works — all looking for production and financing partners, will be presented at the inaugural TIFF industry market.

“The projects, the award-winning talent, and the enthusiasm amongst key decision makers all reflect the emphasis we’ve placed on closing the loop between the ideas and the investments that fuel our global industry,” said the head of the TIFF market, Charles Tremblay. “When projects find the right champions, opportunities become reality and exceptional stories continue to be developed, financed, produced, and shared with audiences across the globe.”

The projects represent a cross-section of genres, from dramas and documentaries to animation, with a global reach, featuring producers from Canada to Australia, Brazil to India, the U.S. to Zimbabwe.

After years of informal dealmaking in Toronto, TIFF will launch its first fully fledged content market at next month’s event. TIFF: The Market runs alongside the festival from Sept. 10-16.

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Locarno Pro & Open Doors 2026 Winners Unveiled

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The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled the winners of the project and incubator initiatives gathered under its Locarno Pro umbrella and spanning First Look, Alliance 4 Development, and Open Doors

For Open Doors, Talemwa Pius’s A Vineyard For A Lobster (Uganda), Mohammed Sheikh’s Accept My Plea for Burial (Somalia) and Aseye Fiagbe’s Too Much Music (Ghana) shared 50,000 Swiss Francs ($61k) main prize sponsored by Switzerland‘s Visions Sud Est fund.

Pius’s absurdist political allegory, about a drought-hit Ugandan village which awakes to snowfall, and Sheikh’s social thriller, revolving around the accidental death of a young boy in a remote Somali village, both received 20,000 CHF ($24k), while Fiagbe’s music documentary was awarded 10,000 CHF ($12k).

The year-round Open Doors project and talent incubator is in the second year of a four-year cycle devoted to 42 countries across Africa. Some 25 participants connected to six projects gathered in person in Locarno for six days of mentoring and networking during the festival this year.

In other Open Door prizes, Mozambique director Ique Langa’s fantasy romance Chapa 100, won the CNC Development Grant worth € 8,000 ($9.2k).  Tanzanian director Neema Ngelime’s feminist drama The Ones With the Tempered Flowers, about a woman left with conflicted feelings after she is told it is unlikely she will be able to bear children, won the ARTEKino International Award, worth € 6,000 ($6.9k), and the Sørfond Award, under which it will participate in the Sørfond pitching event in Oslo November. 

Additionally, Open Doors partners IFFR Pro, the International Culture Center Tabakalera and San Sebastian Film Festival, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and Sørfond also provided awards to participants. There were also new awards sponsored by EAVE, together with the Film Fund Luxembourg, and African Film Press (AFP) LLC. Scroll down for full list.

Locarno Pro Prizes

In other Locarno Pro 2026 awards (announced separately on Sunday), the First Look work-in-progress showcase devoted to Uruguayan films this year meted out a number of collateral prizes.

Gabriela Guillermo and Irina Raffo’s Spring Story (Historia de primavera), produced by Guillermo and Raffo for L’Avventura Cine and Germán Ormaechea for Animista Cine, won two awards: the Bright Side of the Moon First Look Award, which comes with complete colour grading services, and the Le Film Français Award, worth €5,600 in advertising space.

The jury, comprising Ana David (Programme Advisor at Berlinale), Susana Santos Rodrigues (Co-Director of IndieLisboa), and Triin Tramberg (Artistic Director of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival), praised the film “for its candid depiction of longing and desire which connects those who dare to be driven by it.”

Lorenzo Tocco’s The Surubí, produced by Pancho Magnou Arnabal and Isabel García (Montelona) and co-produced by Kocria (Brazil), took home three awards: the La Mayor Cine Award, which comes with complete sound post-production services, the Music Library & SFX/Acorde Award, worth EUR 45,000 in music supervision services at Music Library & SFX’s labs, and the Jannuzzi Smith Award, the design of an international poster worth EUR 10,000.

