AWARDS
The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for the best performances of 2019. On the movie side, crime dramas were represented by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor, respectively (Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood) and also Supporting Actor nods to Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for The Irishman. The Outstanding Cast nominations (the SAG equivalent of Best Picture) also included Once... and The Irishman. On the TV side, Mahershala Ali was a Best Dramatic Actor nominee for True Detective, along with Jharrel Jerome for When They See Us, while Jodie Comer was nominated for her leading role in Killing Eve. Plus, the Best Ensemble nods for TV Series included Big Little Lies.
THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Jesse Eisenberg is starring in and exec producing the independent thriller, Wild Indian, written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr. The story follows two Anishinaabe men who are inextricably bound together after covering up the savage murder of a schoolmate. After years of separation following wildly divergent paths, they must finally confront how their traumatic secret has irrevocably shaped their lives. Filling out the cast are Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer, Kate Bosworth and Scott Haze.
Universal Pictures is developing Tapping the Source, based on the "surfer noir" novel by Kem Nunn. The story follows a man who heads to Huntington Beach to look for his missing sister and for the three men who may have murdered her—a search that takes him on a journey through a twisted world of crazed Vietnam vets, sadistic surfers, drug dealers, and mysterious seducers.
Following an Emmy win for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series (for Ozark), Jason Bateman has found his next feature film to direct. He’ll helm Shut In, the spec script by first-time screenwriter, Melanie Toast. The project is an edgy thriller in the vein of Panic Room, in which a single mother is held captive by her violent ex, with her two young children left at risk, and she must do everything to protect them and survive.
Hotel Mumbai director Anthony Maras is set to write and direct Peachtree, a ’70s true-crime saga about the spectacular rise and fall of Atlanta porn king Mike Thevis. Craving respectability, he sank millions into charities but ultimately was bought down in a web of murder, blackmail, arson, and extortion.
Bella Thorne is set as the lead in Masquerade, a home invasion thriller which Shane Dax Taylor will direct and write. The project follows 11-year-old Casey (Alyvia Alyn Lind of Daybreak and The Young and the Restless) who must survive the night after a group of intruders, led by Rose (Thorne), break into her family’s home to steal priceless artwork. The thieves will stop at nothing to get what they want, with shocking developments.
The Film Noir Foundation will present a dark holiday classic from south of the border, Roberto Gavaldon's La Otra /The Other (1946), on Wednesday, December 18. The event will also mark the reveal of the full schedule for Noir City International II, a program of noir from around the globe, coming January 24–February 2 to the majestic Castro Theatre in San Francisco. (HT to Mystery Fanfare.)
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
Nashville exec producer Steve Buchanan has teamed up with Synchronicity Films, producer of Jenna Coleman-fronted BBC drama The Cry, for a music-centered mystery thriller. Set in a small Scottish village, the eight-part series begins after the body of a local musician is discovered in the harbor opposite the local village pub, and will feature original songs from a variety of styles including Scottish contemporary folk music and American tracks.
HBO Europe has picked up the Polish crime series The Thaw from the writer behind The Border. The six-part series follows a female police officer—a single mom trying to balance life and work, who is confronted with the case of her life after the body of a young, unidentified woman is discovered under melting ice after the spring thaw.
Roma Maffia and Tony nominee Daniel Breaker are set for recurring roles in the upcoming fifth season of Billions, Showtime’s Wall Street thriller series starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. Maffia will play Mary Ann Gramm, the smart and tough Manhattan District Attorney, while Breaker is recurring as Scooter Dunbar, the brilliant and locked-down Chief of Staff of business titan Michael Prince (Corey Stoll).
ABC has canceled the crime drama Reef Point, starring Poppy Montgomery, after just one season. In the hour-long drama, Montgomery played Cat Chambers, a thief-turned-fixer for the governor of a Pacific Island paradise. The show premiered in June and was based on an idea of Montgomery’s, with former Numb3rs showrunner Ken Sanzel attached to write and executive produce alongside Montgomery. Reef Break also starred Ray Stevenson, Desmond Chiam, Melissa Bonne, and Tamela Shelton.
Discovery and Channel 4 are teaming up to co-produce a U.S. version of the hit British documentary series 24 Hours In Police Custody. ITV Studios-owned production company The Garden Productions has been working on the show for a number of months after securing access to the Kansas City Police Department
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
The latest guest on Meet the Thriller Author, hosted by Alan Petersen, was Diana Xarissa, author of the Aunt Bessie Mysteries, the Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery novellas, the Isle of Man Romances, and her new series, the Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy mysteries.
The most recent Mysteryrats Maze podcast featured the Christmas mystery short story, "Crime Dog On the Road," written by mystery author Neil S. Plakcy, as read by actor Thomas Nance.
On the Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, host and veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson discussed how human resources at a police department would handle confidentiality of a transsexual employee, poking plot holes through the movie Inside Man, and handling romance while undercover.
Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro chatted with author Jess Walter, who discussed writing non-fiction, his evolving catalog of novels, NOT getting drunk with Jonathan Tropper, what it means to be "writer famous," and shared a little about his journey as a writer.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club welcomed bestselling author Rebecca Cantrell, whose novels have won the ITW Thriller, the Macavity, and the Bruce Alexander awards.
The Crime Time podcast covered small-town gossip, social media and murder, Christmas gift ideas, and more.
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