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Countless ink has been spilled and millions of feet have been shot about living in Los Angeles, and how it feels like you’re always on the precipice of apocalypse. With what we’ve seen and lived through, this past week that feeling was all too real.

Almost everyone in LA knows someone who’s lost everything in the wildfires that cut through the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and elsewhere. Its heartening to see Angelenos come together to help each other through volunteering, mutual aid and donations, and heartbreaking to see the GoFundMe pages that have been created for family after family. Our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by the wildfires in LA and beyond.

Los Angeles is more than just our home; it is the heart of Film Independent. This community is a big part of who we are, and we stand by your side during these challenging times.

Divorce in the Black is a thriller drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry. The Prime Video film follows the story of Ava, a young woman as he leaves her abusive husband and goes back to her parents. When she meets the one true love of her life again, her ex-husband begins stalking her and now she has to do everything legal and illegal to get away from him. Divorce in the Black stars Meagan Good in the lead role with Cory Hardrict, Richard Lawson, Debbi Morgan, Shannon Wallace, Taylor Polidore, and Rakeem Laws starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the thrilling story and intense characters in Divorce in the Black, here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Enough (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Sony Pictures

Enough is a thriller drama film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by Nicholas Kazan. Based on...

For those of us who have been here for a decade or two, it’s remarkable to consider both how much and how little the city of Los Angeles has changed over the years. There are still plenty of the old landmarks—the Hollywood Sign, Pink’s Hot Dogs, that dude who rollerblades around is white robes and plays guitar on the Venice boardwalk—while other, seemingly indestructible, institutions have tragically bitten the dust.

So! With local issues perpetually at the forefront of our mind this week, here now are ten films that remind us of life in Los Angeles during a very particular and only recently bygone era: the ’90s and early 2000s. These films are honest portrayals of what livin’ la vida loca LA-style is all about, whether they’re a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the realities of showbiz or struggles within SoCal’s toughest ‘hoods.

Sixteen fellows with a dozen projects will be headed to the mythic bunk beds and cabin life of Utah just prior to the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Here their words on paper will be tested, tried and nurtured with valuable input from the likes of Michelle Satter, Ilyse McKimmie, Jessie Nelson and creative advisors Ritesh Batra, Linda Yvette Chávez, Scott Frank, Phil Hay, Marielle Heller, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Kemp Powers, Dee Rees, Howard Rodman, Dana Stevens, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler, Tyger Williams, Virgil Williams, and Doug Wright. This year’s Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab folks include: Nikesh Shukla & Himesh Patel (Brown Baby), Kaitlin Fontana & Franchesca Ramsey (Cover Girl), Sylvia Khoury (Heather), Jane Casey Modderno (Here for the Weekend), Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (High Steel), Kristine Gerolaga (Lamok), Francesca Canepa & Miguel Ángel Papalini (La Otra Orilla), Diana Peralta (No Love Lost), Christian Moldes (Quince Kings), Hanna Gray Organschi (Rubber Hut), Sara Crow...

The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects set for the 2023 editions of a pair of its flagship programs: the Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive.

Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).

Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...

In preparation for a summer return to in-person artist development labs, the Sundance Institute today named those selected as fellows for its 2022 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs.

Creatives developing original work for the screen as part of the Native Lab include Justin Ducharme (Positions), Taietsarón:sere ‘Tai’ Leclaire (How to Deal with Systemic Racism in the Afterlife), Daniel Pewewardy (Residential), Tiare Ribeaux (Huaka’i) and Tim Worrall (Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End).

Those participating in the Directors Lab and/or the Screenwriters Lab include Dina Amer (Cain and Abel), Zandashé Brown (The Matriarch), Caledonia Curry and Meagan Brothers (Sibylant Sisters), Hasan Hadi (The President’s Cake), Michael León and Ashley Alvafez (Crabs in a Barrel), Eliza McNitt (Black Hole), Olive Nwosu (Lady), Neo Sora (Earthquake) and Yuan Yang (Late Spring).

