If you happen to be passing a newsstand, check out the new issue of Sci Fi Magazine (February 2018 issue) which contains my "TV in Focus" section interviews with Eme Ikwuakor (Marvel's Inhumans). Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Patrick Fischler (Happy!), Patrick Gilmore (Travelers), Ashley Johnson (Blindspot), Joel Anderson Thompson (Superstition), Rachel Nichols (The Librarians) and Maisie Richardson-Sellers (DC's Legends of Tomorrow) as well as feature interviews with the cast of Marvel's Runaways, Danielle Panabaker (The Flash) and John Cho (The Exorcist). Thanks as always for your continued support!
Autumn Reeser and David Haydn-Jones in A Bramble House Christmas. Photo copyright of Hallmark.
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $50,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again? Starring Autumn Reeser (The O.C., Salvation), David Haydn-Jones (Supernatural), Teryl Rothery (Stargate SG-1) and Andrew Airlie (The Romeo Section), A Bramble House Christmas airs Sunday, November 19th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Enjoy the promo below and then make a point to tune in!
Andrew Airlie and Teryl Rothery in A Bramble House Christmas. Photo copyright of Hallmark.
Julie Benz and Michael Shanks in Christmas Homecoming. Photo copyright of Hallmark.
A military widow rents an apartment to an Army Captain recovering from an injury in battle. As they team up to save the town’s military museum with a Christmas fundraising event, these two “wounded birds” find themselves falling in love -- and being healed by the magic of Christmas. Christmas Homecoming stars Julie Benz (Defiance) and Michael Shanks (Stargate SG-1) and airs Saturday, November 18th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Check out the promo below and then make sure to tune in!
May Westbrook (Demetria McKinney) and Isaac Hastings (Mario Van Peebles). Photo copyright of SYFY.
This week on Superstition, while on a case, May (Demetria McKinney) is sucked into a mysterious mirror world. The Hastings must save her before the witch that inhabits the mirror world escapes using May’s comatose body as a free ride. Through The Looking Glass airs Friday, November 10th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/9:00 p.m. CT on SYFY (US).
Circus zombies are all the rage this week on "Warren's Wedding." Photo copyright of SYFY.
This week on an all-new episode of Z Nation, shaken by the death of Lucy and losing faith in Warren's dream, our heroes come upon a group of evil "Zuggalo" clown-style bandits torturing a captive. Something snaps in Murphy (Keith Allen) and Warren (Kellita Smith) is unable to stop Murphy and the others from committing an atrocity as misplaced revenge for the death of Lucy. Check out the clip below from Warren's Wedding and then make sure to tune into SYFY (US) on Friday, November 10th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CT.
SYFY announced today additional casting for its upcoming Deadly Class pilot. Based on the graphic novel series of the same name, Deadly Class follows a disillusioned teen recruited into a storied high school for assassins. Maintaining his moral code while surviving a ruthless curriculum, vicious social cliques, and his own adolescent uncertainties may prove fatal. Set against the backdrop of late 80s counter culture, DEADLY CLASS is a coming of age journey unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Benedict Wong.
Benedict Wong is set for the role of “Master Lin,” the headmaster of the School for the Deadly Arts. Deadly and feared. He's an ever-changing chameleon who keeps his students desperate for his approval. British actor Wong is best known for his roles in Dr. Strange, The Martian, and recently starred in Marco Polo. Recent television credits include Black Mirror: Hated In The Nation, Electric Dreams and Blade Runner: Nexus Dawn. Next year Wong will star in Avengers: Infinity War and Alex Garland’s “Annihilation.
Benjamin Wadsworth.
Benjamin Wadsworth will play “Marcus.” At one point we were all Marcus, an awkward outcast full of social anxiety struggling to find his place in the cold and brutal world of high school. Marcus is bottled rage, if his life had been normal this kid might have been an artist, even a poet. Instead he’s had to survive life on the streets of San Francisco. His eyes show it. He’s morally centered in an unethical world. A Houston, Texas native, Wadsworth was last seen in the hit series finale episode of Teen Wolf. Just last year he played the leading role of “Henry” in the TV pilot adaptation of the feature film, Let The Right One In.
