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‘Hidden Heroes’ Descendants Movie Adds Darren Criss, Sherry Cola, More

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After revealing the start of production on a new Descendants film featuring the children of some of Disney’s most beloved sidekicks, Disney Channel has added some additional cast members to the upcoming project.

Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story has added Darren Criss as Jiminy Cricket from PinocchioSherry Cola as Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove, James Monroe Iglehart as Genie from Aladdin, Hugo Ateo as Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove, Sean Yves Lessard as Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast and Dan Bakkedahl as Yen Sid from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia.

The adult cast joins the previously announced youth cast, which includes Dior Goodjohn as Jennie, the daughter of Genie from Aladdin; Momona Tamada as Zara, the daughter of Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove; Jacob Rodriguez as Kronk Jr., the son of Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove; Eva Fossaceca Smedley as Meri, the daughter of Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty; and Harry Jones as Lou, the son of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast.

Also Rhys Dawkins, Connor Wong and Kyra Wong will play the Potts Siblings, from Beauty and the Beast.

The film is written by Tamara Chestna, Eydie Faye and Emma Fletcher. Jude Weng is directing. Mark Ordesky and Jane Fleming are executive producers, alongside Gary Marsh and Chestna, who executive produced Descendants: Wicked Wonderland. Louise Hradsky and Jeffrey Mortensen are the choreographers. The movie is produced by Disney Kids & Family. 

Here’s the logline: “Hidden in the center of each fairy tale is a portal to a secret training facility where the descendants of legendary sidekicks are challenged to join the elite ranks of partners to heroes. When a villainous duo comes to Sidekick Academy, a group of fresh recruits must band together — without heroes, without parents — using only their new skills to save the fairytale realm before it’s too late.”

Darren Criss is repped by Gersh, Hyphenate Creative Management, Hansen Jacobsen et al. Sherry Cola is repped by CAA, Stark Management, Ginsburg Daniels Kallis. James Monroe Iglehart is repped by Artists & Representatives. Hugo Ateo is repped by Eric Edwards at Lucas Talent. Sean Yves Lessard is repped by Connekt Creative Inc. Dan Bakkedahl is repped by Gersh Agency, The Characters Talent Agency.

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Phyllida Law Dead: Prolific Actor, Mother Of Emma & Sophie Thompson Was 94

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Phyllida Law, a TV, film and stage actor with more than 140 credits spanning 60-plus years who was the mother of Emma and Sophie Thompson, has died. She was 94.

Her personal manager Jacky Leggo confirmed the news in a statement, saying she “died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all her family” on July 27, but did not provide a cause or place of death.

Born on July 6, 1932, in Glasgow, Scotland, Law studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre school in the 1950s and appeared in several of its stage productions. There she met fellow actor Eric Thompson, whom she would marry in 1957. Their two daughters are two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson and SAG Award winner and multi-Olivier Award nominee Sophie Thompson (Gosford Park).

Law began landing roles on British television in the late 1950s, guesting on such shows as The Lost King, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook and Dixon of Dock Green. She continued working mostly in theater and TV through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s — guest-starring on dozens of series and telefilms — before co-starring opposite Helen Shaver, Lauren Bacall and Malcolm Stoddard in the 1989 feature Innocent Victim aka Tree of Hands.

Along the way was starred onstage with Alec Guinness in 1971’s A Voyage Round My Father in London and played Jacqueline in the original West End cast of La Cage aux Folles in 1986, among other stage productions.

Phyllida Law, far right, with Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Kate Beckinsale and others in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ (1993)

Samuel Goldwyn Films/Everett Collection

In 1992, Law appeared alongside daughter Emma Thompson and others in Peter’s Friends, directed by and co-starring Thompson’s then-husband Kenneth Branagh. The following year, Law again teamed with her daughter in Branagh’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, playing Ursula. She would co-star along with daughter Sarah in the 1996 feature Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. A year later, she again teamed with Emma for a star turn as Elspeth in mother-daughter drama The Winter Guest. The pic from first-time director Alan Rickman won several awards including three at the Venice Film Festival.

