Kristen Zolner Exits Imagine Entertainment As Head Of Television
Kristen Zolner, who has served as Head of Television at Imagine Entertainment since 2022, has left the company, sources close to the situation confirm to Deadline.
We hear Zolner's exit is amicable and the role will not be filled.
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After taking over for Samie Kim Falvey, who left Imagine in 2021, Zolner oversaw projects such as Peacock's series remake of The Burbs starring Keke Palmer and its Friday Night Lights reboot, as well as Netflix's upcoming Gringo Hunters, among others.
Prior to joining Imagine, Zolner served as Director of Original Series, at Netflix, where she oversaw such series as Emily in Paris — which is produced by Jax Media — Dead To Me, Big Mouth, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, Maniac, Master of None andThe Pentaverate starring Mike Myers, Uncoupled and Untitled Mo Amer. She also initiated the optioning of Michelle Buteau's bestselling book Survival of the Thickest, which has been renewed for a second season at Netflix. In her first two years at the streamer, Zolner also helped program the company's first 25 original standup specials.
Before Netflix, she served as a development executive at Amazon Studios, where she shepherded Emmy-winning comedy-drama Transparent as well as Bosch, the studio's longest-running original series. Previously, Zolner held positions at Scot Armstrong's American Work and in the festivals group at HBO.
Variety first reported Zolner's exit.
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Los Angeles Times
39 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘The biggest mistake of my life': 6 actors on typecasting, comedy idols and more
Hailing from some of today's funniest TV series, six actors gathered recently for an uninhibited conversation about what it takes to make people laugh at The Envelope's Emmy Roundtable for comedy actors. In Netflix's 'Running Point,' Kate Hudson plays Isla, a woman who becomes pro basketball's first girl boss when she takes over the family franchise. In ABC's 'Abbott Elementary,' Lisa Ann Walter portrays Melissa Schemmenti, a tough grade school teacher in Philly's underfunded public education system. With Hulu's 'Mid-Century Modern,' Nathan Lane takes on the role of Bunny, an aging gay man who brings together a chosen family when he invites two friends to reside in his Palm Springs home. 'Hacks' co-creator Paul W. Downs does double duty as Jimmy, the manager to legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) in the Max series. Bridget Everett, creator of HBO's 'Somebody Somewhere,' plays Sam, a cabaret singer who moves back to her family's sleepy Kansas town to take care of her dying sister. And David Alan Grier stars as Dr. Ron, a devoted physician and cranky veteran who's seen it all in the overrun ER of a small-town hospital in NBC's 'St. Denis Medical.' The talented group spoke with The Times about their respective shows, typecasting and the risks one takes to make great comedy. Read on for excerpts from our discussion — and watch video of the roundtable below. The best comedy pushes boundaries, which means it can also skirt the edge of offensive. How do you know if you've gone too far, or haven't pushed it enough? Downs: In the 'Hacks' pilot, Jean Smart's character, Deborah Vance, says there is no line. I think there's nothing off limits, because it's really about execution and thoughtfulness. The thing that makes edgy comedy not funny is when it causes harm, when it's something that's punching down, when it's not something that can bring people together. That, to me, isn't worth it. But there's nothing that's too taboo, because that's what comedy is for. It's to examine things, explore things, get close to the edge. Everett: I think that comedy is about making people feel good. I want to make people feel joy. So as long as I'm not hurting anybody's feelings, I think everything's on the table. Grier: I don't think you know the edge and that's why it's dangerous. I've done things where I thought, 'This is too much,' and things where I thought, 'We didn't go far enough.' So you have to play that game. My intention is never to anger and offend, but you do have to put yourself in that position and take a chance, especially with comedy. You can prescreen it, but who are you prescreening it to? Sixty-year-old white women? High school kids? You have to take a chance. Hudson: I'm not a stand-up [comedian], so it's fun to watch people walk that line. It's exciting. What are they going to say? Is it going to be offensive? Is it not? Is it going to be brilliant? That's part of what's fun about being an audience of adult comedy. But I don't like mean comedy. It's really hard for me to see. I've