Lana Condor.
Lana Condor will play the role of “Saya,” mysterious and guarded with a deadly reputation. Saya was banished from one of the top Yakuza clans in Japan, sent to the School for the Deadly Arts to redeem herself. Driven to be the valedictorian, nothing will stand in her way. In 2016, Condor made her feature film debut in X-Men: Apocalypse. In 2017, Condor appeared in Patriot’s Day alongside Mark Wahlberg and as “Allison” in James Franco’s High SchoolLover. She can next be seen as “Koyomi” in James Cameron’s highly anticipated film, Alita: Battle Angel out in 2018.
Maria Gabriela de Faria.
Maria Gabriela de Faria is set for the role of “Maria.” One minute Maria’s an extrovert and an exhibitionist, a tornado of ever changing emotions—fierce, charming, beautiful and oozing femininity -- the next she’s murderous, feral, and crippled by rage. At the School for the Deadly Arts her instability is treated like a super power. De Faria most recently starred as “Franky” in the Latin America hit series Yo Soy Frankyand will soon be seen in the starring role of “Zaita” in season two of acclaimed period drama Sitiados. De Faria has been nominated for eleven Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, winning seven assorted “Favorite Actress”, “Favorite Villain” and “Favorite Character” 2010 and 2016. She was nominated for “Favorite Latin Star” in the US Kid’s Choice Awards tin 2016.
Luke Tennie.
Luke Tennie will play “Willie,” a hardened gangster, but underneath is an honest and thoughtful person who would rather be reading comic books and listening to music than engaging in blood work. Forced by his mother, leader of an LA gang, into the School for the Deadly Arts, he is under endless pressure to become the thing he hates most. The Deadly Class pilot will be Tennie’s first TV gig. He has two features coming out: Rob Reiner’s film Shock and Awe opposite Woody Harrelson and James Marsden; lead in indie film Vengeance from director Dallas Jackson.
Liam James. Photo courtesy/copyright of Brian Higbee.
Liam James is set to play “Billy,” skater punk, son of a corrupt cop and now a misfit at the school. He's off kilter and high energy. Billy combats every situation with sarcasm and humor. Always a glimmer of mischief in his eye. James was most recently seen starring opposite Joan Allen in the series TheFamily, created by Jenna Bans. Prior to that, he played the coveted lead role of “Duncan” in The Way, Way Back, starring opposite Steve Carrell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney. James was also a cast member of critically acclaimed drama The Killing playing opposite Mireille Enos as her son.
Michel Duval.
Michel Duval is set for the role of “Chico,” scary, muscular, son of a cartel drug lord. Everyone knows not to mess with Chico. The only one who can hurt him is his girlfriend. Duval is a series regular in Señora Acero now in its fourth season. He starred in the TV Series Ultimo Año and played one of the lead roles in the Mexican version of Gossip Girl. In theatre he participated in Romeo and Juliet and Pericles, both productions premiered in NY. You can also see him in the second season of Queen of the South in a guest star role.
Additionally, the following guest cast have been confirmed: Henry Rollins (renowned Musician, Sons of Anarchy) will recur as Jürgen Denke, Taylor Hickson (Aftermath) as Petra, Siobhan Williams (UnREAL) as Brandy, Jack Gillett (Storker) as Viktor, Sean Depner (Last Night in Suburbia) as Lex and Ryan Robbins (Pure) as Rory.
Deadly Class is produced by Universal Cable Productions and Sony Pictures Television. Adam Targum, Rick Remender, Miles Orion Feldsott, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, and Lee Toland Krieger serve as executive producers.
Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia) in "We Need To Talk About Abigail." Photo copyright of SYFY.
