Max Borenstein Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

William Earl Variety’s annual Showrunners Dinner will return in-person on Sept. 8, to celebrate the year in television ahead of the 74th Emmy Awards. The event will be presented by A+E Studios and will feature opening remarks by Barry Jossen, president and head of A+E Studios.   The Creative Conscience Award will be given to writer and producer David E. Kelley for his prolific career in television. David remains one of the most influential figures in television – having created iconic roles for women in “Ally McBeal,” “Big Little Lies” and “Big Sky.” Kelley is a trailblazer for creating complex female characters on television, especially in his early career when such characters were unknown in primetime television.  

The 36th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards on Saturday named Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction its outstanding film adaptations, giving the Oscar-nominated script a boost leading into next weekend’s Academy Awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Actress, writer and director Molly Gordon has signed with WME for representation.

EXCLUSIVE: Grandview has signed showrunner, writer and executive producer Max Borenstein.

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Monster,” Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan Described by Variety critic Peter Debruge as a “convoluted portrait of a pre-teen in turmoil,” Kore-eda ‘s Palme d’Or best script and Queer Palm winner stars Sakura Andō as a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing odd changes in her son’s demeanor. Written by Yuji Sakamoto, it’s scored by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. “Peafowl,” Byun Sungbin, South Korea Myung, a transgender, is estranged from her family because of who she is.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty has ended after two seasons. The HBO drama, a biographical look at the 1980s Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, debuted in 2022. The second season finale aired on HBO on Sunday (September 17) and showed the Lakers losing the 1984 NBA finals to the Boston Celtics.

The season two finale for the HBO series Winning Time just aired and only moments after it ended, the show’s creator confirmed it has been canceled.

EXCLUSIVE: Ari Graynor has joined the Season 2 cast of Adam McKay’s Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty in a major recurring role.

We’ll be seeing more of Jimmy Buss in the upcoming season of Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty. McCabe Slye, who guest-starred as the character in the Season 1 finale, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2.

William Earl Variety and Sportico will partner for the first time to present a co-branded Sports and Entertainment Summit, presented by City National Bank, on July 13 in Los Angeles. Their collaboration marks an expanded day of programming for the event. NBA All-Star, entrepreneur and philanthropist Russell Westbrook; NBA All-Star and producer Blake Griffin; Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles; Fox Sports’ Mark Silverman and ESPN’s Rosalyn Durant are among the event’s headlining speakers. Westbrook will speak to his growing business, philanthropic and entertainment interests off the court as part of his company Russell Westbrook Enterprises, which includes advertising company RW Digital, production company Zero World Media and his Why Not? Foundation aimed at helping at-risk youth through structured educational opportunities, workforce development and accessible mental health resources.

Veteran entertainment attorneys Eric Feig and Harry Finkel are joining forces to form Feig Finkel LLP, a new firm focused in film (including film financing and production legal), television, new media, licensing, merchandising, podcasts, and publishing. 

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer One of Austin’s hometown filmmakers is bringing his next movie to SXSW. Director Robert Rodriguez will screen a work-in-progress cut of his crime thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck, for fans at the SXSW Film Festival in the Texas capital on March 12. In the film, written by Rodriguez and Max Borenstein (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”), Affleck plays a detective who is investigating a series of inexplicable crimes while searching for his missing daughter, whose disappearance is somehow involved with a secret government program.

EXCLUSIVE: Coming into this week’s EFM, Ben Affleck action-thriller Hypnotic was barely on anyone’s radar. However, the movie was quietly one of the market’s X-factors. It’s rare, after all, for a big-budget, finished film with A-list talent and director to still be without a U.S. distributor.

Game Of Thrones spin-offs have been revealed.The first spin-off to Game Of Thrones is set to premiere on August 21, House Of The Dragon, which is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood.House Of The Dragon, however, was one of many concepts considered for a spin-off series.

Before Legendary Entertainment Godzilla franchise scribe Max Borenstein became attached as showrunner to Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty series, it took co-creator Jim Hecht some years after optioning Jeff Pearlman’s 2014 book, Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, to get HBO to sign on.

