SSN ORIGINALS
The Accidental Turitz: What Can Be Learned from Snapchat’s Risky Original Content Play that Hit the Skids
Earlier this year, Snapchat created Snap Channel that developed original content, but on Monday, the company announced it was shutting down its original content division, known as Snap Channel, and dismissing the members of the team. But more lessons can often be learned from ventures that don’t succeed than those that do. Here, Senior Editor Neil Turitz illuminates Snapchat’s gutsy move. (SSN)
Rep Moves for 10/14/15: Frank Langella Shifts from Paradigm to ICM, UTA Signs Vlogger Kandee Johnson, WME Picks up Viner Ben Phillips
The race is on to land digital clients with UTA signing vlogger and make-up guru Kandee Johnson who boasts 4.8 million followers and WME picking up comedian Ben Phillips who has 1.3 million followers on Vine and 3.5 million followers on Facebook. (SSN)
Film & TV Deals for 10/14/15: Sacha Baron Cohen Launches TV Shingle, Lionsgate Joins Forces with Chinese Online Video platform iQIYI
Sacha Baron Cohen along with former head of All3Media-owned UK producer Objective Productions, Andrew Newman have launched a TV production company titled Spelthorne Community Television. Quvenzhane Wallis, the youngest ever actress to receive a best actress Oscar nomination for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, has inked a deal to publish four books with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. (SSN)
OTHER HEADLINES
James Cameron in Talks with Robert Rodriguez to Direct Alita: Battle Angel Film for Fox
Twentieth Century Fox and producers James Cameron and Jon Landau are in talks with Robert Rodriguez to direct Alita: Battle Angel, the live-action adaptation of the graphic novel series by Yukito Kishiro. Set in the 26th century, it tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg who becomes a hunter-warrior. Within the context of an epic action-adventure, the film will explore a young woman’s journey of self-discovery and finding love. (DL)
Another Day, Another Series for Greg Berlanti Who’s Developing a Futuristic TV Show, The Thousandth Floor
Greg Berlanti has reunited with friend and frequent collaborator Maggie Friedman for a new drama project, The Thousandth Floor, which has been set up at ABC with a script commitment through Warner Bros. TV. Set in 2118, in a thousand-story supertower on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the story centers on a young woman’s fall from the 1,000th floor ignites a scandal that ensnares the top-floor elite and the bottom-floor drones. (DL)
Beloved Comic Book Y: the Last Man Finally Getting TV Series Thanks to FX
Y has it taken so long for one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed comic book series of all time, Y: The Last Man to hit the screen? Not sure, but it’s finally happening thanks to FX. The network is teaming with Vaughan and Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to develop the series about the dystopian sci-fi comic. (THR)
Mission: Impossible’s Rebecca Ferguson in Talks to Star Alongside Michael Fassbender in Uni’s Snowman
Rebecca Ferguson is in early talks to co-star with Michael Fassbender in Working Title and Universal’s The Snowman. The film revolves around Harry Hole (played by Fassbender), a detective who has been featured in 10 of Jo Nesbo’s novels. Described as a loose cannon in the Oslo police force, Hole investigates the disappearance of a woman whose pink scarf is found wrapped around an ominous-looking snowman. (VAR)
Ryan Murphy & Gwyneth Paltrow Prepping a ‘Second Act’ with Musical Dramedy Series One Hit Wonders
Ryan Murphy and his former Glee star Gwyneth Paltrow are prepping a TV version of One Hit Wonders, which they had formerly set up as a film project at Sony. Murphy plans to take the pitch out to cable networks later this year, with Paltrow attached to executive produce and star. Paltrow will play a 40-year-old woman, who 15 years after recording a hit song is broke but gets a call from a record label looking to form a super group. (THR)
Trailer Buzz: Race
Watch the exclusive trailer debut of the upcoming Focus Features release, Race, starring Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, and William Hurt. Based on the true story of Jesse Owens, the legendary athletic superstar whose quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy. (YAHOO)
Secrets of the Most Productive People: Aziz Ansari On The Importance Of Not Being “A Crazy Workaholic”
Aziz Ansari, co-writer and star of the semi-autobiographical new Netflix sitcom Master of None and co-author of the best-selling sociological study Modern Romance gives lessons on productivity.Knowing when to quit for the day is key. “You’ve got to be a person and do other stuff, or you’re not going to be inspired,” he says. (FC)