The Native Lab began online from May 2-6 and continues in person from May 9-14, in Santa Fe, Nm, for...

Legendary screenwriter and director Shane Black discusses some of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

High and Low (1963)

Hard Times (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Beguiled (1971) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Kino Lorber Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s Twilight Time Blu-ray review

Convoy (1978) – Dennis Cozzalio’s review

8 Heads In A Duffel Bag (1997)

Diner (1982)

The Bodyguard (1992)

12 Angry Men (1957)

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Fist of Fury a.k.a. The Chinese Connection (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary...

Cmnty Culture Films, a sub-division of Philip Lawrence’s Cmnty Culture, announced that they will be the lead production company on “The Last Plantation.”

The film, which marks the company’s debut project, follows the untold true story of a Black soybean farmer, John Boyd Jr., and white accident attorney, James Farrin, as they overcome long odds and Washington gridlock to obtain $1.25 billion for over 18,000 Black farmers who had been discriminated against by the U.S. government. Boyd Jr. and Farrin took on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Usda) — which had been nicknamed “the last plantation,” after decades of reported unjust treatment of Black farmers — with the case ultimately resulting in one of the largest civil rights settlements in history.

“The Last Plantation showcases everything that Cmnty Culture stands for with its underlying themes of racial justice and social equity,” Lawrence said, announcing the project. “It’s an important story to tell,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday revealed the five winners of its 2020 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. This year’s five scribes, culled from 7,831 submissions and 10 finalists, will receive a $35,000 prize and be a part of an awards ceremony and virtual table read of their work on December 3.

As in past years, recipients are expected to complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year.

The 2020 winners (listed alphabetically):

James Acker, SadBoi

Beth Curry, Lemon

Vanar Jaddou, Goodbye, Iraq

Kate Marks, The Cow of Queens

Jane Therese, Sins of My Father

The 2020 finalists (listed alphabetically):

Kris A. Holmes, The Seeds of Truth

Fred Martenson, Demons in America

Robin Rose Singer, The Lions of Mesopotamia

David Harrison Turner, Safe Haven

Andrew Wankier, Three Heavens

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee is chaired by Academy Short Films and Feature Animation Branch governor Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The members...

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee has selected the five winning fellows of the 2020 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, who were winnowed from ten finalists out of 7,831 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. Each winner takes home a $35,000 prize. Their scripts will be highlighted at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Virtual Table Read by an ensemble of actors on Thursday, December 3.

The 2020 winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

James Acker, “SadBoi”

Beth Curry, “Lemon”

Vanar Jaddou, “Goodbye, Iraq”

Kate Marks, “The Cow of Queens”

Jane Therese, “Sins of My Father”

The 2020 finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):

Kris A. Holmes, “The Seeds of Truth”

Fred Martenson, “Demons in America”

Robin Rose Singer, “The Lions of Mesopotamia”

David Harrison Turner, “Safe Haven”

Andrew Wankier, “Three Heavens”

The fellowships support each writer’s completion of a feature-length screenplay within the year. (The Academy neither acquires rights...

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee has selected the five winning fellows of the 2020 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, who were winnowed from ten finalists out of 7,831 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. Each winner takes home a $35,000 prize. Their scripts will be highlighted at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Virtual Table Read by an ensemble of actors on Thursday, December 3.

The 2020 winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

James Acker, “SadBoi”

Beth Curry, “Lemon”

Vanar Jaddou, “Goodbye, Iraq”

Kate Marks, “The Cow of Queens”

Jane Therese, “Sins of My Father”

The 2020 finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):

Kris A. Holmes, “The Seeds of Truth”

Fred Martenson, “Demons in America”

Robin Rose Singer, “The Lions of Mesopotamia”

David Harrison Turner, “Safe Haven”

Andrew Wankier, “Three Heavens”

The fellowships support each writer’s completion of a feature-length screenplay within the year. (The Academy neither acquires rights...

