Exclusive: Stephen Dorff (Old Henry), John McEnroe (Ocean’s Eight), Gina Gershon (Emily the Criminal) and Luka Sabbat (Grown-ish) have signed on to star alongside Vito Schnabel in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.
The film, heading into production Tuesday after nearly a decade in development, is based on an original story by Schnabel. It unfolds over eight days of sleep-deprived chaos and follows Jack (Schnabel), a down-on-his-luck fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune, trying to realize his version of the American dream. Julia Fox, Steven Van Zandt and Taylour Paige are also set to star. Details with regard to the characters the new additions to the cast will be playing have not been disclosed.
Schnabel, Kaye and Jeremy Steckler are producing, with George Paaswell serving as executive producer.
Dorff recently appeared in Potsy Ponciroli’s Western Old Henry, and on Fox’s Deputy. He’s also previously been seen in films including I’ll Find You, Leatherface, The Iceman, Somewhere, Public Enemies, World Trade Center, Cold Creek Manor, Zoolander, Blade and I Shot Andy Warhol. Additional TV credits include True Detective and Star.
McEnroe, the former pro tennis player, currently narrates Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy series Never Have I Ever. He’s previously appeared in films including Ocean’s Eight, Freak Show, Jack and Jill, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Wimbledon, Anger Management and Mr. Deeds, and on such series as Kenan, 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm. During his career in tennis, he established himself as the only male player to win upwards of 70 titles across singles and doubles competitions.
Gershon will soon be seen in the thriller Emily the Criminal from Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. She’s also appeared in such films as Rifkin’s Festival, Cagefighter, American Dresser, The Little Mermaid, Blockers, 9/11, Staten Island Summer, Killer Joe, P.S. I Love You, Slackers, The Insider, Guinevere, Palmetto, Face/Off, Showgirls, The Player, Cocktail and Pretty in Pink. Her TV credits include New Amsterdam, Betty, Riverdale, Red Oaks, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Z Nation, Elementary and Rescue Me. Other upcoming films in which Gershon is set to appear include Aleta Chappelle’s romance Love Extreme, Dylan K. Narang’s comedy Tapawingo and Eli Roth’s adaptation of the video game Borderlands.
Sabbat is best known for portraying Luca Hall on Freeform’s Grown-ish. Additional credits include Lena Dunham’s Sundance 2022 feature Sharp Stick and Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die.
Dorff is represented by ICM Partners and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; McEnroe by Img and International Artists; Gershon by Artists First and Schreck Rose Dapello; and Sabbat by CAA and attorney Marios Rush.
The film, heading into production Tuesday after nearly a decade in development, is based on an original story by Schnabel. It unfolds over eight days of sleep-deprived chaos and follows Jack (Schnabel), a down-on-his-luck fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune, trying to realize his version of the American dream. Julia Fox, Steven Van Zandt and Taylour Paige are also set to star. Details with regard to the characters the new additions to the cast will be playing have not been disclosed.
Schnabel, Kaye and Jeremy Steckler are producing, with George Paaswell serving as executive producer.
Dorff recently appeared in Potsy Ponciroli’s Western Old Henry, and on Fox’s Deputy. He’s also previously been seen in films including I’ll Find You, Leatherface, The Iceman, Somewhere, Public Enemies, World Trade Center, Cold Creek Manor, Zoolander, Blade and I Shot Andy Warhol. Additional TV credits include True Detective and Star.
McEnroe, the former pro tennis player, currently narrates Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy series Never Have I Ever. He’s previously appeared in films including Ocean’s Eight, Freak Show, Jack and Jill, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Wimbledon, Anger Management and Mr. Deeds, and on such series as Kenan, 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm. During his career in tennis, he established himself as the only male player to win upwards of 70 titles across singles and doubles competitions.
Gershon will soon be seen in the thriller Emily the Criminal from Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. She’s also appeared in such films as Rifkin’s Festival, Cagefighter, American Dresser, The Little Mermaid, Blockers, 9/11, Staten Island Summer, Killer Joe, P.S. I Love You, Slackers, The Insider, Guinevere, Palmetto, Face/Off, Showgirls, The Player, Cocktail and Pretty in Pink. Her TV credits include New Amsterdam, Betty, Riverdale, Red Oaks, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Z Nation, Elementary and Rescue Me. Other upcoming films in which Gershon is set to appear include Aleta Chappelle’s romance Love Extreme, Dylan K. Narang’s comedy Tapawingo and Eli Roth’s adaptation of the video game Borderlands.
Sabbat is best known for portraying Luca Hall on Freeform’s Grown-ish. Additional credits include Lena Dunham’s Sundance 2022 feature Sharp Stick and Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die.
Dorff is represented by ICM Partners and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; McEnroe by Img and International Artists; Gershon by Artists First and Schreck Rose Dapello; and Sabbat by CAA and attorney Marios Rush.
