Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood will serve as ambassadors of the 30th annual Urbanworld Film Festival taking place Oct. 14-18 in New York City.

The post marks a notable return to Urbanworld for the married filmmakers who have a long history with the festival. Prince-Bythewood screened her adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees at Urbanworld in 2008, and the 2014 festival opened with her romance drama Beyond the Lights. Bythewood also brought ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode “One Night in Vegas” to Urbanworld in 2010 and the BET TV movie Gun Hill in 2013. The pair attended the festival in support of NatGeo’s Genius: MLK/X in 2023 as well.

“Urbanworld has been a consistent touchstone for filmmakers to bring our stories, connect with our community and support the next generation, and it has always felt like home for us,” the pair said in a joint statement. “We’re honored to return as festival ambassadors to celebrate 30 years of Urbanworld while sharing what’s next. Art over fear.”

As ambassadors, the Bythewoods will give audiences a unique look into their personal and creative journeys through special programming at The New School, Urbanworld’s Innovation Summit partner. There will also be a spotlight moment highlighting Prince-Bythewood’s upcoming adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, ahead of its Jan. 15, 2027 release, at Regal Union Square, the festival’s host theater.

“Gina and Reggie represent the caliber of artists and storytellers we want to celebrate at Urbanworld,” said festival director Verona Cesair Jones in a news release. “Their work, leadership and commitment to storytelling have made an undeniable impact on our industry. As I begin my first year leading the festival and Urbanworld celebrates 30 years, we’re proud to honor them as our festival ambassadors and give them their flowers.”

Urbanworld was founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes as a space to champion established and emerging multicultural storytellers; three decades later, Spikes remains committed to that mission.

“Gina and Reggie have been part of the Urbanworld story for many years, and having them return together as festival ambassadors is a powerful way to celebrate our 30th anniversary,” said Spikes. “Urbanworld has always been about creating a platform for artists to tell their stories, build community, and open doors for those coming behind them. Gina and Reggie embody that spirit, and we’re proud to celebrate them as we look toward Urbanworld’s next 30 years.”

Nearly a decade after its formation, American High is expanding in new directions.

This weekend, the production company founded by Jeremy Garelick released Rolling Loud, a comedy starring Matt Rife and Owen Wilson that is loosely inspired by Garelick’s experience losing his 13-year-old son at the eponymous hip-hop festival. One of American High’s biggest productions to date and its largest wide theatrical release, the film raises the question of whether we may see the company move more frequently into theaters after producing the majority of its 20-plus features for Hulu.

American High’s second major October release is Minimum Wage, a short-form, pizzeria-set workplace comedy based on the company’s viral low-budget web series, which landed at Netflix in a highly competitive situation earlier this year. The series marks another expansion beyond Hulu, where American High operates under a first-look output deal, and tests whether IP developed in-house can scale its audience on streaming’s biggest stage. Written, directed by and starring the same group of emerging comedic talents from the web series — including recent SNL hire Grace Reiter — the series premieres its first 14 12.5-minute episodes on Oct. 26, with 14 more to follow.

Run by Garelick and President Will Phelps, American High was founded to fill a gap in the feature market by producing the kinds of teen comedies that are now seldom made elsewhere. Garelick launched the company with initial financial backing from Mickey Liddell’s LD Entertainment after finding success in studio comedy, writing films including The Break-Up and directing titles such as The Wedding Ringer.

In establishing the company’s headquarters, Garelick made an unusual choice that suited his experimental banner: He took over a decommissioned middle school in upstate New York and transformed it into a production facility. From there, American High produced an expansive slate of modestly budgeted features, built a digital sketch operation that has amassed billions of views, and even launched a nonprofit academy for student filmmakers.

More recently, the company has acquired additional real estate in the village of Liverpool, including the pizzeria where Minimum Wage was filmed. With Rolling Loud, American High further expanded its production infrastructure, becoming the first “Resident Creator” at Georgia’s Trilith Studios. The partnership is designed to help the company increase its output while providing access to expanded facilities and virtual production technology.

On Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast, Garelick and Phelps chronicle the origins and evolution of American High and discuss what the company’s recent pair of big swings could signal about its future. They also explore the Hulu deal that helped American High weather the pandemic and the dual Hollywood strikes of 2023; the pros and cons of owning a production facility; the company’s relationship with Liverpool locals; its commitment to emerging talent on both sides of the camera; the duo’s early experiences in show business, including Garelick’s time working for filmmaker Joel Schumacher; and what it would take to bring about a resurgence in theatrical comedy.

Check out the full conversation by clicking above.

Lucy Score’s Knockemout trilogy is on its way to becoming a TV series with the first book, Things We Never Got Over serving as the basis for the first season of Prime Video’s adaptation.

The main cast has been assembled for the latest in the streamer’s ever-growing list of romance book adaptations and coming of age stories. The creative team behind the show has shifted a bit since the adaptation was initially announced.

Read on to learn everything we know about the Things We Never Got Over TV show in the works at Prime Video:

When will Things We Never Got Over come out on Prime Video?

The series hasn’t received a release date yet because it is still in early stages of production.

Is the Things We Never Got Over TV show in production?

Yes, the show is currently shooting in Vancouver, Canada.

Who is in the cast of Prime Video’s Things We Never Got Over TV show adaptation?

The Residence alum Molly Griggs will portray Witt twins Naomi and Tina, who center the first book in Lucy Score’s trilogy. Matthew Noszka (All’s Fair) and Tommy Martinez (Good Trouble, Laid) will portray brothers Knox and Nash Morgan.

Who else is behind Things We Never Got Over at Prime Video?

The Gift and Ringer’s Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder are adapting the series, serving as developers, showrunners and executive producers alongside Gina Girolamo for Strega Stories. Girolamo has an overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Author Score will also serve as co-executive producer.

Amy Rardin, who serves as an executive producer on Prime Video’s Every Year After, was first attached to showrun, executive produce and adapt the book.

What is Things We Never Got Over about?

Naomi Witt is on the run, not just from her fiancé and a church full of well-wishers, but from her entire life. She finds herself in rural Virginia coming to the aid of her hot mess of a twin, she falls for the small town and a sexy local, who helps her rediscover herself.

Knox Morgan is as gruff as they get when he first meets Naomi, mistaking her for her twin sister Tina, who has already wreaked havoc on Knockemout, Virginia. His brother is the Chief of Police, Nash Morgan. What starts out as an innocent move to help her twin sister Tina out becomes an entirely new situation in which Naomi is landed with a niece she didn’t know she had.