This week on Ghost Wars, as Val (Luvia Petersen) organizes a civil defense force to protect the town, her twin daughter Abigail (Sarah Giles) goes missing. Jimmy leads the charge to find the young girl, employing Roman’s (Avan Jogia) medium skills and anyone else who’s willing to set foot in the treacherous forest on the outskirts of town. We Need to Talk About Abigail airs Thursday, November 9th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/9:00 p.m. CT on SYFY (US).
Vanessa (Kelly Overton) in "Veritas Vincit." Photo copyright of SYFY.
This week on an all-new episode of Van Helsing, Vanessa's (Kelly Overton) past rushes back to confront her in an unexpected way. Meanwhile, a secret that Doc (Rukiya Bernard) has been protecting is revealed. In a bid to bolster his power, Dmitri (Paul Johansson) sends Scab (Rowland Pidlubny) on an impossible mission. Check out the clip below and then tune in to SYFY (US) for Veritas Vincit on Thursday, November 9th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CT.
David Hewlett stars in Hewlogram. Photo copyright of Red Giant.
Fans of actor David Hewlett no doubt enjoyed watching him journey to far-away galaxies as astrophysicist Dr. Rodney McKay in Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and SGU: Stargate Universe. Long before that, those same admirers might also remember him demonstrating his medical expertise as Dr. Nicholas Elder in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and/or as wheeler-dealer Grant Jansky in the popular Canadian TV drama Traders. Not one who creatively prefers to remain within the confines of the proverbial box, Hewlett recently teamed up with filmmaking and motion graphics company Red Giant, specifically its head of marketing, Aharon Rabinowitz, to shoot the aptly-titled short film Hewlogram.
The project was originally planned as a commercial to showcase Red Giant’s latest visual effects software tools, but it morphed into a wonderful feel-good romp that pays homage to the 1982 feature film Tron and the 1983/84 TV series Automan. Never in a million years did the actor think his passion for visual effects (VFX) would ultimately lead to him becoming a blue-suited holographic crime-fighter.
Aharon Rabinowitz (as Aharon/Hewlopuppet) and Niki Morrissette (as Bad Ass Lady Cop). Photo courtesy/copyright of Red Giant.
“I’m obsessed with VFX and I spend a great deal of time watching VFX tutorials online,” says Hewlett. “In many cases nowadays, the VFX are the ‘stars’ of movies that I go to see. They’re also a big part of why I originally got into this business, because of the appeal of all the gorgeous VFX I watched growing up. So I stumbled upon and then subsequently became a huge fan of the guys at Red Giant. However, I found them, not because of their effects, but because of this short film they made called Old/New, narrated by Patton Oswalt. I thought it was the best short film I’d ever seen, and an Oscar-worthy short film as well. That’s before I even found out that it was basically a promo for Red Giant’s new software.
“So I began Tweeting about how much I loved Old/New, and as a weaselly kind of joke I also said, ‘I will act for software.’ Well, Aharon Rabinowitz took me up on that. He was so incredibly supportive and at first sent me some of their software, which I began playing with, along with these personalized tutorials. He’s such a fellow nerd and, like me, gets so excited about this kind of stuff. The two of us started talking, and Aharon mentioned this short film to me that he wanted to do. For anyone who wants someone from film or TV to be in their movie, my advice is to just name the film after that person. Flattery will get you everywhere,” jokes the actor.
(L-R): Behind-the scenes with Niki Morrissette, David Hewlett and Aharon Rabinowitz. Photo courtesy/copyright of Red Giant.
“Aharon asked me if I would shoot a couple of things on green screen that he could then put in the film, and I said, ‘Well, New York isn’t that far away. Why don’t I come down there and shoot with you guys. It would be way more fun.’ So that’s what I did, and I spent the best weekend with these amazing New York actors, personalities, filmmakers, VFX people and nerds. It was so wonderful, and the neat thing is, Aharon is genuinely excited about this stuff, because they’re not just promoting the software with these films. It’s more like a lifestyle. This is stuff for people who want to make the films they dreamed about making as kids. There is such a huge gap between big-budget films and the tiny low-budget ones, and people just assume that if it’s a little budget, then you can’t do visual effects. Well, Red Giant makes the kinds of tools that pretty much allow [film] students to make Hollywood-type films.