been asked to do roasts a million times, and I just can't do it. It just doesn't move me in any way. Lane: I was asked. This was the biggest mistake of my life. ... A Friars [Club] Roast that was going to happen. [Jerry Lewis] was going to be roasted. And Richard Belzer said to me, 'Oh, Nathan, would you be a part of it? Would you do it? It would mean a lot to Jerry.' And I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, sure. I'll do the roast.' And then I'm suddenly there and I'm sitting next to Paul Shaffer and Jeff Ross, who apologized in advance for what he might say. And I realized then that, 'Oh, you're not getting up and just roasting this person. You're attacked. You're on the dais.' So I thought, 'Oh, what have I gotten into?' And I had asked them, 'Please let me go first.' And I had worked out jokes. I had a couple of writers help me, and there was an initial joke, which was, 'The only reason I agreed to do this was because I thought by the time it happened, Jerry would be dead.' Walter: I'm on a show that's got a lot of kids, and families can watch it together, which was [creator] Quinta Brunson's intention. But there are things that the kids won't get and that adults get. Melissa Schemmenti gets bleeped out regularly because she curses. She's South Philly! As a comic, I only am interested in edge, that's where I want to live … It's easier to make a point and get ears when you're making people laugh. And we do that on the show quite frequently. They'll do a storyline about the school-to-prison pipeline, but it's not ham-fisted, it's not preachy. It's edgy and it's all within jokes. Anytime you're making people laugh, I think you can say whatever you want. What's the strangest or most difficult skill you've had to learn for a role? Hudson: In 'Almost Famous,' [director] Cameron [Crowe] wanted me to learn how to roll cigarettes fast with one hand. And so I was learning how to roll, and I got really good at it really fast. And then when we were doing camera tests, I was doing it and I was smoking. And he was like, 'No.' And I was like, 'What? I just spent months trying to learn how to do that!' Then I started rolling my own cigarettes and got into a really bad habit and then spent years trying to quit. Downs: On 'Broad City,' I had to learn and do parkour. It's high skill level and high risk. You know, when you jump off buildings and roll around ... [leap] off chairs and over fire hydrants. I did it, but not a lot of it ended up onscreen. Just the most comedic moments. I jumped between buildings and they didn't even put it in! Lane: When I did 'Only Murders in the Building,' they said, 'So you have a deaf son and you're going to have scenes with him in ASL [American Sign Language].' It was challenging. I had a coach and I would work with him. And the wonderful young actor, James Caverly, who is Deaf ... he was very supportive. If I had to become fluent, it would've taken six months to a year to do it well. But I had an advantage; they said, 'Oh, your character is embarrassed by having a deaf son, so he didn't learn it until later in life. So he's not that good at it.' But it was a great thing to learn. I loved it. Grier: I did an episode of a sitcom in which it was assumed, unbeknownst to me, that I was very proficient playing an upright bass. This is not true. I played cello as a child. I had to play this upright bass and as a jazz musician. It was horrible. Your fingers swell and blister and bleed. Of course, I went along with it because that's what we're all supposed to do. But by Day 4, my fingers were in great pain. I never mastered it. But I did want to ask them, 'Who told you I could play?' Everett: I did a little trapeze work, but since the knee thing, I can't anymore … [Laughs] Lane: This was the independent film about the Wallendas, right? Everett: The truth is I've never had to do anything. Really. I had to rollerblade once in a Moby video, but that doesn't seem like it's going to stack up against all this, so maybe we should just move on to the next person. I would do trapeze, though. I'll do anything. Well, not anything. Can we just edit this part out in post? Hudson: I'm in love with you. Walter: In a movie I did where I started out as the nosy neighbor, I found out that I was going to be a cougar assassin and I had to stunt drive a Mustang and shoot a Glock. It was a surprise. Literally. When I got to set, I saw my wardrobe and went, 'I think I'm playing a different character than what I auditioned for.' ... They put the car on a chain and I got T-boned. I was terrified, but then I was like, 'Let's go again!' That was the most dangerous thing until I had to do a South Philly accent as Melissa, and do it good enough so that South Philly wouldn't kill me. That was probably more