In the Alliance 4 Development showcase, aimed at nurturing project co-development between film professionals based in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, Florian Hoffmann’s Yazz, produced by Katrin Renz (tellfilm Switzerland), Nicole Gerhards (NiKo Film, Germany) and Xénia Maingot (Eaux Vives Productions, France), took home the NEBEL Studios Award, estimated at CHF 30,500 for three days of studio use and five days of camera equipment, and the Studio13/Valais Film Commission Award, estimated at CHF 12,000 for 5 days of studio use at Studio13.

Antonio Donato’s Shooting Watermelons, produced by Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Cinedora, Italy), received the Masé Studios Award, worth a CHF 3,000 cash voucher.

The Masé Studios Post-Production Award, worth CHF 25,000 in post-production services, was shared Tamer Ruggl’s Cuore Matto, produced by Francine Lusser and Gérard Monier (Tipimages Productions, Switzerland), and Wendy Pillonel’s Magnetic Storms (Les Orages Magnétiques), produced by Flavia Zanon (Close Up Films, Switzerland).

Jessica Puppo’s Reign of Silures (Le Règne des Silures), produced by Alexis Perrin (Rumble Fish Productions, France), won the Ticino Film Commission Residence Award: a two-day location scout (worth CHF 4,000) plus a Letter of Intent for financial support up to CHF 12,000 should the film shoot in Ticino.

Bruce LaBruce’s Third Take, produced by Nicolas Brevière (Local Films, France), took the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award (consultancy services worth €3,500), and Magnetic Storms also picked up the MIDPOINT Consulting Award, an online script consultancy with a MIDPOINT Institute expert.

In further Locarno Pro prizes, the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest was won by Anne-Marie Miéville’s 1997 work We’re All Still Here, a three-part meditation on philosophy and everyday life featuring Jean-Luc Godard in a rare on-screen role.

Selected by an international jury composed of Amy Homma (Director and President, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection), Leslie Vuchot (CEO and Founder, The Festival Agency), and Nicole T. Allemann (Head of Film Restoration and Lab, Cinegrell Postproduction), the film will undergo a complete restoration by Swiss film lab Cinegrell, to premiere at the 2027 edition of Locarno.

Open Doors 2026 Winners

Open Doors Grant 
 

Vineyard For A Lobster (Uganda)
Dir: Talemwa Pius
Prod: Emmanuel Gashumba (Gripmagic Uganda Limited) Uganda 

Accept My Plea for Burial (Somalia/Djibouti)
Dir: Mohammed Sheikh
Prod: Kadir Harbi (Aleel Films) Somalia/Djibouti 

Too Much Music (Ghana)
Dir: Aseye Fiagbe
Prod: Aseye Fiagbe (Aseye Fiagbe Creative Studio) 

CNC Development Grant 
Chapa 100 (Mozambique)
Dir: Ique Langa
Prod: Lara Sousa (Kulunga Filmes) 

ARTEKino International Award 
The Ones with the Tempered Flowers (Tanzania, Kenya)
Dir: Neema Ngelime
Prod: Ivy Kiru (LBx Africa)

Sørfond Award 
The Ones with the Tempered Flowers (Tanzania/Kenya)
Dir: Neema Ngelime
Prod: Ivy Kiru (LBx Africa)

EAVE Award 
Mamounata Nikiema (Pilumpiku Production), Burkina Faso 

Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award 
I Live in V.I. (Nigeria)
Dir: Ugochukwu Azuya
Prod: Olubunmi Ogunsola (ENSEMBLE)

Rotterdam Lab Award 
Adja Mariam Mahre Soro (Studio KÄ), Ivory Coast 

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) 
Sarah (Angola)
Dir: Pocas Pascoal
 

AFP Critics Prize 
Submergido (Mozambique)
Dir: Ariel Añez
Prod: Joseph Mata
Co-prod: Ariel Añez (Maochas Filmes)

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