“It’s tremendously exciting to me that you can do that, not to mention working with people who love to do that and ‘live’ in the world of visual effects. Aharon did an amazing job of putting together this group of people and getting them involved in making this film. I’ve spent so much of my career working on the business side of things, and I think sometimes you forget the art side of it. I’ve been very, very lucky that the last few projects I’ve done have reminded me of that, between The Shape of Water [written, directed and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro], Hewlogram and [writer/director/executive producer] Roger Avary’s Lucky Day. I worked on these three things purely because I wanted to do them, with the business side being sort of entirely secondary, and in the case of Hewlogram, not a part of it at all. Honestly, this is the type of stuff that, when I’m done, dusted and not doing this anymore, I will sort of smile fondly about and enjoy thinking back on the most.”
(L-R): Chuck Wagner (TV's Automan) and David Hewlett. Photo courtesy/copyright of Red Giant.
Among the creative souls that Hewlett had the chance to work with on Hewlogram is Chuck Wagner, who played the title role in Automan. “What a lovely guy, and, again, someone who was there because he loves it,” enthuses the actor. “He loved Automan and, in fact, when he came to New York to work with us, he brought along his Automan action figure. The thing is, Chuck had an action figure when it was a rare thing. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, a total professional and had no attitude whatsoever.
“The entire Hewlogram cast was fantastic, including Joel Brady, who basically plays the Hewlett role of the tech guy. He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Joel and I really hit it off, and to this day we’re still trading insulting texts with each other,” says Hewlett with a laugh.
If you went back in time and purchased Hewlogram on VHS, this is what the box might look like. Photo courtesy/copyright of Red Giant.
If you grew up during the 70’s and 80’s, Hewlogram will definitely bring up feelings of nostalgia for you. Make sure to watch it more than once, too, as you will spot new things with each viewing. “Aharon was meticulous when making this film,” notes Hewett. “I think there’s sometimes a tendency to make fun of these things. There’s a very fine line between mocking something and lovingly making it funny, and I think it was really important to everyone involved that Hewlogram didn’t mock this era. This is the era that got me into acting, and yes, some of the shows and movies seem cheesy now. At the time, though, it wasn’t so much about how they were done, but more about the promise that they put out there for you.
“That’s the thing with Science Fiction. You often look past the cheesy effects, shaky sets and the rubber aliens stuff, because it’s the intent, and not the actual way it’s made. I think Aharon has done a beautiful job of going back and using today’s technology - which could have made everything look really cool and slick – and made Hewlogram truly look like it was of the time. I cannot say enough good things about this guy. Aharon loves making movies, and I hope he gets the opportunity to do it again. If he does, I hope I get to do it again with him as well.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photos courtesy/copyright of Red Giant, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
Erin Krakow & Niall Matter in Engaging Father Christmas. Photo copyright of Hallmark.
It’s Christmas and Miranda (Erin Krakow) leaves Seattle with a suitcase full of presents to join her long- lost family in Carlton Heath, where she will experience the joyful traditions she missed as a child. Last Christmas, Miranda fell in love with Ian (Niall Matter), a local man who helped her as she searched for her father, James Whitcomb, a famous theatre actor she believed had a connection to the town. At his widow Margaret’s (Wendie Malick) request, Miranda agrees to keep it a secret to protect the family from scandal. This Christmas, she fears the warm welcome she received from the Whitcomb family will soon turn cold when Miranda receives an anonymous text from someone who threatens to expose her identity. Check out the preview clip below from Engaging Father Christmas and then make sure to tune in Sunday, November 12th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel.