dangerous. Let's talk about typecasting. What are the types of roles that frequently come to you, where you're like 'Oh, my God, not again!' Lane: Oh, not another mysterious drifter. Hudson: Rom-coms. If I can't get a job doing anything else, I can get a job doing a romantic comedy. When you have major success in something, you realize the business is just so excited [that] they want you in them all the time. It really has nothing to do with anything other than that. It's something that I'm very grateful for, but you're constantly having to fight to do different things. I'd be bored if I was constantly doing the same thing over and over again. But it's just how the business works. Once you're in that machine, they just want to keep going until they go to somebody else. Walter: I can't tell you how bored I am with being the gorgeous object of men's desire. I named my first production company Fat Funny Friend … But as a mother of four in Los Angeles, I didn't really have the luxury of saying, 'I want to branch out.' But I did say, 'Can I play someone smart?' My father was a NASA physicist. My mother was brilliant. I was over doing things I could do in my sleep, always getting the part of the woman who sticks her head out of the trailer door and goes, 'I didn't kill him, but I ain't sorry he's dead!' ... It's like, 'Can I play someone who has a college education?' And I did, finally, but it took Quinta to do it. Grier: I've found that the older I've gotten, the roles I'm offered have broadened. And I've played a variety of really challenging great roles because I'm old now. That's been a real joy because I didn't really expect that. I just thought I'd be retired. I did. So it's been awesome. Lane: There was an article written about me, it was sort of a career-assessment article. It was a very nice piece, but it referred to me as the greatest stage entertainer of the last decade. And as flattering as it was, I can find a dark cloud in any silver lining. I felt, 'Oh, that's how they see me?' As an 'entertainer' because of musicals and things [I did] like 'The Birdcage' or 'The Lion King.' I'd been an actor for 35 years and I thought, 'I have more to offer.' So I wound up doing 'The Iceman Cometh' in Chicago ... and that would change everything. It was the beginning of a process where I lucked out and got some serious roles in television, and that led to other things. But it was a concerted effort over a period of 10, 15 years, and difficult because everybody wants to put you in a box. Is it difficult in the industry to make the move between drama and comedy? Walter: It's a lifelong consternation to me that there is an idea that if you are known comedically, that's what you do. We are quite capable of playing all of the things. Grier: I remember seeing Jackie Gleason in 'The Hustler.' I loved it. He was so great. Robin Williams also did serious. I think it's actually harder when you see serious actors try to be comedians. Downs: One of the things about making 'Hacks' is we wanted to do something that was mixed tone, that it was funny and comedic but also let actors like myself, like Jean, all of these people, have moments. Because to us, the most funny things are right next to the most tragic things. Hudson: And usually the most classic. When you think about the movies that people know generation after generation, they're usually the ones that walk the line. And they're the ones that you just want to go back and watch over and over and over again. Everett: I haven't had a lot of experience with being typecast because I've been in the clubs for a long time doing cabaret. But on my show, Tim Bagley, who plays Brad … he's been doing the same characters for I don't know for how long. So we wrote this part for him, and one of the most rewarding things for me on this show was sitting behind the monitor and watching him get to have the moment he deserved ... It's one of the greatest gifts to me as a creator to have been part of that. It's a whole thing in my show. We're all getting this break together. We've all struggled to pay our rent well into our 40s. I waited tables into my 40s, but you don't give up because you love doing it. I'm sure many of you are recognized in public, but what about being mistaken for somebody else who's famous? Grier: I went to a performance of a David Mamet show on Broadway. I went backstage, and this particular day, it was when Broadway was raising money to benefit AIDS. There was a Midwestern couple there with their young son and they saw me, and the house manager said, 'This couple, they're going to give us an extra $1,000 if you take a picture with them. Would you mind?' I'm like, 'Yeah, cool.' So I'm posing and the dad goes, 'It is our honor to take a picture with you, Mr. LeVar Burton.' Now in that