Fox Entertainment’s MarVista Entertainment is entering into a development and production deal with TelevisaUnivision to produce 10 original Spanish-language films for ViX Plus, both sides announced Monday. ViX Plus is TelevisaUnivision’s Spanish-language subscription-based video on-demand offering; MarVista will produce 10 films across the genres of family, comedy, romance and holiday that will be available to stream exclusively on the service. TelevisaUnivision will hold the worldwide streaming distribution rights for all ten films, while MarVista is set to oversee the global distribution outside of streaming.
“It is an incredible honor to be a founding creative production partner of TelevisaUnivision on the launch of ViX Plus,” said Fernando Szew, CEO of MarVista Entertainment. “MarVista and Fox Entertainment take great pride in being leaders in delivering diverse stories and premium content across multiple genres for all viewers. We’re looking forward to introducing these initial ten films to what undoubtedly will be a fast-growing and leading streamer within the Spanish-speaking market.”
ViX Plus is the newly announced SVOD service from ViX, the global streaming platform from the newly formed TelevisaUnivision. ViX was previously acquired in February 2021 by Univision, when it was solely a FAST (free, ad-supported TV) streamer. ViX Plus is set to launch in the second half of 2022, while the renovated ViX platform will officially launch on March 31. The SVOD platform previously announced a deal with Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa Productions, which is also slated to exclusively produce Spanish-language films for the streamer. Pricing details for the ViX services have not been announced.
Also in today’s TV News Roundup:
SPECIALS
ABC Owned Television Stations and media company Participant announced their two-part special, “Our America: Health Equity & COVID,” which is moderated by WABC-TV New York’s Sandra Bookman (“Here and Now”) and KTRK-TV Houston race and culture reporter Rosie Nguyen. The first roundtable panel discussion centers on National Geographic’s documentary “The First Wave,” which is currently streaming on Hulu, and will focus on health equity during the pandemic and its impact on frontline healthcare workers’ mental health. Panelists include Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health dean Michelle A. Williams, “First Wave” physician Nathalie Dougé, National Alliance on Mental Illness associate medical director Christine Crawford, Corey Feist, co-founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and Physician Support Line founder Mona Masood.
CASTING
Netflix announced new cast members for Season 2 of “Sex/Life.” Joining the cast will be Craig Bierko (“Music Man”) as Mick, Cleo Anthony (“She’s Gotta Have It”) as Kam, Darius Homayoun (“Succession”) as Majid, Dylan Bruce (“Orphan Black”) as Spencer and Wallis Day (“Infinite”) as Gigi. Returning cast includes Jonathan Sadowski (“Friday The 13th”) as Devon and Li Jun Li (”Florida Man”) as Francesca. Inspired by the book “44 Chapters About 4 Men” by BB Easton, “Sex/Life” follows the live triangle between a woman, her husband and her past in a new perspective on female love and desire. The show is executive produced by Jordan Hawley, J. Miles Dale and showrunner-creator-writer Stacy Rukeyser.
PREMIERE DATES
Vice World News has announced that the second season of the documentary anthology series “The Short List” will premiere March 3. The series, which streams monthly on Vice.com and YouTube, aims to spotlight emerging voices in independent documentary storytelling. Each episodes features a full length documentary followed by a discussion hosted by Vice founder Suroosh Alvi where the filmmakers discuss the process of creating the documentary. Season 2 will feature eight documentaries, opening with Chris McKim’s “Wojnarowicz,” which profiles the 1980s artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz. Other filmmakers whose work will be spotlighted this season include Nicolas Peduzzi, Marcus McKenzie, Daniel Principe, Lars Edman, William Johansson Kalén, Tuija Halttunen, Jennifer Ngo, Marlén Viñayo and Valerie Blankenbyl. Vice has released a trailer for the season; view below.
HBO announced that eight-episode limited series “The Baby,” co-produced with Sky, will premiere April 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET. The horror comedy series tells the story of Natasha (Michelle De Swarte), who is unexpectedly landed with a baby she doesn’t want, but quickly realizes the evil capabilities of her new child. Additional cast includes Amira Ghazalla, Patrice Naiambana, Sinéad Cusack, Shvorne Marks, Isy Suttie, Tanya Reynolds, Seyan Sarvan, Karl Davies and Divian Ladwa. “The Baby” is produced by Sister and Proverbial Pictures.
INITIATIVES
Writers Guild of America West has announced the honorees for its 2022 TV Writer Access Project. The 13 honorees, recognized in the writing categories of one-hour dramas and half-hour comedies, will participate in a series of WGAW workshops in March, and will have their work spotlighted by the guild. The project received 236 blind submissions this year from guild members who identify in one or more of five categories. The totals were: 40 Black, Indigenous and people of color, 39 LGBTQ+ writers, 86 women, 66 writers aged 55 and older and five disabled writers. See the list of honorees below, identified along with the titles of their submissions.
2022 TV WAP Drama Honorees
- Erinne Dobson – “The More Gone She’ll Be”
- Skander Halim – “Nathan X”
- Anne-Marie Hess – “Disturbed”
- Allyssa Lee – “Model Minority”
- Kerri Brady Long – “Blood Sport”
- Laurie Parres – “Life and Death and High School”
- Barbara Soares – “Username”
- Tom Towler – “Borderlands”
2022 TV WAP Comedy Honorees
- Elysse Applebaum – “Good Mom”
- Christina de Leon – “Open”
- Jessie Gaskell – “BumbleF*cked”
- Lauriel Marger – “Peaches”
- Steve Westren – “Before I Get Old”
LATE NIGHT
Courteney Cox and Jimmy O. Yang will appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this Monday, with a performance by Avril Lavigne featuring Blackbear and Travis Barker, while Bob Odenkirk and Pusha T will be guests on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Kate McKinnon, Paul Dano and YG featuring Moneybagg Yo will be on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden” will feature Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cynthia Erivo and Kimberly Clark. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will feature John Oliver, Jason Clarke and Carter McLean.
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