Audible is launching a new eight-part audio series called Origins that will feature a number of A-list musicians answering the question “Where are you from?” Billboard can exclusively announce. The show will feature everyone from Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and Camilo to Koffee, Mickey Guyton, King Princess, Flying Lotus and artist-rapper Tobe Nwigwe interpreting the central query, with all episodes slated to drop on Nov. 17 on Audible.
[The New Yorker] Selling Lies with Jon Hamm
On a recent Thursday, Chantal Smith, a creative director, met the actor Jon Hamm and the writer-producer John Mankiewicz outside Studio 525, in Chelsea, to give them a preview of the party space for the première of their new docudrama, “The Big Lie,” débuting the following night at the Tribeca Festival. Hamm wore aviator sunglasses, a brown denim jacket, and cuffed jeans; Mankiewicz wore a suit with no tie. They both looked intrigued. Smith gestured toward the entrance, which would be red-carpeted and ringed with lights. “It looks glamorous from the outside, but you’ll quickly discover that everything is not as it seems,” she said. “The Big Lie,” in which Hamm plays an F.B.I. agent, is set in McCarthy-era Hollywood, among blacklisted writers and directors struggling to shoot a workers’-rights-themed movie while being treated as political subversives. Hamm’s character, via suave duplicity, is trying to stop them.
[Variety] Audible Drops Trailer for ‘The Big Lie’ Podcast Drama Starring Jon Hamm, Set in ’50s Hollywood Blacklist Era
Audible will immerse listeners in “The Big Lie,” an original drama series based on the FBI’s real-life infiltration of Hollywood during the 1950’s Red Scare.
“The Big Lie,” premiering June 16 on Audible, stars Jon Hamm as FBI special agent Jack Bergin, who sets out to shut down production of “Salt of the Earth” — the only movie named to the so-called Hollywood Blacklist — after he becomes convinced that it’s really a recruiting tool for the Communist Party. The seven-episode “The Big Lie” will premiere exclusively on Audible, available at this link.
“I don’t want to see somebody get killed over this movie,” Hamm’s FBI agent says threateningly in the series trailer, which was just released by Audible.
[Deadline] Jon Hamm To Star In Hollywood Blacklist Scripted Podcast ‘The Big Lie’ For Audible
Jon Hamm is set to star as an FBI agent trying to shut down Salt of the Earth, the only movie named to the Hollywood Blacklist, in a new scripted podcast series.
Audible has ordered The Big Lie, a seven-part audio drama series created by John Mankiewicz, a relative of Citizen Kane co-screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz.
Kate Mara, Ana de la Reguera, John Slattery, Bradley Whitford, Lisa Edelstein, Giancarlo Esposito and David Strathairn also star.
Mankiewicz, a co-exec producer on House of Cards and Bosch, will exec produce alongside Hamm. It comes from a story by blacklisted Salt of the Earth producer Paul Jarrico, co-written by Jamie Napoli and directed by Aaron Lipstadt. Fresh Produce Media produces.
[Deadline] Tribeca Festival Lineup
The 2022 Tribeca Festival announced its lineup of world premieres of new and returning television including ESPN’s The Captain, about iconic New York Yankee Derek Jeter and Amazon Prime Video’s A League of Their Own, inspired by the 1992 film, with Abbi Jacobson.
The fest, which unspools June 8-19, announced its film slate earlier this week.
The nine series premieres and two first looks at returning favorites feature Hulu’s Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons, an exposé of Victoria’s Secret; HBO Max’s Menudo: Forever Young, a behind-the-scenes look at the multi-generational pop sensation; FX’s The Bear, a ride through the culinary world; TIME Studios for A&E Network’s Right to Offend, a docuseries about Black comedians; EPIX’s Bridge and Tunnel, which follows a group of Long Islanders pursuing Manhattan dreams, written and directed by Edward Burns; and the mid-season premiere of the final season of AMC’s Better Call Saul with Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks.
[Rolling Stone] ‘Punk In Translation: Latinx Origins’ Takes Punk History Beyond White Men In Mohawks
Before there was punk, there were Los Saicos. Started by four guys in Lima, Peru, Los Saicos thrashed their way through local venues and cinema matinees in the 1960s, eventually flickering into obscurity almost as quickly as they’d arrived. But they left behind a roster of hits, including “Demolición,” a buzzing maelstrom of a song driven by the guttural screams of lead singer Erwin Flores, whose orders to smash a train station capture the lawlessness of these proto-punk pioneers. Around the same time in Michigan, a bunch of kids born to Mexican migrants formed Question Mark and the Mysterians, and their runaway hit “96 Tears” became the first song by a Mexican-American band to ever top Billboard‘s Hot 100. Mop-topped and enigmatic, they were also the very first act to be described as “punk” in Creem magazine, years before the term became ubiquitous. And in the Seventies, Alice Bag broke down the doors for women in punk as the frontwoman and co-founder of the Los Angeles punk band the Bags.
[Hollywood Reporter] Audible Strikes First-Look Deal with Fresh Produce Media
Audible has inked a first-look development and production deal with the audio entertainment company Fresh Produce Media.
As part of the deal, Fresh Produce will create multiple scripted and documentary audio series across genres like arts and entertainment, music, wellness, true crime and science fiction. The first Audible Original from Fresh Produce, an eight-part audio documentary series about the Latinx origins of punk music, will premiere exclusively on Audible March 10. The series will be Audible’s first production released simultaneously in English and Spanish.
[Los Angeles Times] Podcasts Made By and For Latinos Finally Make Mainstream Inroads
Audible, in partnership with new podcast firm Fresh Produce Media, plans to release a bilingual Latin music series in the spring titled “Punk in Translation: Latinx Origins,” an eight-part audio documentary chronicling punk rock’s Latin American roots, starting with ’60s garage rockers Los Saicos and the band known as ? and the Mysterians, progressing to the punks of present day. Hosted by Tijuana No! vocalist Ceci Bastida, the podcast will feature interviews with such luminaries as Joan Jett, Julieta Venegas, Alice Bag, the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra and more.
[Deadline] Jason Ross & Former AMC & Spotify Execs Team to Launch Podcast Firm Fresh Produce Media
EXCLUSIVE: The booming podcasting sector is getting another player.
Jason Ross, who founded consultancy Mercer + Ross, has launched Fresh Produce Media with a cadre of television, film and streaming veterans.
The company will focus on developing and producing narrative audio series and has also struck a number of development deals with the likes of Mick Jagger’s Jagged Films, Gerber Pictures and sports-centric studio game1.
Fresh Produce currently has ten series in production across the arts, entertainment, music storytelling, wellness, sports, true crime, and science fiction genres.
[Press Release] Fresh Produce Media Launches Talent-Driven Audio Company
Fresh Produce Media™, the audio-first entertainment company specializing in narrative audio series, is publicly launching today. Established in 2020 by veterans of the television, film, and streaming worlds, Fresh Produce has already signed several high-profile partnerships and has ten series in production that span the genres of arts & entertainment, music storytelling, wellness, sports, true crime, science fiction and more. Fresh Produce will be announcing major distribution partnerships in the coming months.