The five winners of the 2020 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday. Each fellow will receive $35,000 and be highlighted at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and virtual table read, scheduled to take place on Dec. 3. At the awards, an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from the winning scripts.

The 2020 winners are:

James Acker, “SadBoi”

Beth Curry, “Lemon”

Vanar Jaddou, “Goodbye, Iraq”

Kate Marks, “The Cow of Queens”

Jane Therese, “Sins of My Father”

There have been 166 fellowships awarded since 1986. Past fellows include Michael Werwie (screenwriter of Netflix’s “Lost Girls”), Alfred Botello (co-writing the upcoming “Space Jam: A New Legacy”), Matt Harris and Melissa Iqbal (currently adapting “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August”).

A total of 7,831 scripts were submitted for this year’s competition. The Academy selected 10 individual screenwriters as finalists before being judged by the fellowships committee.

Sundance Institute has announced the 15 screenwriters who have been chosen for the January 2020 Screenwriters Lab, which will go from the 17th-22nd. Those selected will have the opportunity to develop their independent projects by immersing themselves in the creative process and working with the mentorship of Creative Advisors.

Creative Advisors are Artistic Director Scott Frank, Michael Arndt, Suha Arraf, Ritesh Batra, Andrea Berloff, D.V. DeVincentis, Gonzalo Maza, Doug McGrath, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Howard Rodman, Susan Shilliday, Zach Sklar, Dana Stevens, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler, and Tyger Williams.

“We’re so excited to welcome this singular and bold group of artists to our January Screenwriters Lab,” said Michelle Satter, the feature film program founding director. “Our program provides a safe and protected space for writers to be rigorous in their creative process as they develop new work that’s a true reflection of their unique voice and power as storytellers.

Five promising writers have been selected as winners of the 2019 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, out of a total of 7,302 scripts and 12 finalists. The fellows will each receive a generous $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards Presentation & Live Read on Thursday, November 7, 2019, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. For the seventh consecutive year, an ensemble of notable actors will read selected scenes from the winning scripts.

The 2019 winners are (listed alphabetically by author): Aaron Chung, “Princess Vietnam”; Karen McDermott, “Lullabies of La Jaula”; Renee Pillai, “Boy with Kite”; Sean Malcolm, “Mother”; and Walker McKnight, “Street Rat Allie Punches Her Ticket.”

Each writer comes from a unique background: Chung is a film intern at Entertainment One, with a master’s in screenwriting; McDermott is an attorney and English professor, according to her Twitter bio; and McKnight is a novelist,...

Exclusive: The Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab has accepted 15 writers from countries including the U.S., Lebanon, South Africa, Turkey and the UK who will bring 12 projects to the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah from January 18-23.

The January Screenwriters Lab was created and organized under the leadership of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Labs Director Ilyse McKimmie. The team of Creative Advisors includes Artistic Director Dana Stevens, Michael Arndt, Thomas Bidegain, Todd Graff, Phil Hay, Erik Jendresen, Richard Lagravenese, Jenny Lumet, Malia Scotch Marmo, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Susan Shilliday, Zach Sklar, Elena Soarez, Veena Sud, Robin Swicord, Joan Tewkesbury and Tyger Williams. This year’s Lab is dedicated to the memory of two cherished Creative Advisors: Tom Rickman and Audrey Wells. The Lab provides one-on-one story sessions for Fellows with the Creative Advisors. The Lab is the first step in a year-round continuum...

With the abundance of labs and fellowships designed to give up-and-coming filmmakers a much-needed boost, the Nicholl Fellowship — launched in 1986 — still stands above the fray as being one of the most important opportunities for entry into the industry. Each of the winners receives a $35,000 prize with the understanding that they will complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. Just as important, their winning project instantly becomes a must-read by every agency in Hollywood.

The global competition has awarded 152 fellowships to date. Recent scripts by Nicholl Fellowship alumni include “The Glass Castle” and “Holy Rollers;” additional program veterans have gone on to receive plum writing assignments in film (Pixar’s “Cars 3”) and television (Netflix’s “The Punisher”).

