News
SKATELAND makes it into competition at Sundance 2010!
http://festival.sundance.org/2010/press_industry/releases/2010_sundance_film_festival_announces_films_in_competition/
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Join Wendi Niad 1:30pm when she speaks on the panel, "The
Business of Writing" at The
Writers' Faire taking place at UCLA on Sunday, August 30.
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2 clients, Norm Harper and J.G. Pile, have their scripts
make it to the quarter finals of the Nicholl Fellowship.
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James Cotten's
film La Linea to close the New
York International Latino Film Festival July 27 - August
2
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FX unveils partial fall schedule
'Sons of Anarchy' moves to new night
By James Hibberd June 30, 2009, 01:34 PM ET

"Sons of Anarchy"
FX unveiled part of its fall schedule Tuesday, including premiere
dates for the return of "Sons of Anarchy" and "It's Always Sunny
in Philadelphia."
The network will have at least four original programs, including
"Anarchy" (on a new night, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. starting Sept.
8 for 13 episodes) and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Thursdays
at 10 p.m. starting Sept. 17 for 12 episodes).
The sixth and penultimate season of "Nip/Tuck" will debut sometime
in October. FX also plans to pair another as-yet-unannounced
comedy with "Sunny."
FX is once again adopting a fearless approach to its lineup,
scheduling shows to debut while broadcast is at the bullhorn.
This approach has worked in the past, with "Tuck" previously
having managed to grow year-over-year despite launching during
the fall.
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Got script? Registration is now open for Wendi's UCLA extension
Fall semester class Street
Smarts for Screenwriters beginning September 24, 2009.
Hear more about the class when Wendi Niad speaks on the panel:
The Business of Screenwriting at The Writers' Faire at UCLA
on August 30, 2009
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6/1/2009
MISHA GREEN BEGINS WORK ON
HEROES!
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Alyssa Milano finally commits to writer/director Daryn
Tuft's project, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend...

Hey Steven Zeitchik, writer of the Hollywood Reporter article
- so nice to see the writer/director, Daryn Tufts, getting so
much mention, praise and attention in your expose! CAA really
needed that promo piece and boy did they deserve it. They worked
so hard to get those actors attached. Whew! What? Oh that's
right, Daryn Tufts, the writer/director and Rick McFarland,
the producer, got Alyssa Milano attached personally! Don't you
all just love when "journalists" are so unbiased and
cover all their bases? I know I do!
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Rave review for Todd Klick's film Rough
Cut
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HEROES offers Misha Green
staff writing position.
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Haley Ramm books Guest Star
on Jada Pinkett's new series Hawthorne.
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Watch Izzy Murad on Surviving
Suburbia on ABC and hear her recurring on Disney Channel's
Phineas and Ferb
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Haley Ramm will be starring
with her real life best friend Miranda Cosgrove on iCarly this
Saturday night, May 16th, on the premier of iReunie with Missy
on Nickelodeon. Watch it!
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“La Linea” Cracks U.S. Deal
by Brian Brooks (May 4, 2009)

A scene from James Cotten's "La Linea." Image courtesy of
Maya Entertainment.
Director James
Cotten’s crime drama “La Linea” with Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta
and Esai Morales has been picked up by L.A.-based production
and distribution company Maya Entertainment, the company’s EVP
Jose Martinez, Jr. announced Monday. Martinez and Alex Raminfar
negotiated the deal for Maya Entertainment with Alexis Garcia
of Endeavor Talent Agency on behalf of the producers. A release
date is still pending.
Paralleling today’s drug wars, the film is described as
a a character driven feature set in one the most dangerous cities
in North America: Tijuana. The story follows veteran assassin
Mark Shields (Ray Liotta) as he tracks down, Pelon (Esai Morales),
the elusive and brutal head of the Salazar Crime Cartel. Pelon
has taken over the ailing Javier Salazar (Andy Garcia) and made
a deal to move the business from Colombia cocaine to Afghani
Heroin. The deal would make Pelon the most powerful narco trafficker
in the hemisphere.
