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The Hallmark Channel hit it out of the park this year with its “Summer Nights” lineup. We loved the Providence Falls trilogy.

It’s ending with Catch of the Day, which includes the essence of summer fun — coastal living, beachy eats like lobster rolls, and reuniting with an old crush.

It’s the ultimate summer chick flick, and one of my favorite Food Network stars, Katie Lee Biegel, wrote the script and appears in the film.

(Courtney Julien/Hallmark Media)

Biegel has co-hosted The Kitchen for many years and has appeared as a frequent judge on Beat Bobby Flay.

She has written four cookbooks, and her novel, Groundswell, was also...

Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie’s latest venture as executive producer, the environmental documentary “Bee Wild,” made its world premiere at the inaugural SXSW London, drawing attention to the global crisis facing wild pollinators through cinematic storytelling and high-profile advocacy.

The film, narrated by Grammy-nominated artist and environmental advocate Ellie Goulding, who also contributed original music, screened at Curzon Hoxton followed by a live Q&a with award-winning directors Josh and Rebecca Tickell, producer Eva Kruse, and special guest Erika Thompson of Texas Beeworks.

“Bee Wild” represents the latest environmental project from the Tickells, whose previous documentaries “Kiss the Ground” and “Common Ground” have reached over 100 million viewers globally through streaming platforms. The husband-and-wife directing team has carved out what Josh Tickell describes as “our own little niche market” in climate-hopeful environmental documentaries.

The film features appearances by Jolie, world-renowned beekeeper Thompson, and environmental figure Professor Johan Rockström, and offers...

It’s official. Ektor Rivera confirmed his return to Chicken Sisters. This comes amid the news that Hallmark renewed the hit series for Season 2.

Special Announcement

Rivera took to Instagram to share a special announcement with fans. He confirmed that he’s returning to Season 2 of the Hallmark+ series. Production has already started in Vancouver, and Rivera was there with the rest of the cast. In his Instagram video, he wore a black hooded jacket, baseball cap, and shades.

“Un update…#TheChickenSisters Sundays at 9 pm (Et) on @hallmarkchannel...

Eight years ago, tech billionaire Jeff Skoll clapped enthusiastically as Al Gore assuaged the opening-night Sundance crowd just hours before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president. “We will win,” Gore said after the Skoll-backed climate change documentary “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” made its world premiere. “We want this movie to recruit others.”

But a funny thing happened over the ensuing years. The founder and chair of Participant Media appears to have defected to the other side. In January, on the weekend Trump was sworn in as the 47th president, Skoll hosted both the Make America Great Again Victory Rally and the inaugural parade, sending shockwaves through the indie film world. (Skoll declined comment.)

For the past two decades, the eBay mogul was the most reliable financier of progressive documentaries, from “Rbg” to “He Named Me Malala.” Skoll’s 180-degree turn as he shuttered Participant...

Prime Video has acquired rights to three feature-length documentaries about sustainability: Groundswell, Common Ground and Kiss the Ground.

Common Ground and Kiss the Ground, which were previously released, will be available to stream exclusively on Prime Video on April 22, or Earth Day, including a never-before-seen director’s cut of Kiss the Ground. Meanwhile, the duo’s forthcoming documentary, Groundswell, wrapped production last year and will be released globally on Prime Video at a later date. The trio of films hails from filmmakers Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.

Narrated by and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground reveals a detailed look into how regenerating the earth’s soils would help stabilize the earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. NASA and Noaa footage as well as graphics paint soil as the missing puzzle piece to climate change.

Common Ground combines journalistic investigation with anecdotes from those...

Amazon has acquired a trio of environmental docs, Groundswell, Common Ground and Kiss the Ground. All titles come from directors Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, who head the Big Picture Ranch banner.

Common Ground and Kiss the Ground, which were previously released, will be available to stream on April 22, while Groundswell, which wrapped production last year, will be released globally on Prime Video at a later date.

The Woody Harrelson-narrated Kiss the Ground focuses on scientists, farmers, and environmentalists fighting to regenerate the health of the world’s topsoil, while Common Ground is the follow-up to that film, with an emphasis on farmers and narration from Laura Dern and appearances from stars such as Jason Momoa.