Nine individuals and one screenwriting team were selected as 2017 fellowship recipients from more than 7,000 submissions; the winners are listed in bold:

Vigil Chime, “Bring Back Girl”

Sj Inwards, “Jellyfish Summer”

Max Lance and Jen Bailey,...

Exclusive: Bella Thorne will star in Broad Green Pictures' Bad Influence about a mother who must risk everything to protect her college-aged son when the first girl he's ever fallen for (Thorne) turns out to be not just a bad influence, but a deadly one. Broad Green is financing and distributing the film which is being produced by Jennifer Gibgot and Adam Shankman via their Offspring Entertainment banner from a script by Tyger Williams. Gabriel and Daniel Hammond will…...

Four individuals and one writing team have been selected as winners of the 2016 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee announced the winners via Livestream today. The fellows will each receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards Presentation & Live Read on Thursday, November 3, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. For the fourth consecutive year, an ensemble of actors will be reading selected scenes from the winning scripts.

The 2016 winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

Michele Atkins, “Talking About the Sky” (Seattle, Wa)

Spencer Harvey and Lloyd Harvey, “Photo Booth” (Balgowlah, Australia)

Geeta Malik, “Dinner with Friends” (Los Angeles, CA)

Elizabeth Oyebode, “Tween the Ropes” (Sunnyvale, CA)

Justin Piasecki, “Death of an Ortolan” (Los Angeles, CA)

A total of 6,915 scripts were submitted for this year’s competition. Eleven individual screenwriters and one...

A bunch of script deals have been going down in the last few days ahead of the Sundance Film Festival launching shortly in Park City.

Thigns kicked off when Broad Green acquired "The Perfect Guy" writer Tyger Williams' script pitch "Bad Influence". The story follows a single mom who faces off against her son's ex-girlfriend after a passionate romance turns to obsession. Jennifer Gibgot and Adam Shankman will produce.

Next up, Wildhorse Studios announced they are teaming with Macmillan Publishers to develop a TV series adaptation of the Isaac Bashevis Singer novel "Shadows on the Hudson" with filming to begin later this year. The story follows a group of prosperous Jewish exiles in New York City during the late 1940s and a romance between one man's daughter and his best friend that threatens to turn their community upside down.

Finally, Escape Artists have optioned Wallace Stegner's critically acclaimed 1987 novel...

Exclusive: Although Broad Green left Sundance 2015 with what proved to be the fest’s biggest-grossing acquisition in A Walk In The Woods, the company continues to expand into original productions. Broad Green has acquired Bad Influence, a pitch that will be written by Tyger Williams. Williams, who scripted the Screen Gems hit The Perfect Guy, here will write a film about a single mom who faces off against her son's ex-girlfriend after a passionate romance turns to…...

An enragingly stupid and obvious “thriller” jammed with dull genre clichés, wild hypocrisy, and just a hint of victim blaming. I’m “biast” (pro): I am desperate for movies about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Silly me! For some reason I assumed that The Perfect Guy was a romantic comedy. But as the movie unspooled, Leah’s (Sanaa Lathan: Contagion) relationship with new boyfriend Carter (Michael Ealy: Underworld: Awakening) was showing no signs of adorable shenanigans. Instead the movie was swinging sledgehammers like this: “How did you find me?” she wonders when he calls her office the day after they met even though she hadn’t given him her number; “It’s 2015 and I’m an It expert” comes his scary-smooth response. Uh-oh. He’s a great kisser and the sex is hot, but even if Leah can...

Everyone was surprised about the unexpected success of The Perfect Guy. I must admit so was I. I expected the film to be No. 1, but making only half the $27 million it made this past weekend. I conefss it's not my kind of film (It would be if there had been some graphic sex and nudity in it. I'm a guy. I don't go for the "suggestion" Bs. I need to see it) But the thing that really took me by surprise wasn't its box office take, but the fact the Tyger Williams was credited as the screenwriter. You don't remember Tyger Williams do you? You should. He was the guy who wrote, at the age of 24, The Hughes Brothers' groundbreaking Menace II Society which came out back in 1994. But...