- 4/4/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan and Harry Lennix are all set to star in a new film version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, set to start pre-production in Sept. 2013 on location in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The film, to be titled Macbett, will also star Blair Underwood and Evan Ross and is written and directed by Aleta Chappelle, who is the first Amercan-American woman to direct a film version of a Shakespeare play. Howard not only plays the lead in the film, but is also the executive producer, along with producers Re'Shaun Frear and Kip Konwiser. As the filmmakers describe their new take on the play: "after a gallant military victory, General Macbett (Howard) encounters the...
- 3/3/2013
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
A new independent film drama titled Overture, to be toplined by Evan Ross, is currently being shopped to potential investors and distributors at the Cannes Film Festival by the filmakers of the project. Called it a "coming of age" film, the projectm produced by Aleta Chappelle and Rick Roberts, will be written and directed by Chicago native Michael Chatien, who intends to shoot the film entirely in Chicago sometime later this year.
- 5/21/2012
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
The Creation Box Films’ documentary More 4 Me is due to screen at the 2012 Cannes Film Market this month, represented by Moon Shadow Films. The film investigates why, during the Gfc, people still crave for ‘more’ and are addicted to consumption.
The announcement:
Creation Box Films is proud to announce that its debut international award-winning feature documentary More 4 Me will screen at the 2012 Cannes Film Market this month, represented by Moon Shadow Films (New York).
Aleta Chappelle from Moon Shadow Films said she was inspired by the documentary – “it is so well put together and I love the many messages it conveys. It made me think how I can do more for the greater good of those who have so little.”
Chappelle, who has worked on The Godfather: Part III and Nutty Professor, was also impressed by the work the film is doing for charity, saying she was excited...
The announcement:
Creation Box Films is proud to announce that its debut international award-winning feature documentary More 4 Me will screen at the 2012 Cannes Film Market this month, represented by Moon Shadow Films (New York).
Aleta Chappelle from Moon Shadow Films said she was inspired by the documentary – “it is so well put together and I love the many messages it conveys. It made me think how I can do more for the greater good of those who have so little.”
Chappelle, who has worked on The Godfather: Part III and Nutty Professor, was also impressed by the work the film is doing for charity, saying she was excited...
- 5/3/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to askafterellen@gmail.com — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.
Question: I just caught the tail end of Kissing Jessica Stein on TV today and I was wondering if you could tell me what writers/co-stars Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt are up to these days? I love that movie and thought they both did brilliant jobs both writing and acting in it!
― Kelcie, Bellingham, Wa
Helen Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt in Kissing Jessica Stein
Answer: Jennifer Westfeldt has worked steadily following the success of Kissing Jessica Stein. Just last year she had a multi-episode arc as a patient on Grey's Anatomy, and this fall she'll join the cast of 24 as journalist Meredith Reed.
Question: I just caught the tail end of Kissing Jessica Stein on TV today and I was wondering if you could tell me what writers/co-stars Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt are up to these days? I love that movie and thought they both did brilliant jobs both writing and acting in it!
― Kelcie, Bellingham, Wa
Helen Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt in Kissing Jessica Stein
Answer: Jennifer Westfeldt has worked steadily following the success of Kissing Jessica Stein. Just last year she had a multi-episode arc as a patient on Grey's Anatomy, and this fall she'll join the cast of 24 as journalist Meredith Reed.
- 9/2/2009
- by karman
- AfterEllen.com
Back in the day, before Dallas Austin became a red-hot record producer, with Madonna, TLC, Pink and Brandy among his many clients, he got an early taste of the music business as a high school band drummer in his hometown of Atlanta.
That experience provides the inspiration for "Drumline", a thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the highly precise preparation that goes into the making of a competitive show marching band.
It's formula all the way. Basically, if you've seen "Remember the Titans", "Save the Last Dance" and "Fame", you get the picture. But it's done with such spirit and care -- from the writing to the casting to the direction -- that it's pretty difficult to resist the film's freshly choreographed charm.
Based on audience response at a preview screening, Fox should be on sleeper alert. Not only will "Drumline" have no trouble doing "Barbershop"-style word-of-mouth business, but it could also demonstrate some nice crossover potential beyond its targeted young urban demo.
Nick Cannon, star of his eponymous Nickelodeon series, makes an assured feature debut as Devon Miles, a self-confident young hip-hop drummer from Harlem who has won a full music scholarship to Atlanta A&T University.
Talented but undisciplined, Devon's in for a rude awakening from Day One as he discovers his new school is run like band boot camp, presided over by the exacting, old-school Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones).
Devon also manages to engage in a divisive game of one-upmanship with the resentful Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts), a senior class band member who ultimately outs Devon as being musically illiterate.