Groundswell will open up the scope of the conversation to a global perspective, looking at how to reverse climate change and species loss on an ecosystem-by-ecosystem basis.

Big Picture Ranch was most...

After bringing the vampire Damon Salvatore to life in the hit TV show The Vampire Diaries, actor Ian Somerhalder went on to star in one season of the Netflix vampire series V Wars. The short-lived series marked his final acting role, as Somerhalder retired after its cancelation to focus on other endeavors.

While at the Environmental Media Association Awards Gala in October, Somerhalder spoke with People about the life he lives now with wife Nikki Reed, who also appeared in V Wars. Somerhalder reaffirmed that he has no plans at this time to revisit his acting career, feeling like it's more than likely "in the rearview mirror" of his life. However, the former actor also teased that he'd gotten the rights back for V Wars, hinting that there could be a potential continuation that he'd be a part of. The biggest problem, as Somerhalder also explained, is that his life...

Ian Somerhalder, who played Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries, has enjoyed a successful acting career since Lost. However, the actor might not be interested in returning to Hollywood. After The Vampire Diaries, Somerhalder joined the cast of another vampire series, V Wars, where he starred alongside his wife, Nikki Reed. The couple has since moved out of Los Angeles to pursue farming. They welcomed their second child and co-founded a tech-powered supplement brand called The Absorption Company last year.

Somerhalder tells People that he believes his acting career is "in the rearview mirror." Though they have recently "got the rights back for V Wars," he isn't sure if a television series would happen. The actor admits that he has a lot on his plate "building three companies at the same time, raising kids." Check out what he said:

I think its in the rearview mirror. I do.

Well, I dunno,...

Ian Somerhalder has been outspoken about leaving his acting career behind after he and his wife Nikki Reed moved out of Los Angeles to pursue a life in farming and healthy living.

The Vampire Diaries and Lost alum spoke about his previous life as an actor with People at the Environmental Media Awards Gala on Oct. 26. “I think it’s in the rearview mirror. I do,” he said. But there is one thing that could possibly reel him back in.

“Well, I dunno, we got the rights back for V Wars, but I just don’t know how the hell we would ever make a TV show,” he told the publication. He and Reed starred in the series which aired for one season in 2019 on Netflix. “We’re building three companies at the same time, raising kids,” he added.

Reed also told People at the event that she has no...

At one point, Ian Somerhalder was a big force in pop culture as one of the stars of the hit TV series The Vampire Diaries. These days, fans can't see him on-screen in any new movies or TV shows, and the actor has explained why he's taken a step back from the profession.

As fans of The Vampire Diaries will remember, Somerhalder played Damon Salvatore, the brother of Paul Wesley's Stefan Salvatore and a love interest for Nina Dobrev's Elena Gilbert. After the series ended in 2017, Somerhalder only took on one more major role as the star of the short-lived Netflix series V Wars, which dropped in 2019. Per People, the Lost star explained how he quietly retired from acting after V Wars was canceled to put more focus into launching films with subject matter he's passionate about, along with spending more time with his children at home.

Related...

Ian Somerhalder is reflecting on walking away from acting.

In an interview with People published Monday, the Vampire Diaries star explained why he stepped away from the screen to pursue various passion projects. The actor’s comments come amid the CW show’s 15th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Lost, both shows on which he starred.

“Aug. 19 makes five years since I was professionally on camera as an actor/producer,” Somerhalder said. “I stepped away from that after V Wars to build these companies, launch films like Kiss the Ground, Common Ground and Ground Swell and raise my kids. I remember sitting with my management talking about this, saying, ‘Hey, this is the only thing I’ve ever known that’s ever sustained my family, and I’m walking away from it,’ at this sort of peak, could have gone and done anything, but these partnerships mean way more to me.

Ian Somerhalder is reflecting on his time starring on two major TV shows.

September 2024 marks the 15th anniversary of the premiere of The Vampire Diaries and the 20th anniversary of Lost, which was one of the 45-year-old actor’s first major breakout roles.

In a new interview, Ian looked back at his time on the fan-favorite shows and explained why he decided to take a step back from acting.