The Perfect Guy‘s marketing campaign doesn’t do the self-consciously campy stalker-thriller (a less over-the-top but still ideal double billing with last January’s The Boy Next Door) any favors – its tagline, “Trust One, Fear the Other,” promises a tastelessly regressive sort of love triangle in which two possessive men clash violently over the affections of a lady love. That’s not the kind of film, in a year that’s already delivered some of the decade’s most indelible female characters (in fare as diverse yet mainstream as Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spy and Inside Out), many critics are chomping at the bit to sample.

Luckily, this is one of those rare Hollywood productions with surprises in store, most notably lead actress Sanaa Lathan, who takes a simple harangued-heroine part and draws out of it enough charisma and complexity to elevate the entire movie above the...

Despite the presence of its three charming and impassioned leads, and even as it looks and feels clean, sharp and deftly shot, “The Perfect Guy” — which was, it must be pointed out, deliberately not screened for critics prior to release — is a perfect example of how lame, lazy material strands good actors, resulting in a movie that looks great and feels less so. Also Read: 'The Perfect Guy' and 'The Visit' to Battle for Box-Office Domination Directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Tyger Williams, “The Perfect Guy” stars Sanaa Lathan (“The Best Man Holiday”) as Leah, a...

Some trailers eschew dialogue, preferring to evoke a mood or tell some of the story in other ways, such as through song. The new trailer for stalker thriller The Perfect Guy went with I Put A Spell On You over shots of its supernaturally attractive cast.Directed by David M. Rosenthal from Tyger Williams’ script, The Perfect Guy finds Sanaa Lathan as Leah Vaughn, a beautiful, successful lobbyist who would seem to be living a charmed life. Even after the painful end of her most recent relationship, she lands on her feet, kicking off a passionate dalliance with the charming Carter (Michael Ealy).But things take a scarier turn when her ex-boyfriend Dave (Morris Chestnut) resurfaces in her life and Leah decides to try to make it work with him. Which does not go down well with Carter… And yet, even as Dave tries to keep her safe, she wonders...

Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...

©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.

“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”

“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...

Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.

Well hello there, Michael Ealy.  The trailer for the 41-year-old star's latest film The Perfect Guy debuted today, and the Internet has responded by totally losing it over the hotness that is Michael Ealy, who, we must admit, is looking pretty damn fine in the clip.  Co-starring Sanaa Lathan and Morris Chestnut, the Tyger Williams-directed film follows a successful lobbyist (Lathan) who jumps into a passionate relationship with a handsome stranger (Ealy), but things take a turn for the worse when her ex-boyfriend (Chestnut) reenters her life and her new man begins to stalk her. The creepiest part of the trailer occurs at the very end when Lathan is...

Everyone out there is searching for their perfect partner. Until I found mine, I was happy just chilling with my pets and playing video games in between drunken stupors which led to polka dancing and random acts of violence and nudity. And if you think that's scary...

Deadline is reporting that Kathryn Morris (pictured) has joined the Screen Gems thriller The Perfect Guy. Sanaa Lathan stars as a woman who meets the seemingly perfect guy (Michael Ealy), but he turns into a sociopathic stalker when she breaks up with him.

Morris will play Karen, the mother of an all-boys family who is a close confidante of Lathan’s character and offers counsel and wisdom about her romances. Morris Chestnut and Rutina Wesley also star in the film from director David M. Rosenthal and writer Tyger Williams.

More as it comes!

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• It looks like Mike Epps may finally get the chance to play legendary stand-up comedian Richard Pryor after all. The comic has emerged as the front-runner to play the part in a biopic for The Weinstein Company directed by Lee Daniels (The Butler). Epps was previously signed on to play Pryor back in 2005 and met with the late comedian while he was still alive to prepare for the role, but that project fell through. Epps reportedly beat out actors Michael B. Jordan, Nick Cannon, and Marlon Wayans after Wayans had also been previously attached to another Pryor film, this one...

