Limited Series Scribes Talk Pacing a Story at Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room: ‘We Try to Function as Empathy Generators’

Angela Bassett will star as the President in an upcoming Netflix series!

“I just sometimes want to be alone. Where I’m not somebody’s wife, not somebody’s mother. Where I’m not defined by tragedy.” Those words from Nicole Kidman‘s Margaret open the first trailer for Expats, Prime Video’s six-part limited series directed by Lulu Wang, based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s bestselling novel The Expatriates.

Can tragedy provoke a larger discussion? Lulu Wang explores the complex issues surrounding privilege and social conscience in “Expats.” The filmmaker additionally serves as creator, executive producer, and writer on this adaptation of Janice Y. K.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor When writer-director Mohamed Kordofani first conceived of the film “Goodbye Julia,” he realized that he didn’t have a single friend from South Sudan — “and there are millions who live in Khartoum.” Now he has hundreds, he tells Variety. The first Sudanese film to premiere in the Un Certain Regard sidebar in Cannes, his debut feature won the Prix de la Liberté and is now the official Sudanese entry for the Academy Awards, with Lupita Nyong’o on board as an executive producer. The film had its Middle East and North Africa premiere this week at El Gouna Film Festival, where Kordofani was awarded the Variety MENA Region Talent Award.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Based on the nonfiction book by David Grann, “Killers of the Flower Moon” stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, a WWI vet who travels to Oklahoma to work for his wealthy uncle, William King Hale, played by Robert De Niro. It’s the early 1920s, and this part of Oklahoma sits on lots of oil, whose rights are owned by the Native American Osage and other tribes. They are prosperous, some even rich, and it’s here that Ernest meets Mollie (Lily Gladstone).

Peacock has released some of the first images of Apples Never Fall, Peacock’s upcoming limited series based on Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers author Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel. Annette Bening and Sam Neill lead the cast, along with Alison Brie, Jake Lacy, Conor Merrigan-Turner and Essie Randles. The series is set to release on the streamer in March.

Early in her career, Amy Adams could be found all over your TV. Hell, she even had a multi-episode arc on “The Office.” But since then, she’s left behind TV to focus on her film work.

British actor David Oyelowo is drawn to portraying impactful characters, especially Black historical figures throughout the diaspora. He first gained recognition for playing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 film Selma. King Seretse Khama of Botswana in 2016 film, A United Kingdom, and now, with his recent Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Limited Series Made For Television in Paramount Plus’ Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Oyelowo takes on the role of the legendary figure believed to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. 

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Dave Robb, a longtime Hollywood labor reporter who worked for Variety in the 1980s and ’90s, died Dec. 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 74 and had recently been diagnosed with cancer of the brain stem.

Variety FYC Fest on Dec. 6 in Los Angeles. Variety‘s senior awards editor Clayton Davis, Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay and Senior Entertainment & Media Writer Matt Donnelly moderated several panels throughout the event.

Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay during Variety’s A Night With Artisans. The creatives who helped build the Los Alamos set for “Oppenheimer” or acquired 1,000 blankets for “Killers of the Flower Moon” shared their creative processes and stories from set. In six separate conversations, Tangcay spoke with the teams behind “Oppenheimer,” “Saltburn,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “American Fiction” and “The Color Purple.” See the full Variety A Night With Artisans recap below.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Flamin’ Hot, the script from Lewis Colick and Gentefied creator Linda Yvette Chávez that became Eva Longoria‘s feature directorial debut.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Lionsgate UK & Europe chief and Marv Studios Group CEO Zygi Kamasa launched film and TV company True Brit Entertainment last month with backing from talent management and entertainment company Three Six Zero, which reps talent including Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, Will Smith, Marcus Rashford and Kid Cudi. The company will focus exclusively on British feature films and TV.

William Earl This awards season’s premier contending filmmakers, talent and artisans will gather for exclusive panels at Variety FYC Fest on Dec. 6 in Los Angeles from 9 a.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Multi-Emmy and Tony winner Judith Light is set to star opposite Billy Crystal in Apple TV+‘s Before. Crystal also is executive producing the limited series, from Paramount TV Studios, which has tapped Adam Bernstein as director of the pilot episode.

EXCLUSIVE: Hatch said Monday that it has hired former SiriusXM podcast executive Natalie Mooallem as VP Content, part of a push into original programming at the sleep-wellness app company. She becomes the latest hire from the entertainment industry as Hatch ramps up its content offerings; most recently, former Netflix executive Eric Pallotta joined as chief marketing officer.  

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu is not proceeding with its planned limited series about Sammy Davis Jr., starring Elijah Kelley as the Candy Man, from Lee Daniels and 20th Television.

Mike Wass Since founding Nonstop Management at her kitchen table in 2017, Jaime Zeluck Hindlin’s boutique management company for songwriters and producers has become a stealthy power player in the music business. Getting the right people in a room is Hindlin’s specialty, but her range of clients contributing to three songs from the Hitmakers 2023 Top 25 is nothing short of remarkable: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” and Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down (Remix).” “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that something like this would happen,” Hindlin says of Nonstop’s blockbuster 2023. “Obviously, you hope for one big hit.

Valerie Wu Intern What is a TV “comedy” in 2023? In an era of blurred genres, it’s not so cut and dry anymore. Opening Variety’s “A Night in the Writer’s Room,” Variety’s Michael Schneider asked the nine comedy writers on stage to raise their hand if their show features a death.

Society of the Snow” is entering awards season. The film, directed by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona and produced by Netflix, is based on the true story of the survivors of a horrifying plane crash in the Andes, who managed to survive for two months in inhospitable conditions.