Who could have imagined that the dramatization of the Los Angeles Lakers’ ’79-’80 NBA Championship season known as ‘Showtime’ would interest anyone other than die-hard hoop fans?

EXCLUSIVE: We’ll be seeing more of Johnny Buss in the upcoming second season of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Thomas Mann, who guest-starred as the character in the first season, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2 of Adam McKay’s critically praised HBO series, Deadline has learned.

wcinkala pmc-editorial-managerVariety’s 11th annual “A Night in the Writers’ Room” returns on June 9, in-person and virtually, with a unique livestream experience moderated by Variety journalists. The event will feature three panels with this year’s Emmy-contending writers in the drama, comedy and limited series categories.

HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty scored yet another series high with its freshman season finale on Sunday. The season ender, which featured tense moments from the ’79-’80 NBA finals, drew in 1.6 million total viewers across both HBO and HBO Max.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHBO’s “Winning Time” scored another series high viewership of 1.6 million viewers across multiple platforms Sunday. That audience tally was up 73% over the drama’s series premiere and 31% from the first season average.Based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” by Jeff Pearlman, the fast-break series chronicles the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court.“Winning Time” Season 1 stars John C.

Ashley Hume Sommer Carbuccia’s time-traveling comedy short “Mac & Cheese” was awarded best film at the 2022 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Awards. “Mac & Cheese” took home a total of three prizes at the annual event, with Amanda Pinto winning best director and Jake Nathanson scoring best editor.The ceremony returned in-person for the first time in two years on Thursday night at Sony Pictures Studios’ Cary Grant Theater in Los Angeles.

Sasha Urban editorThe 2022 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Awards announced presenters for this year’s ceremony, including “Special” creator Ryan O’Connell and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The awards will be held on May 5 at Sony Pictures Studios’ Cary Grant Theater in Los Angeles.Additional presenters include Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”), Max Borenstein (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”), Blake Stadnik (“This is Us”) and “As We See It” actors Rick Glassman, Sue Ann Pien and Albert Rutecki.Launched in 2014 and created by Nic Novicki, the film challenge gives filmmakers the chance to writer, produce and complete short films that tell unique stories showcasing disability in many forms.

HBO has renewed Adam McKay’s critically praised drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty for a second season.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO, Variety has learned.The news comes after the series has aired just five episodes of its 10-episode first season.“It’s been a thrill to bring ‘Winning Time’ to life with Adam McKay, Max Borenstein, our phenomenal producing team, and this incredible cast,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming. “This series not only tells the riveting story of the Lakers’ rise, but is also a look back at a transformative era in basketball, celebrity, and the city of Los Angeles.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeWhen DeVaughn Nixon and Norm Nixon Jr. both showed up in the casting offices of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” on the same day — at the same time — it could have been awkward. And at first, it was.“They both lovingly shit talked each other,” says exec producer Max Borenstein.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO sports drama Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty scored more viewers in its second week, rising from its debut.

Being married to a time traveler is “complicated,” according to Clare in the new series, “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” You see, sometimes your spouse is cooking dinner, taking a shower, or laying in bed. The next minute—POOF—he’s gone.

HBO ushered viewers back to the starting days of the Los Angeles Lakers with new series Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty making its premiere on Sunday. The series from co-creators Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht debuted to just shy of 1 million viewers.

Scott Huver The scene at Wednesday’s premiere of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” at the Theatre at Ace Hotel was nearly as fast-paced and celebrity-packed as the 1980s Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers the series depicts — and even had a few gilded basketball hoops.Executive producers Adam McKay, Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht welcomed a deep-bench of the series’ performers, including both an all-star lineup of veteran pros — including John C. Reilly, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, Jason Clarke, Jason Segel and Michael Chiklis — and a slew of impressive newcomers. And despite playing roles that ultimately became godlike sports icons, the actors told Variety they were surprised by how much they related to their real-world humanity.