“Maya is pleased to distribute this amazing and timely film
featuring an outstanding cast which supports our mandate to
distribute relevant, thought provoking English-language, Latino-themed
features,” commented Martinez in a statement. “We will be announcing
our plans for a release date for the film shortly.”
Maya Entertainment, headed by award winning producer Moctesuma
Esparza and co-chaired by Jeff Valdez, styles itself as the
only Latino owned and managed filmed entertainment company specifically
focused on the U.S. Latino film-going audience. Maya Entertainment
is the sister company of Maya Cinemas North America, Inc. a
movie theater exhibition company which operates multiplex cinemas
with a site in Salinas, CA and new sites soon to be opened in
Bakersfield, CA, San Bernardino, Fresno, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Chicago,
IL, San Antonio, TX, Houston, TX and New York.
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Izzy Murad books Curb your
Enthusiasm with the reunited cast of Seinfeld! Go Izzy!
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FINALLY! It is official! The rights to MacGyver
land at New Line!
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Niad Management signs young adult author
Justin Reichman  
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Misha Green
gets staff writing position on Sons of Anarchy on FX
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Eric Artell on Scrubs
- Tuesday, January 6, 2009 on ABC
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Misha Green's Sunflower
makes the 2008 Blacklist...the list compiled by 250 development
executives of the most liked screenplays of the year!
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William Friedkin signs on to direct Misha
Green's screenplay Sunflower set up at SKE with Niad
Executive Producing.
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Haley Ramm books feature
film Skateland, 1/2 hour comedy pilot The New 20s
and star billing on iCarly within 2 weeks of each other!
Hot might be appropriate :)
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Wendi Niad's fall semester class, Street
Smarts for the Screenwriter begins at UCLA on October 20th.
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AUTISM: THE MUSICAL
WINS 2 EMMYS!!
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Niad Management, in conjuntion with book agents Folio Literary
in New York, have closed a deal for Lee Zlotoff to write a series
of MacGyver books!
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With Niad introducing all parties, Ender's
Game is back in negotiations to become a movie.
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Rafaella DiLaurentiis exercises the option
on the feature film rights to MacGyver
paying out a large six figure sum.
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Haley Ramm books
the role of Chelsea Stanner in the new show this fall from Jerry
Bruckheimer, The 11th Hour on CBS. Watch the premier
on CBS, October 9th at 10pm!
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AUTISM: THE
MUSICAL RECEIVES 5 EMMY NOMINATIONS!
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And it looks like Sidney Kimmel Entertainment(The
Kite Runner) is the winner, taking Misha
Green's screenplay Sunflower off the market for six
figures with Vincent Newman producing and Niad executive producing.
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Niad and Literary Agent, Irene Webb, sell Elaine
Hall's book proposal, The Miracle Project, to Harper
Collins for a large advance against 50% of the profits!
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Unknown writer from Pennsylvania sends us query
letter, we read, we like, we sell The Metro Gardeners
by Todd Klick to Larry Levinson Productions and Hallmark! Todd
now lives in Los Angeles and is taking meetings!
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Jana Howington
is hired to write Curious George 3 for Dreamworks Animation.
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Misha Green
attaches John Cameron (Lars and the Real Girl)
and Brandy James to produce her screenplay Dry
with Wendi Niad and Jennifer Graff Executive Producing. Sunu
Gonera(Pride) has come aboard to
direct.
Video Game company Electronic Arts hires Orson
Scott Card to write 13 Webisodes to accompany their upcoming
video game software Tiberium.
Eric Artell
has begun shooting season 7 of Dragonfly TV!
Izzy Murad
books Socially Awkward Guy with Second City!
Ender's Game by Orson
Scott Card enters the Modern Library's Reader's List Top
100 Novels at #59! Congratulations!
Elaine Hall
and her Miracle Project
are the subject of the multi award winning documentary Autism:
The Musical running on HBO and now for sale through
www.themiracleproject.org
Street Smarts
for the Screenwriter taught by Wendi Niad at UCLA
was a huge success. She will be back again for the Fall semester.
Haley Ramm shoots
more episodes of Without a Trace.
