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At first glance, HBO’s We’re Here can be categorized as a makeover show that aligns with the 1995 cult classic To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Three drag queens come into a small town, teach cisgender people how to be more fabulous, and then leave knowing that they have taught a lesson of acceptance. Although all of that … Continue reading ‘We’re Here’s Shangela, Bob The Drag Queen & Eureka O’Hara Bring Authenticity To The Diversity Of The Queer Community – Contenders TV Continue Reading →

Lenny Abrahamson was nominated a few years ago for the Best Director Oscar for helming Room, which opened up several cinematic opportunities for him. Yet for his latest project, Hulu’s Normal People, he says there was no question he wanted to work in television. During Deadline’s virtual Contenders Television: The Nominees all-day event, Abrahamson, an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Direction of … Continue reading Hulu’s ‘Normal People’ Director & Star On Allure Of The Television Medium – Contenders TV Continue Reading →

Despite many more high-profile, starry productions, one of Netflix’s most talked-about shows this year was arguably its most low-key. Inspired by Deborah Feldman’s bestselling memoir of the same name, the four-part Unorthodox tells the story of Esther “Esty” Shapiro (played by newcomer Shira Haas), a 19-year-old Hasidic Jewish woman living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Esty struggles to conform to her … Continue reading Despite many more high-profile, starry productions, one of Netflix’s most talked-about shows this year was arguably its most low-key. Inspired by Deborah Feldman’s bestselling memoir of the same name, the four-part Unorthodox tells the story of Esther “Esty” Shapiro (played by newcomer Shira Haas), a 19-year-old Hasidic Jewish woman living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Esty struggles to conform to her community’s expectations, even consenting to an arranged marriage, but eventually she finds the courage to escape. Moving to Berlin, Etsy starts over, but it isn’t long before her past life catches up with her… Joined by breakout star Haas from Tel Aviv and showrunner/writer Anna Winger from Berlin, the panel discussion for Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees began by playing a clip in which Haas’ character sings a powerful song in Hebrew. RELATED STORY ‘Live In Front Of A Studio Audience’s Norman Lear On Breaking Emmy Records & Barriers “That Should Not Have Existed In the First Place” – Contenders TV “It might have been this scene that I was most nervous and excited about,” Haas admitted afterwards. “I mean, it’s a story about a woman finding her voice, and in this scene, she’s literally finding it, and she’s even surprised that it came out of her. It’s kind of like a scream. It’s such a symbolic scene.” Although the show differs quite radically from the book, Winger explained that the writer was on board from a very early stage. “Deborah is a friend,” she said, “and so there was a lot of back and forth initially about how to bring this to screen, and the amount of creative freedom that we would need to be able to break it apart and put it back together differently. In a funny way, you have to kill the original in order to create something new, and we did that with her blessing.” The idea to take Esty to Berlin came out of conversations with producer Alexa Karolinski (“a filmmaker who lives in L.A., but she’s from Berlin”). Said Winger, “We had a lot of ideas of other things about the city that we wanted, about the layers of experience of being Jewish in Berlin that we wanted to include—layers of history that we thought really resonated with the Hasidic experience.” Winger said she has been overwhelmed—although not, perhaps, completely surprised—by the attention the series has received worldwide. “There’s something about the specificity of Esty’s journey that I think a lot of people relate to,” she said. “And it’s also been really moving for us to see the degree to which it has crossed borders of faith and culture into places [where] people don’t have any contact at all with this community, or even Jews in general. It’s been popular in India and in the Latin American worlds, Catholic worlds, Muslim worlds and Hindu worlds. So I think that somehow there’s something about the specificity of her journey that really [resonates].” Added Haas: “I totally agree. I really fell in love with this project while reading it. And I think also, in the last few months, that a story about freedom, and about finding yourself, is more relevant than ever.” Check back for a video of the panel soon. Continue Reading →

The first time Hugh Jackman won an Emmy was for hosting the Tonys. He says he didn’t even know there was a category for that, and was so convinced he wouldn’t win he didn’t prepare a speech. In fact he did win, and based on that experience he says he will at least have something ready in … Continue reading ‘Bad Education’s Hugh Jackman On “Cautionary Tale” Of A Massive Fraud – Contenders TV Continue Reading →

“I didn’t know it would work until I met with Quibi,” Most Dangerous Game writer-showrunner Nick Santora said about being approached to work on a project for the new upstart media service that offers entertainment on your phone — in some cases feature-length films delivered in up to 15 or so short doses. Santora is Emmy nominated for his first Quibi … Continue reading ‘Most Dangerous Game’s Christoph Waltz & Nick Santora On Telling Classic Story In Shortform Quibi Bursts & Season 2 – Contenders TV Continue Reading →

RuPaul’s Drag Race has been slaying the Emmys for the past couple of years, winning two trophies for Outstanding Reality Competition Program while host RuPaul Charles snatched his fourth consecutive Emmy last year for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program. The show made history — or “herstory” — in 2019 as the first series … Continue reading ‘#FreeRayshawn’ Cast On Why Quibi Drama “Is So Powerful” – Contenders TV Continue Reading →