Law continued to work regularly through the 2010s, playing Mrs. Watchit in 2002’s The Time Machine starring Guy Pearce and appearing in such features as Albert Nobbs (2011), Miss Potter (2006) and The Waiting Room (2007). She also guested on numerous TV shows after the turn of the century.

Law was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.

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Alex Gibney, Raney Aronson-Rath And More To be Honored At DOC NYC

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EXCLUSIVE: DOC NYC has announced a distinguished group of honorees for its upcoming 13th edition, set to unspool in New York this November.

The annual Visionaries Tribute, to be held on the festival’s opening day at Gotham Hall in Manhattan, will see Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and filmmaker-sound recordist JT Takagi honored with Lifetime Achievement awards.

Gibney, director of a highly anticipated film about Elon Musk that will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, has long been recognized as one of the nonfiction film industry’s leading figures. His numerous credits include the Academy Award-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Primetime Emmy-winning Going Clear: Scientology & The Prison of Belief, and Primetime Emmy winner Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. At Sundance earlier this year, Gibney premiered his documentary Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie.

Takagi serves as executive director of Third World Newsreel, a progressive alternative media center, and teaches at The New School and City University of NY. Her filmmaking credits include Bittersweet Survival; Homes Apart: Korea; The Women Outside, and North Korea: Beyond the DMZ. “As a sound engineer, she has recorded numerous public television and theatrical documentaries that have earned Emmy and Cinema Audio Society awards,” notes a release, “including Yance Ford’s Strong Island and Stanley Nelson’s Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.”

At the Visionaries Tribute, DOC NYC will honor Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Stephen Maing with the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence, named for the pioneering husband-and-wife filmmaking team. The award comes with a $5,000 cash prize furnished by Drew Associates.

Jill Drew, general manager of Drew Associates, said, “Observational documentary demands patience, perseverance, and precision planning. Stephen Maing has proven to be a master of the form. He is also a filmmaker for our times, focusing on characters who confront oppressive power structures. He has a gift not only for wielding a camera, but also for using it as a tool of empathy.”

Maing’s most recent film, The Great Experiment, which he directed with Eric Daniel Metzgar, premiered in March at the True/False festival in Columbia, MO. His previous films include Union, directed with Brett Story; Crime + Punishment; High Tech, Low Life, and The Surrender.

Oscar winner Raney Aronson-Rath (20 Days in Mariupol) will receive DOC NYC’s Leading Light Award, which honors “an individual making a critical contribution to documentary in a role other than as a filmmaker.”

Aronson-Rath serves as editor-in-chief and executive producer of Frontline, the PBS flagship investigative journalism documentary series. She also leads the GBH Documentary Unit, which encompasses Frontline, Nova, and American Experience. Among her recent credits is the Sundance award-winning documentary One in a Million, which Aronson-Rath executive produced.

“The Visionaries Tribute is an annual reminder of the breadth and depth of talent in our field,” commented DOC NYC co-founder and Director of Special Projects Thom Powers, who oversees the Visionaries event. “This year’s honorees exemplify a spirit of truth-telling against the odds. Alex Gibney has made several of the most attention-getting documentaries of the 21st Century. JT Takagi has a remarkable career as both a sound recordist and leader of Third World Newsreel. Stephen Maing has upheld a standard of excellence in observational filmmaking through his works. And Raney Aronson-Rath has led PBS’s Frontline to excel despite deep funding cuts to public television.”

DOC NYC logo.,,,,,,,

DOC NYC

DOC NYC’s competitive sections, as well as features and shorts named to its prestigious Short List section, and other news will be announced in the coming weeks. The festival takes place both in person and online: in-person events run from November 11-19 in New York City at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika. The festival’s online presentations extend through November 29, with online screenings available to viewers across the U.S.

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‘Ragtime’ Sets Lincoln Center Record In Its Final Week; ‘Paranormal Activity’ Sells Out First Four Previews – Broadway Box Office Report

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Broadway’s Ragtime went out on a huge note Sunday, breaking its own box office record to become the highest grossing Broadway show in the history of Lincoln Center Theater. The musical revival, directed by Lincoln Center Theater’s artistic director Lear deBessonet, grossed a whooping $1,963,666 for its final eight performances. Only the 27 productions running […]

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