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Filming has begun in Edmonton on Smudge the Blades, a sports dramedy from writer-director Cody Lightning. The feature centers on the Treaty 6 Blades, an under-18 Indigenous hockey team facing their last season in a rough northern Alberta league.

New additions to the cast include Ed Helms (The Hangover), Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs), and Jana Schmieding (Rutherford Falls). Lightning stars as Willie Gladue, a Zamboni driver who finds himself behind the bench as the team’s unexpected coach. Schmieding plays a hockey mom who becomes his love interest.

Lightning, who also co-wrote the script with Samuel Miller, described the significance of the setting and subject matter. “Rez hockey in Canada is bigger than high school football in Texas,” he said. “I’m so honored to have this incredible cast to bring to life the experiences of Indigenous hockey players, on and off the ice.”

Casting for the team involved a wide...

A trio of performers have joined the cast of sports feature Smudge the Blades from writer-director Cody Lightning.

Ed Helms (The Hangover), Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs) and Jana Schmieding (Rutherford Falls) star alongside Lightning. Production recently began in Edmonton, Canada, with the film aiming to hit the 2026 festival circuit.

Smudge the Blades centers on the Treaty 6 Blades, an under-18 reservation hockey team hoping to make the most of the members’ final year of eligibility amid their violent league in northern Alberta. Samuel Miller co-wrote the script with Lightning.

“Rez hockey in Canada is bigger than high school football in Texas,” says Lightning, known for his role on Marvel’s Echo. “I’m so honored to have this incredible cast to bring to life the experiences of Indigenous hockey players, on and off the ice.”

The film underwent a wide casting effort for the young Indigenous hockey players. Landing key roles...

FX is moving forward with its drama from Ethan Hawke and Sterlin Harjo, TheWrap has learned. The series originally received a pilot order in February, at which point it was tentatively titled “The Sensitive Kind.”

The upcoming drama is described as “a Tulsa noir about a guy who knows too much,” according to the official logline, and is produced by Fxp. Hawke will star in and executive produce the drama series, while the “Reservation Dogs” co-creator will serve as its creator, executive producer, writer and director. Garrett Basch also executive produces.

FX declined to comment for this story.

“Reservation Dogs” star Kaniehtiio Horn and Killer Mike are also attached to the pilot, as are Cody Lightning, Michael Hitchcock (“Grand Death Lotto,” “Exmas”) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” “American Horror Story,” “Firestarter”)

It’s further been reported that Keith David, Siena East, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Shepherd,...

Visit Films has announced a torrent of recent deals on its slate led by a further key territory sale on Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry Good One.

India Donaldson’s feature debut starring newcomer Lily Collias as a 17-year-old who goes on an awkward backpacking trip with her father and his best friend has gone to Cherry Pickers for Benelux after a previously reported deal with New Story for France.

Multiple territories remain in active negotiation after Cannes, and Metrograph Pictures holds North American rights.

SXSW documentary Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound about the cult post-rock band has been...

Variety has shared a piece on 2024's streaming titles, confirming Echo is the second most-viewed series on Disney+ this year so far. It's an impressive achievement, particularly as Marvel Studios dropped all five episodes at once, leading to the show being quickly forgotten.

We've seen in recent years that weekly drops are much better for keeping people talking about new titles (which goes against Netflix's once highly successful streaming model of releasing every episode at once).

Rumour has it Echo suffered from quite a few issues behind the scenes, with six instalments becoming five, as a result. That could explain why they hit Disney+ on the same day, though reviews were somewhat positive as is evident from the show's 71% Rotten Tomatoes score.

However, putting this news into context is the fact, "[Percy Jackson and the Olympians] accounts for nearly a quarter of Disney+ original series viewing time so far...

FX’s pilot The Sensitive Kind from creator Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs) has added five to its cast: Killer Mike (Ozark), Kaniehtiio Horn (Reservation Dogs), Cody Lightning (Echo), Michael Hitchcock (Grand Death Lotto) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew).

Details as to the roles these actors will play are under wraps.

Also written, directed and exec produced by Harjo, The Sensitive Kind is described as a Tulsa noir about a guy (Ethan Hawke) who knows too much. As previously announced, Keith David, Siena East, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Shepherd, Tracy Letts, Kyle Maclachlan and Macon Blair will also star.

The project is Harjo’s first for TV since Reservation Dogs, the acclaimed FX dramedy which won an AFI Award for each of its three seasons. Additional EPs include Garrett Basch and Hawke. FX Productions is the studio.

A Grammy-winning rapper of Run the Jewels fame, Killer...

No bad deed goes unpunished on Jan. 10, 2024, when Marvel Studios’ “Echo” launches on Disney+ and Hulu. Check out the all-new trailer and poster revealed this morning. The five-episode streaming event spotlights Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal empire. When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. All five episodes will stream on Jan. 10 on both platforms. They’ll be available on Hulu until April 9. This marks the first Marvel Studios series to drop all entirely bingeable episodes at once.

“Echo” also stars Chaske Spencer, Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Zahn McClarnon, Cody Lightning and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Episodes of the series are directed by Sydney Freeland (Navajo) and Catriona McKenzie (Gunaikurnai). Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Stephen Broussard, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Victoria Alonso, Richie Palmer, Jason Gavin (Blackfeet), Marion Dayre and Sydney Freeland.

