Sundance Channel announced today that award winning director James Gray (“The Immigrant,” “Two Lovers,” “We Own The Night”) will direct the first episode of the network’s next original scripted series The Red Road (formally The Descendants). Today’s news comes on the heels of the recent announcement that Jason Momoa (“Wolves,” Game of Thrones) was cast in a lead role in the series.
SUNDANCE CHANNEL AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY SET TO PREMIERE ‘THE WRITERS’ ROOM’ ON MONDAY, JULY 29, HOSTED BY ACADEMY AWARD©-WINNING SCREENWRITER AND ‘COMMUNITY’ STAR JIM RASH
PREMIERE SEASON TO FEATURE STELLAR LINE-UP OF HIT SCRIPTED SERIES ‘BREAKING BAD’, ‘DEXTER’, ‘GAME OF THRONES’, ‘AMERICAN HORROR STORY’, ‘PARKS AND RECREATION’ AND ‘NEW GIRL’
Presented by Sundance Channel and Entertainment Weekly, THE WRITERS’ ROOM is set to premiere on Monday, July 29 and will be hosted by Academy Award©-winning screenwriter (THE DESCENDANTS), comedian and actor Jim Rash (Community). The six episode half-hour series will spotlight an array of scripted television shows – from today’s pioneering cable dramas, including BREAKING BAD, Dexter, Game of Thrones and American Horror Story to the most critically acclaimed and popular network sitcoms, including Parks and Recreation and New Girl. The roundtable talk show will delve deep into the world of TV’s creative masterminds, divulging inside details about their smartest choices, toughest decisions and biggest mistakes. The announcement was made today by Sarah Barnett, Sundance Channel President and General Manager.
It’s old news that the increased presence of high-profile film stars in TV land is just another not-so-subtle sign of the recession in action: Those usually used to a fat paycheck from the film studios have had to think out of the box — or rather, right into it, as have 2012 Emmy nominees Glenn Close of Damages, Kathy Bates of Harry’s Law and Steve Buscemi of Boardwalk Empire, to name just a few. But their presence is also a sign of another larger shift in the entertainment media landscape, one that has also been in development for a while now: The boundaries between the kind of content on TV and in film may be disappearing altogether.