Updated every Friday 12:00 PM
April 5 - April 11

APPLE TV
Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for the second season of “The Big Door Prize,” the critically acclaimed and character-driven comedy from Emmy Award-winning creator David West Read (“Schitt’s Creek”). The 10-episode second season will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 with three episodes, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through June 12, 2024...

Jeremy Allen White is in talks to play Bruce Springsteen in an upcoming biopic. White is best known for playing the lead character in the Hulu series The Bear. The actor has been nominated for multiple awards for this role, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The movie will be an adaptation of the 2023 Warren Zanes book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Like the proposed plot of the movie, the book follows Springsteen on his journey to make his sixth studio album. Unlike earlier work on songs like “Born to Run,” Nebraska includes a darker and stripped-down collection of songs. The album includes the singles "Atlantic City" and "Open All Night."...

Italy’s Cinecittà Studios, which have been undergoing a radical overhaul since 2021, recently released their fiscal 2023 results, which saw the Rome-based facilities turn a profit for the second year in a row after bleeding red ink for years. The iconic studios are being managed by Nicola Maccanico, a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec who last year lured big shoots such as Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die” starring Anthony Hopkins and Netflix’s period soap “The Decameron” to the government-run “City of Cinema.” Last year, the studios were able to maintain a 70% occupancy level despite the impact of the Hollywood strikes and are on track to keep that level this year with several big Hollywood shoots coming soon, though NDAs are keeping details under wraps...

“The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer has donated signed posters to the Cinema for Gaza auction, which has collected gifts from major names in the U.K. entertainment industry to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians. Before the fundraiser officially began on Tuesday, Glazer and “Zone of Interest” producer James Wilson donated seven “Zone of Interest” posters and a selection of posters from his 2014 film “Under the Skin.” The posters will be signed by Glazer, Wilson and composer Mica Levi, who scored both films. The gift is one of the most in-demand items in the auction, with a current bid of £2,750 ($3,450). The auction has currently raised over £42,000 ($52,800)...

Georgia has dropped an effort to cap its billion-dollar film and TV tax credit, after the state House and Senate could not reach agreement on the issue. Lawmakers have been working for nearly a year on proposals to rein in the incentive, which is the largest of any state in the nation. But the General Assembly adjourned its session early Friday morning without passing a bill on the subject out of both houses. Legislators will now have to wait until the next session, beginning in January 2025, to address the issue. The failure to pass a bill is a reprieve for the Georgia film industry, which relies heavily on the incentive and had been watching the legislation closely. The Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition, which represents studios and other industry stakeholders, hailed the outcome as proof that the state remains “open for business.”...

Five documentary filmmakers have been chosen to receive Catapult Film Fund‘s annual research grant. Each recipient will receive $10,000 in direct support and six months of mentorship from industry advisors to support new nonfiction projects. The Bay Area-based nonprofit organization launched its latest artist-centered program in 2020 to address issues of career sustainability and diversity in the documentary industry. This year’s selected filmmakers are Hazel Gurland-Pooler, Set Hernandez, Arielle Knight, Tracy Heather Strain, and So Yun Um. During the program, which begins in April, grant recipients are paired with an advisor based on their specific project needs and goals. This year’s advisors include Oscar-winning director Steven Bognar (“American Factory“), Oscar nominated helmer Yance Ford (“Strong Island,” “Power”), Emmy award-winning editor and director Geeta Gandhbir (“Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power”), Emmy Award-winning executive producer Simon Kilmurry (“Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy”), and Emmy award-nominated director Michèle Stephenson (“Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”)...