Kathryn Morris has joined the Screen Gems thriller The Perfect Guy. Sanaa Lathan stars as a woman who meets the seemingly perfect guy (Michael Ealy, but he turns into a sociopathic stalker when she breaks up with him. Morris will play Karen, the mother of an all-boys family who is a close confidante of Lathan’s character and offers counsel and wisdom about her romances. Morris Chestnut and Rutina Wesley also star in the film from director David M. Rosenthal and writer Tyger Williams. Morris starred on CBS’ Cold Case, and her recent credits include telepic The Sweeter Side of Life and CBS pilot The Surgeon General. She next appears in the thriller 2 Br/1 Ba. She’s repped by Gersh and Mosaic.

Jim Klock has landed a role in the courtroom drama The Whole Truth from director Courtney Hunt and writer Nicholas Kazan. Keanu Reeves stars as a defense attorney...

Frank Whaley (Ray Donovan, The Blacklist) has been cast in The Outskirts, an indie comedy from director Peter Hutchings. Eden Sher, Victoria Justice, Ashley Richards, Katie Chang, Peyton List, Avan Jogia and Will Peltz star in the high school-set pic about two best friends (Justice and Sher) who set out to hatch the ultimate social coup on their nemesis. Whaley will play Herb, the father to Justice’s Jodi and a charmingly out-of-touch postal worker who agrees to start dating once his daughter takes charge of her own life. TV and film vet Whaley recently shot Paramount’s live-action/CG hybrid Monster Trucks and write and directed indie feature Like Sunday, Like Rain starring Leighton Meester, Debra Messing, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. He’s repped by Apa.

Screen Gems thriller The Perfect Guy has added Holt McCallany to its cast, led by Sanaa Lathan as a woman...

As HBO's hit series “True Blood” comes to a close, Rutina Wesley has landed a major role alongside Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut in Screen Gems’ thriller “The Perfect Guy,” TheWrap has learned. David Rosenthal is directing from a script by Tyger Williams. Tommy Oliver and Darryl Taja are producing the movie with Nicole Rocklin and Wendy Rhoads. After Leah (Lathan) meets the seemingly perfect guy, Carter (Ealy), she's soon exposed to a dark side that lies underneath the surface. When a violent episode leads her.

Today's Sundance Institute announcement on the make-up of this Summer's Directors and Screenwriters Labs offers some insight on the projects we should be seeing in future editions of the festival but also updates us on the progression of some projects we've already got our eyes on -- as is the case with Sean Durkin's upcoming first feature film and Ondi Timoner's (see pic) fictional debut. - Today's Sundance Institute announcement on the make-up of this Summer's Directors and Screenwriters Labs offers some insight on the projects we should be seeing in future editions of the festival but also updates us on the progression of some projects we've already got our eyes on -- as is the case with Sean Durkin's upcoming first feature film and Ondi Timoner's (see pic) fictional debut. Almost all projects that were are included in the Director's Lab were a part of the Screenwriter's...

Today's Sundance Institute announcement on the make-up of this Summer's Directors and Screenwriters Labs offers some insight on the projects we should be seeing in future editions of the festival but also updates us on the progression of some projects we've already got our eyes on -- as is the case with Sean Durkin's upcoming first feature film and Ondi Timoner's (see pic) fictional debut. Almost all projects that were are included in the Director's Lab were a part of the Screenwriter's January Lab earlier this year, so among the newly mentioned projects in the screenwriting portion of the camp we find indie filmmaker starlets Ry Russo-Young (You Wont Miss Me) and Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture - freshly picked up by IFC) are co-writing a project called Nobody Walks with Russo-Young directing the project. Here's the complete press release below -- look for Ioncinema.com to keep tabs on several of these projects.