moment, I thought if I say no, people will die. So I looked at them and I went, 'You liked me in 'Roots?'' He said, 'We loved you.' Click, we took the picture. I'm not going to be like, 'How dare you?!' Walter: Peg Bundy I got a couple of times. But as soon as I open my mouth, they know who I am. I can hide my hair, but as soon as I talk, I'm made. Hudson: I've had a lot of Drew Barrymore. And then every other Kate. Kate Winslet, Katie Holmes ... I've gotten all of them. Walter: Do you correct them? Hudson: Never. I just say yes and sign it 'Cate Blanchett.' I'd love to know who everybody's comedic inspiration was growing up. Walter: My dad used to let me stay up and watch 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and 'Laugh-In.' I got to see Ruth Buzzi, rest in peace, and Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin. Jo Anne Worley. All these funny women. That's what made me think, 'You can get a job doing this, the thing that I get in trouble for at school?!' Grier: My comedy hero was Richard Pryor. I was this Black little boy in Detroit, and George Jessel would come on 'The Mike Douglas Show' and he might as well have been speaking Russian. I'm like, 'How can this be comedy?' Then I saw Richard Pryor, and he was the first comic who I just went, 'Well, this guy's hilarious.' Downs: I remember one of the first comedies that my dad showed me was 'Young Frankenstein.' I remember Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman and Madeline Kahn. All of these women. I was always like, 'They're the funniest ones.' Hudson: My era growing up was Steve Martin, Martin Short, Albert Brooks, Mel Brooks. But women were, for me, the classics. Lucille Ball. Walter: There was a time when I was growing up where women really dominated comedy. They were your mom [nods at Hudson, Hawn's daughter], Whoopi [Goldberg], Bette Midler. The biggest stars of the biggest comedies were women, and then that all went away for a really long time. I think it found its way back with Judd Apatow and then he made 'Bridesmaids.' Hudson: I tried really hard to make edgy comedy and studios wouldn't do it. They wouldn't. It took Judd to convince the studio system that women are ready. That we can handle rated-R. In the '70s and '80s, there was a ton of rated-R comedy with women. But for some reason, it just all of a sudden became like, 'Oh, there's only 1½ demographics for women in comedy.' I always felt like it was an uphill battle trying to get them made. Then I remember when Jenji [Kohan] came in with 'Orange Is the New Black.' That was really awesome. Lane: Above all, it was always Jackie Gleason for me. He was such an influence. He was hilarious, and of course, very broadly funny, but then there was something so sad. It was such pathos with him. ... He was this wonderful, serious actor, as well as being Ralph Kramden. Everett: There's nobody that taught me more about how to be funny than my mom. She just had this way of being that I have used in my live shows. It's led to where I am now. She used to wet her pants [laughing] so she had to put towels down on all the chairs in the house. She just didn't care. That shows you to not care, to go out there. I live in fear, but not when I feel like she's with me. Grier: That's the edge. You're either going to weep or you're going to [laugh] until you urinate.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Netflix Saves ‘Sesame Street' From Trump's Reign of Terror
There are still sunny days ahead for Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby, who have all survived Trump's recent assassination attempt, thanks to the rescue efforts of Netflix. The streamer just announced that beloved children's program Sesame Street will move to its service, after the Trump administration cut funding for its decades-long home, PBS. The news comes following a tough few months for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, which lost its contract with HBO after the network sought to shift away from children's programming. Then, another financial blow came from the current administration, after President Donald Trump cut federal funding to PBS, the free public broadcasting service that's been airing Sesame Street for over 50 years. These issues caused what executives described as a 'perfect storm' of problems for the program. Under the new Netflix agreement, new episodes will premiere on Netflix and PBS on the same day, ensuring the educational program stays accessible for millions of children across the country. That in itself is a gesture of good will between the streamer and the public broadcaster that could be construed as a political gesture amid Trump's cuts. 