Eric Artell
books Sneezo in Superhero! for Dimension Films
23 year old writer Misha
Green signs with Endeavor features and television.
Neil Cohen's
project You Look Nice Today, in which he will also be producing,
continues to move forward with Eva Mendes attached and the search
for a director ensuing.
more later...
November:
The Strike is on. www.wga.org
Cartoon Network airs the first ten episodes
of Ben 10 during an all day Ben 10 Marathon hosted by Haley
Ramm and Graham Phillips starting at 10:00am until the premier
of the live action movie Ben
10: Race Against Time. 
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 8:00PM
Street Smarts for the Screenwriter: A
six week class on how to take academia to the trenches beginning
in the spring at UCLA's Extension Writer's Program, taught by
Wendi Niad on Monday evenings 7-10pm.
Summer:
Misha Green
snatched up by Niad Management right out of NYU's screenwriting
program, makes it to the quarter finals (245 out of 5000) with
her brilliant screenplay Amazons, the finals of the Sundance
Screenwriters Lab AND makes it to the final interviews for the
Fox Writers Diversity Program. Thank you to client and NYU screenwriting
professor Susan Sandler
for this referral!
Wendi Niad will be speaking and taking
pitches at the Willamette
Writers Conference in Portland, Oregon. August 3-5.
Orson Scott
Card goes to Comic-Con in San Diego to promote the comic
book series he is adapting for the upcoming Will Smith movie
I Am Legend based on the Richard Matheson novels.
Lee Zlotoff
sells pilot, Virtual Housewives,to Showtime.
Haley Ramm
has been asked to reprise her role as Jennifer Long in multiple
upcoming episodes of Without a Trace including the season premier.
Slade Pearce
goes back to work as October
Road is picked up by ABC for the fall.
New literary client Christine Bailey has
also made it to the finals of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab!
Congratulations Christine! Thank you to John
Coles for the referral!
Ary Kian
worked with Al Pacino on Salomaybe? then followed
that up with a role on Reno 911! Oh how we love
our versatile actors~!
May:
Ender's Game by Orson
Scott Card has finally been put into turnaround by Warner
Brothers. We are in negotiations with another studio with Card's
company Taleswapper
producing along with Chartoff Productions.
Moebius by Neil
Cohen has just been announced by the WGA as one of the
6 Best Unproduced Screenplays of the year. A portion of the
screenplay will be published in next month's Written
By Magazine.
CBS Prevails with 'Trace' Finale
11 May 2007
CBS's decision to bring Without a Trace back to its old timeslot
on Thursday night for its season finale paid off for the network
as the show posted a 9.9 rating and a 17 share in the 10:00
hour, beating an episode of NBC's E.R., which posted a 6.2/11
and a preview episode of ABC's Traveler, which scored a 6.1/11.
Haley Ramm
is cast as Gwen in the live action movie of the animated series
Ben 10.
Orson Scott
Card will be adapting several comics for Will Smith's
company, Overbrook, and Warner Brothers based on the upcoming
Will Smith movie I Am Legend.
Tune in to the season finale of Without
a Trace on May 10th on CBS. Haley
Ramm, in her role as Jennifer, will be leaving us with
a cliff hanger that will continue into next season.
Orson Scott
Card has been hired to write a pilot for the Johnson-Roessler
Company (The Initiation of Sarah; Barbershop series)
set in post oil America.
April:
Lee Zlotoff
sells yet another pilot to FX
Haley Ramm
booked the role of Jennifer on CBS's Without a Trace
Several financiers are lobbying for Neil
Cohen's screenplay, Moebius.
Watch Dalia Phillips onBones. 8pm on Fox, April
5th.
Tune in to E.R. on NBC, February
15th to see Haley Ramm
as Tasha.
Eric Artell
completes the 6th season of DragonflyTV, booked the feature
film Sands of Oblivion and 3 National Commercials for
Wendy's, Mattel's Hot Wheels and The Washington Post.
The novel You Look Nice Today is coming together
nicely as a future film with Neil
Cohen adapting and Eva Mendes starring.
David Kaufman
guests on The Class.
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