I usually begin these type of "Sundance Institute" updates by stating that these are the future names to watch out for on the indie film scene or in future editions of the festival, but the truth of the matter is, this year's batch of twelve are names we already mention on this site. Filmmakers such as Craig Zobel and Cherien Dabis are returning with their latest screenplays-in-progress and folks such as Lance Weiler, Sean Durkin (producer of Afterschool) and Edwin (multiple fest winner Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly) are making this an 2010 group to watch out for. - I usually begin these type of "Sundance Institute" updates by stating that these are the future names to watch out for on the indie film scene or in future editions of the festival, but the truth of the matter is, this year's batch of twelve are names we already mention on this site.

  The Sundance Institute on Monday announced the 12 feature film projects selected for its annual January screenwriters lab.

The lab is a five-day writers workshop running Jan. 15-20 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Chosen fellows engage in one-on-one story sessions with established writers in an environment that encourages innovation, rigorous development and creative risk-taking.

The projects selected for the 2010 lab are "Bluebird" by Lance Edmands (U.S.), "Canary" by Craig Zobel (U.S.), "Drunktown's Finest" by Sydney Freeland (U.S.), "40 Days of Silence" by Saodat Ismailova (Uzbekistan), "HiM" by Lance Weiler and Chuck Wendig (U.S.), "How Many Trainings Must I Take Before I Can Be as Hard as Steel?" by Cao Baoping (China), "Martha Marcy May Marlene" by Sean Durkin (U.S.), "May in the Summer" by Cherien Dabis (U.S., Jordan), "My Favorite Nightmare" by Myna Joseph (U.S.), "Postcards From the Zoo" by Edwin and Daud Sumolang...

NEW YORK -- The Sundance Institute will workshop 13 projects at its January Screenwriters Lab, steered by a who's who of indie writers, including artistic director Scott Frank, Paul Attanasio, Kasi Lemmons, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and Doug Wright.

Towelhead author Alicia Erian, whose novel was adapted for Alan Ball's upcoming Nothing Is Private, is developing a script about an American who faces repercussions after helping a Salvadoran immigrant in Hammer and Anvil.

The other projects include Liu Hao's Beijing romance Addicted to Love; John Magary's family drama "Blood Abundance, or the Half-Life of Antoinette"; Ryan Knighton's autobiographical blindness drama Cockeyed; and Hadar Friedlich's Israeli profile Hannah M.

Patrick Vala-Haynes' father-son drama The Henchman; Moon Molson's crime drama Meadowlandz; Daniel Casey's Polish-American boxing story Poletown; and Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa and Karen Sztajnberg's Brazilian coming-of-age drama Quotas also made the cut.

Rounding out the list are Liza Johnson's portrait of a military mother, Return; Hicham Ayouch's Moroccan Muslim drama Samba Do Maazouuz; Frank Budgen's adult U.K. fairy tale, Shockheaded Peter; and Darrell Dennis' study of a Native American woman in Canada, Tales of an Urban Indian.

Other Screenwriters Lab advisers include Rodrigo Garcia, Dan Kleinman, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Malia Scotch Marmo, Christopher McQuarrie, Walter Mosley, Tom Rickman, Howard Rodman, Susan Shilliday, Zachary Sklar, Dana Stevens, Thomas Vinterberg and Tyger Williams.

Anonymous Content has tapped Shawn Hopkins, Brian Medavoy and Lainie Stolhanske to join its management ranks. Hopkins joins the management division with a roster of lit clients that includes Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down), Scott Kosar (The Machinist), Laura Cahill (Hysterical Blindness), Tyger Williams (Menace II Society), Leigh Dunlap (A Cinderella Story), Paul Hernandez (Instant Karma), Peter Himmelstein (Lost Boys), Joel Hershman (Greenfingers), Philip Boston (Billabong Odyssey), Greg Pritikin (Dummy) and Joby Harold (Awake). She joins Anonymous from Catch 23 Entertainment. Before that, she spent two years with Rick and Julie Yorn and Artist Management Group. She started her career at ICM.