Marvel Studios, are you okay? It isn’t like you to share something as brutal as the Echo trailer, starring Alaqua Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as two sides of the same face-rearranging coin.

Courtesy of today’s press release, here’s the official description for Marvel’s Echo series:

No bad deed goes unpunished on January 10, 2024, when Marvel Studios’ Echo launches on Disney+ and Hulu. Check out the all-new trailer and poster revealed this morning. The five-episode streaming event spotlights Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal empire. When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy. All five episodes will stream on January 10 on both platforms. They’ll be available on Hulu until April 9. This marks the first Marvel Studios series to drop all entirely bingeable episodes at once.

Echo also stars Chaske Spencer, Graham Greene,...

The Marvel series “Echo” — which debuted its inaugural trailer on Friday and premieres on Jan. 10 — contains several firsts for the company. It’s the first Marvel Studios production that will debut simultaneously on Disney+ and Hulu, the first that will have every episode available to binge at once and the first that will be rated TV-ma. And most importantly to director and executive producer Sydney Freeland (“Reservation Dogs”), it is the first superhero series ever to center on a deaf and a Native American character: Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), who made her debut in the 2021 series “Hawkeye.”

“Representation was extremely important to myself and to everyone on the crew,” Freeland said at a press event for the series in October, where she was joined by executive producer Brad Winderbaum. But while the filmmakers said the show had Indigenous and deaf representation in front of and behind the camera, there were...

Exclusive: Randy Kiyan, the talent and literary manager most recently serving as the head of literary at Luber Roklin Entertainment, today announced the launch of his own management company, Ronin Entertainment.

Kiyan told Deadline that the company “will embody a sleek and nimble mentality that is best served to advocate and support artists in this ever-evolving entertainment landscape.” He added that the trust he shares with clients stems from “a mandate of clear communication of goals, and a passion to tell inclusive stories for broad audiences. We are unified in our commitment to integrity of our artform.”

Kiyan went on to express his gratitude to Luber Roklin principals Matt Luber and Lena Roklin “for taking a chance on me and providing the foundation and freedom to grow my business over the years, as well as my mentors, friends, and colleagues for their continued support. I have always admired the entrepreneurial...

Exclusive: Toronto-based levelFILM has acquired the comedy-drama Hey Viktor!, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and played TIFF this past week for Canadian distribution.

The pic is written and directed by indigenous actor Cody Lightning, who also stars. The plot is a semi-meta narrative, following Lightning, who rose to prominence as Little Viktor in 1998’s Smoke Signals. Recently he has been forced to move to northern Alberta in Western Canada. However, he still believes himself to be famous— even though the only parts he gets these days are porn and fracking commercials. But when Lightning learns his wife and kids are leaving him for a younger, more successful actor, he decides it’s time to quit messing around and make his masterpiece— writing, directing, and starring in Smoke Signals 2: Still Smoking.

A documentary crew follows Cody on his journey around the Indigenous world— re-uniting the original cast, borrowing money from arms dealers,...

Writer-director Cody Lightning discussed his new film Hey Viktor!, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last week, in his new exclusive uInterview.

Lightning, who directed and starred in the film as himself, spoke about where the idea for the film originated with uInterview founder Erik Meers at our offices in Manhattan.

“The idea for Viktor happened I’d say probably 10 to 12 years ago,” he said. “Just as a joke amongst our friends, just drinking and being dorks. And my partner Sam and I, we got together and I was like, yo let’s make this s—.”

His friend Simon Baker co-stars in the movie with him. The two met on the set for Smoke Signals in 1998 – and much of Viktor revolves around the idea of making a sequel to the movie.

“After Smoke Signals came out me and Simon were both recognized heavily and so like we would go...

Stars Simon Baker and Hannah Cheesman opened up about their new film, Hey Viktor!, which premiered this week at the Tribeca Film Festival in their new uInterivew.

Hey Viktor!, a meta-comedy from director-star Cody Lightning, revolves around a purported remake of the indigenous classic Smoke Signals.

Baker and Cheesman discussed their characters in the movie with uInterview founder Erik Meers at our offices in Manhattan.

“I was young Thomas in Smoke Signals in the original. And say 20 years later, I’m back playing older Thomas, someway somehow, but my character you know has sort of left and left the industry, didn’t want anything to do with the industry anymore,” he said. “Then 20 years later Cody comes knocking on my door trying to get me back to do Smoke Signals 2. Hesitant and didn’t know what to do with it, so I decide to come back.”

Cheesman introduced her ambiguously native character.

Exclusive: New York-based sales company Visit Films has acquired world rights to the Canadian comedy-drama Hey Viktor!, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week.

Pic is written and directed by indigenous actor Cody Lightning, who also stars. The plot is a semi-meta narrative, following Lightning, who rose to prominence as Little Viktor in 1998’s Smoke Signals. Recently he has been forced to move to northern Alberta in Western Canada. However, he still believes himself to be famous— even though the only parts he gets these days are porn and fracking commercials. But when Lightning learns his wife and kids are leaving him for a younger, more successful actor, he decides it’s time to quit messing around and make his masterpiece— writing, directing, and starring in Smoke Signals 2: Still Smoking.

A documentary crew follows Cody on his journey around the Indigenous world— re-uniting the original cast,...