'This unique public-private partnership will enable Sesame Workshop to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix's global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the U.S. continue to have free access on public television to the Sesame Street they love,' Sesame Workshop CEO Sherri Westin said in a statement. The Netflix deal will begin with the 56th season of Sesame Street later this year and will feature new formatting changes, dropping the magazine-style format in favor of 11-minute story sequences. The show will also take a more character-driven focus as is typical of other popular children's shows like Bluey. As soon as the news dropped about Sesame Street finding a new home, people took to social media to celebrate, expressing their relief that the program can continue despite Trump's funding cuts. Thanks to the new deal, Elmo and his friends will get continue to do what they've always done best: teach kids how to read and count, all while making sure they feel like they will always have a friend to guide them in this chaotic world.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Dept. Q,' ‘Mountainhead,' Alfred Hitchcock on Netflix, and the best to stream this weekend
Welcome to , your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (May 30-June 1) From a genre perspective, Scott Frank's latest project for Netflix has little in common with his previous two shows for the streaming service, the Emmy-winning limited series The Queen's Gambit and Godless. But like them, Dept. Q is must-see TV. More from GoldDerby Patti Lupone goes scorched-earth, inside the troubled Michael Jackson biopic, and what to read this weekend: May 30, 2025 Loretta Swit holds this Emmy record that may never be broken Directors open up about identity, risk and emotional storytelling at Disney's FYC fest Adapted from the best-selling Department Q crime novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, the nine-episode series (now streaming) stars Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck, an acerbic detective returning to work months after a routine welfare check leaves a young cop dead, his best friend and partner paralyzed from the waist down, and him with a bullet wound to the neck and mandated therapy. When his embattled Edinburgh police station needs a PR win, Morck is assigned to a newly created department of one, charged with investigating cold cases, starting with the four-year-old disappearance of a one-time prominent civil servant (Chloe Pirrie). What no one expects is that Morck, a lost cause with his own little band of rejects à la Slow Horses, might actually be successful in his endeavor. Dept. Q is the awards contender to watch this weekend. However, there is a lot going on this week as the TV season comes to a close ahead of the first phase of Emmy voting in June. Other contenders include: Hacks: Recently renewed for a fifth season, Max's Emmy-winning comedy closes out its excellent fourth season with a coda that finds Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) taking a trip to decompress after the life-changing events of the penultimate episode… and the news that Deborah can't perform stand-up for 18 months due to the contract she'd signed for Late Night. It's a fascinating, if somewhat unexpected end to a season about creating art and comedy with the confines of traditional media. The finale is now streaming on Max. Adults: It's a truth universally acknowledged that adults don't actually know what they're doing. FX's newest comedy puts Gen Z at the forefront of the latest version of this all too familiar story, as a group of five messy twentysomethings fumble their way through the early days of adulthood in New York City. Across eight episodes, the show tackles the fears and anxieties of being in charge of one's life and having no idea what to do about it. In an unconventional rollout, the series airs new episodes Wednesdays on FX, but the entire first season is already streaming on Hulu. The Better Sister: Based on the 2019 book by Alafair Burke and directed by Craig Gillespie, Amazon's newest limited series follows Chloe (Jessica Biel) and Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), two estranged sisters who could not be more different. While Chloe lives an idyllic life with her husband and son, Nicky is a recovering addict who struggles to make ends meet. But when Chloe's husband is brutally murdered, the two siblings reunite, uncovering a complicated family history as they attempt to find out what happened. All eight episodes are now streaming on Prime Video. Streaming services emphasize the new over the classic, and Netflix does this most of all. It's estimated that only about 2 percent of Netflix's movie library consists of films made before 1980. This is very bad for cinema history, as viewers are not exposed to classic films on the dominant streaming