Keep reading to find out more…While speaking to People, Ian called his Lost job a “very humbling experience,” especially since his character experienced one of the first major deaths in season 1. While he returned throughout the series several times for guest appearances, Ian admitted that his initial exit was very hard on him at the time.

“Losing that, I was the first one cast and the first one killed, that was a sort of tough pill to swallow,” Ian admitted,...

Photo: Wendie Malick, Genevieve Angelson, James Kot, Lea Thompson, Cassandra Sawtell, Schuyler Fisk Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Bettina Strauss

Adapted from New York Times Bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Selection, The Chicken Sisters by Kj Dell’Antonia, the new series of the same name is coming soon to Hallmark+.

Meanwhile, Emmy award winner Margo Martindale lends her voice talent as the narrator in the series. Read on to learn more about the new, upcoming series, set to premiere on September 10 on Hallmark+.

The Chicken Sisters is coming to Hallmark+ Photo: Genevieve Angelson, Brad Harder Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman

According to the official synopsis, a generations-old feud that has divided a small town may finally be settled once and for all when Schuyler Fisk, Genevieve Angelson, Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick star in Hallmark’s all-new original series The Chicken Sisters.

Photo: Cassandra Sawtell, Kelcey Mawema Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman

Meanwhile,...

The upcoming series adaptation of “The Chicken Sisters” at Hallmark has added Ektor Rivera to its cast, Variety has learned exclusively.

Variety exclusively reported in May that Hallmark had picked up the series, which is based on the Kj Dell’Antonia novel of the same name. Rivera joins previously announced cast members Schuyler Fisk, Genevieve Angelson, Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick. The series is currently in production and is slated to air later this year. Rivera will play the character Sergio.

The official logline for the series states that it is set in the fictional town of Merinac, “where a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants – Mimi’s and Frannie’s – has left the founders’ families fractured and the locals taking sides. When a popular cooking show comes to town, things get more complicated as sparks begin to fly and secrets are uncovered.”

Rivera recently starred in the Hallmark...

Exclusive: A spinoff of the hit drama series Snowfall is in early stages of development at FX, sources tell Deadline. No one would comment but we hear that, if it comes to fruition, the offshoot would potentially star Gail Bean reprising her fan-favorite Snowfall character, Wanda.

The spinoff is a continuation of the original story set in 1990s Los Angeles as South Central transitions out of the crack era into the gangster rap business, with areas heavily infested by gangs led by the Bloods and Crips. Wanda would serve as the connective tissue between the original show and the offshoot, which is expected to introduce other main characters, sources tell Deadline.

It is as yet unknown if any other characters from the original could also appear in the new show.

Malcolm Spellman will serve as executive producer and writer of the pilot. Returning executive producers include Dave Andron (co-creator of...

Michael London and his Groundswell Productions banner have entered into a multi-year first-look deal with Lionsgate Television.

Under the terms of the deal, Groundswell will develop premium scripted shows for Lionsgate across all platforms. One project already in development as part of the deal is a limited series about the scandals surrounding former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr, based on a Vanity Fair article by Gabriel Sherman. Sherman is adapting his article for the screen and will executive produce along with London and Groundswell’s president of production, Shannon Gaulding.

“There’s nothing better than having creative partners who are truly creative, as well as collaborative and smart,” London said. “The Lionsgate team is all of those things and more. Shannon Gaulding and I are excited to jump into this new venture focusing on the kind of smart, singular, and entertaining television that both companies stand for.”

Groundswell is...

Exclusive: Lacey Chabert (Christmas at Castle Heart) and Ektor Rivera (Sugar Plum Twist) are set to lead the Hallmark film Groundswell. The project is set to premiere on the network later this year.

Groundswell is an adaptation of Katie Lee Biegel’s debut novel. Beigel serves as executive producer on the project and will make a cameo appearance.

In the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries project, on the heels of a personal and professional setback, Atlanta chef Emma (Chabert) travels to Hawaii where she meets Ben (Rivera), a handsome, reclusive surf instructor whose lessons help her to regain her footing.

“I am a huge fan of Lacey’s movies, and she has been my dream choice to play Emma, from Day 1,” said Biegel in an exclusive statement to Deadline. “This project is close to my heart, and there is no one better to bring us along on Emma’s journey.”

Groundswell, from Crown Media Productions,...