Will Devon get his act together in time to earn a spot on the drumline and make it to the Big Southern Classic? Will he learn to check his ego and get in sync with Dr. Lee's "One band, one sound" credo?
While the answers are obvious, the talent on both sides of the camera infuse this patented underdog tale with an infectious energy.
The writing, credited to Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps, is bright and uncluttered.
Director Charles Stone III ("Paid in Full") keeps everything moving briskly and propulsively, and the entire cast -- which also includes Zoe Saldana as Devon's principled girlfriend and comedian J. Anthony Brown as a colorful rival bandleader -- are in perfect character pitch.
As for the music, those who'd cringe at the prospect of marching band renditions of Jackson 5 and Earth, Wind & Fire songs will be in for a pleasant surprise, thanks to "Drumline"'s rhythmic precision and imaginative choreography.
Who knows? "Drumline" might even end up doing for marching band enrollment what "Top Gun" did for Navy recruitment.
DRUMLINE
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 Pictures presents a Wendy Finerman production
Credits: Director: Charles Stone III; Screenwriters: Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps; Story: Shawn Schepps; Producers: Wendy Finerman, Timothy M. Bourne, Jody Gerson; Executive producers: Dallas Austin, Greg Mooradian; Director of photography: Shane Hurlbut; Production designer: Charles C. Bennett; Editors: Bill Pankow, Patricia Bowers; Costume designer: Salvador Perez; Music: John Powell; Executive music producer: Dallas Austin; Casting: Aleta Chappelle. Cast: Devon: Nick Cannon; Laila: Zoe Saldana; Dr. Lee: Orlando Jones; Sean: Leonard Roberts; Jayson: GQ; Ernest: Jason Weaver; Charles: Earl C. Poitier; Mr. Wade: J. Anthony Brown.
MPAA Rating PG-13, Running time 118 minutes...
That experience provides the inspiration for "Drumline", a thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the highly precise preparation that goes into the making of a competitive show marching band.
It's formula all the way. Basically, if you've seen "Remember the Titans", "Save the Last Dance" and "Fame", you get the picture. But it's done with such spirit and care -- from the writing to the casting to the direction -- that it's pretty difficult to resist the film's freshly choreographed charm.
Based on audience response at a preview screening, Fox should be on sleeper alert. Not only will "Drumline" have no trouble doing "Barbershop"-style word-of-mouth business, but it could also demonstrate some nice crossover potential beyond its targeted young urban demo.
Nick Cannon, star of his eponymous Nickelodeon series, makes an assured feature debut as Devon Miles, a self-confident young hip-hop drummer from Harlem who has won a full music scholarship to Atlanta A&T University.
Talented but undisciplined, Devon's in for a rude awakening from Day One as he discovers his new school is run like band boot camp, presided over by the exacting, old-school Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones).
Devon also manages to engage in a divisive game of one-upmanship with the resentful Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts), a senior class band member who ultimately outs Devon as being musically illiterate.
Will Devon get his act together in time to earn a spot on the drumline and make it to the Big Southern Classic? Will he learn to check his ego and get in sync with Dr. Lee's "One band, one sound" credo?
While the answers are obvious, the talent on both sides of the camera infuse this patented underdog tale with an infectious energy.
The writing, credited to Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps, is bright and uncluttered.
Director Charles Stone III ("Paid in Full") keeps everything moving briskly and propulsively, and the entire cast -- which also includes Zoe Saldana as Devon's principled girlfriend and comedian J. Anthony Brown as a colorful rival bandleader -- are in perfect character pitch.
As for the music, those who'd cringe at the prospect of marching band renditions of Jackson 5 and Earth, Wind & Fire songs will be in for a pleasant surprise, thanks to "Drumline"'s rhythmic precision and imaginative choreography.
Who knows? "Drumline" might even end up doing for marching band enrollment what "Top Gun" did for Navy recruitment.
DRUMLINE
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 Pictures presents a Wendy Finerman production
Credits: Director: Charles Stone III; Screenwriters: Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps; Story: Shawn Schepps; Producers: Wendy Finerman, Timothy M. Bourne, Jody Gerson; Executive producers: Dallas Austin, Greg Mooradian; Director of photography: Shane Hurlbut; Production designer: Charles C. Bennett; Editors: Bill Pankow, Patricia Bowers; Costume designer: Salvador Perez; Music: John Powell; Executive music producer: Dallas Austin; Casting: Aleta Chappelle. Cast: Devon: Nick Cannon; Laila: Zoe Saldana; Dr. Lee: Orlando Jones; Sean: Leonard Roberts; Jayson: GQ; Ernest: Jason Weaver; Charles: Earl C. Poitier; Mr. Wade: J. Anthony Brown.
MPAA Rating PG-13, Running time 118 minutes...
- 12/9/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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