platform. So it's important to watch classic movies when they pop up on Netflix. Which means our top movie pick this weekend isn't a new release, but a bunch of old ones from the Master of Suspense that are coming to Netflix for the first time. On June 1, Netflix is adding a collection of six Alfred Hitchcock films: Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), The Birds (1963), and the final two of his career, Frenzy (1972) and Family Plot (1976). Also joining the collection are the 2012 biopic Hitchcock starring Anthony Hopkins and two horror films that bear a heavy Hitchcock influence, 2019's Us and 2022's Barbarian. The films' addition coincides with a six-week Hitchcock retrospective at Netflix's Paris Theater in New York. More Hitchcock films are expected to be added throughout the month. Psycho, Hitchcock's most famous film (though not his best; that's generally considered to be Vertigo, which topped the Sight & Sound poll in 2012), is already available on Netflix. It's a great opportunity to reconnect with the work of arguably the most influential filmmaker of all time. If you're looking for something new, here are some other recommendations: : For his first post-Succession project, creator Jesse Armstrong returns to HBO — and the world of billionaires — for the satire film Mountainhead. Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, Jason Schwartzman, and Cory Michael Smith star as tech billionaires gathered for a ski trip at a mountain retreat when a financial meltdown occurs, and it's mostly their fault. The made-for-TV movie was shot in March, and made an astonishingly tight turnaround to premiere on May 31 at 8 p.m. on HBO and Max, just under the wire for Emmys eligibility. : This animated kids' comedy from DreamWorks is a spinoff of Captain Underpants that takes the form of a very silly story-within-a-story. It's about a police officer and his K-9 who get fused together to become Dog Man: half man, half dog, all cop. Dog Man goes up against Petey, 'the world's most evilest cat,' to save Ohkay City from the orange kitty's (voiced by Pete Davidson) reign of terror. It topped the box office for a few weeks earlier this year, with kids (and parents) enjoying its energetic humor. It's now streaming on Peacock. : U2 singer Bono gives an unusual take on the musician memoir in this filmed version of his stage show, which features the man born Paul Hewson telling stories from his life interspersed with new versions of some of his iconic songs, like 'Beautiful Day' and 'Where the Streets Have No Name.' It's an immersive show — literally so, if you have an Apple Vision Pro headset, which Stories of Surrender is the first film specifically made for — shot in striking black-and-white by Academy Award-winning Mank cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt and directed by Andrew Dominik (Blonde). If for some reason you don't have an Apple Vision Pro, don't worry; you can watch the film in 2D on Apple TV+. : This Christian cartoon is an interesting take on the Charles Dickens' children's story The Life of Our Lord, a version of the story of Jesus Christ that Dickens wrote for his own children. Kenneth Branagh voices Dickens, who narrates the frame story while his son Walter (Roman Griffin Davis) gets transported into it, and experiences the life of Jesus (Oscar Isaac) from a disciple's point of view. The film comes from leading faith-based studio Angel Studios, and features a star-studded voice cast that includes Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker, and Ben Kingsley. It's now available on-demand on Apple TV and Fandango at Home. Speaking of Bono's Stories of Surrender, the U2 frontman released a three-song EP to accompany the streaming special featuring new live solo versions of the band's classics "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Desire," along with lesser-known track "The Showman." Give a listen below. Finally, with the sad news of the passing of composer Alf Clausen, whose Emmy-winning music helped define the best years of The Simpsons, we offer the playlist from Songs in the Key of Springfield. The compilation album, released in 1997, features such Clausen classics as "The Monorail Song," "Flaming Moe's," "Oh, Streetcar," and "We Do (The Stonecutters' Song)." After Clausen was unceremoniously fired in 2017, the show was never the same. Best of GoldDerby 'I cried a lot': Rob Delaney on the heart and humor in FX's 'Dying for Sex' — and Neighbor Guy's kick in the 'zone' TV directors roundtable: 'American Primeval,' 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,' 'Paradise' 'Paradise' directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra on the 'chaos' of crafting 'the world coming to an end' Click here to read the full article.
