Latest news with #graphicnovel
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ava Phillippe, Sam Morelos Cast in Tommy Dorfman's ‘Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me' (Exclusive)
Tommy Dorfman's film adaptation of Mariko Tamaki's graphic novel Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me has cast Ava Phillippe and Sam Morelos in the lead roles, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal. Toronto-based film and television production company Wildling Pictures and L.A.-based MXN Entertainment told THR that director Dorfman, best known for her role in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, has found her stars in Phillippe — daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe — and Morelos (That '90s Show). More from The Hollywood Reporter Charli XCX Starrer '100 Nights of Hero' to Close Venice Critics' Week 'In the End, Everything Will Be Okay' With 'Money Heist' Star Esther Acebo Boarded by Citizen Skull (Exclusive) Netflix Greenlights K-Pop Drama 'Variety' Starring Son Ye-jin and Jo Yu-ri Based on Tamaki's best-selling graphic novel, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me follows Laura Dean, the most popular girl in school and Freddie Riley's dream girl. 'She has it all — charm, confidence, and charisma,' a plot synopsis reads. 'But there's one problem: Laura Dean keeps breaking up with her. The story follows Freddie's journey to finding the courage to end her toxic relationship and regain her self-love, with the help of her best friends and a psychic.' Dorfman said about the casting: 'While searching for our Freddie, Sam came into the room with a grounded, eccentric, and timeless character encompassing all of Freddie's wonder, heart, and artistry. It was clear from that moment that she was the right person to bring this story to life.' 'Similarly, Ava's effortlessness as Laura Dean and the chemistry between them as actors was electric. I couldn't be more thrilled to work with both rising stars on my sophomore film.' Dorfman's recently launched Good Girl Productions has boarded as co-producer of the film with Wildling Pictures and MXN Entertainment. The company, focused on telling stories that 'challenge and shift our perspective of the human experience — and deepen our own human experience as a result of them,' has launched in partnership with Tricky Knot, an entertainment financing and development company. Tricky Knot is co-financing Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me through its partnership with Dorfman's banner. Matt Code at Wildling Pictures added: 'We are thrilled to have Ava and Sam onboard this heartwarming and funny adaption of Mariko Tamaki's story. This film is a fresh and important exploration of love and friendship. Tommy and Good Girl Productions are the perfect partners for this project, bringing immense passion to the adaptation. Together with our partners at MXN, we look forward to working with this wonderful team to bring this story to the big screen.' Tamaki's powerful commentary on the teenage LGBTQIA+ experience and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell's illustrations received global recognition, with Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me named one of Time's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. She has also written for both Marvel and DC Comics, and is currently an executive story editor on season two of Apple's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and served as a co-producer on season two of Goosebumps for Disney+. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Greatest Needle Drops in Film History The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava Phillippe lands her first lead role in new romantic comedy
Reese Witherspoon 's daughter is following in her famous mother's footsteps, and has landed her first leading role. Ava Phillippe, 25, whose dad is Witherspoon's ex-husband Ryan Philippe, has already had small parts in Doctor Odyssey and Ransom Canyon. On Monday, it was revealed that the young star has been cast as the title character in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me. The script is based on the best-selling graphic novel by Mariko Tamaki, The Hollywood Reporter revealed. That 90s show actress Sam Morelos will co-star as Frederica 'Freddie' Riley. The story is set at a high school where Phillippe's Laura is the most popular girl in school and Freddie's dream girl. 'She has it all — charm, confidence, and charisma,' a synopsis of the plot reads. 'But there's one problem: Laura Dean keeps breaking up with her. The story follows Freddie's journey to finding the courage to end her toxic relationship and regain her self-love, with the help of her best friends and a psychic.' I Wish You All The Best director Tommy Dorfman will helm the project. 'While searching for our Freddie, Sam came into the room with a grounded, eccentric, and timeless character encompassing all of Freddie's wonder, heart, and artistry. It was clear from that moment that she was the right person to bring this story to life,' she said in a statement. 'Similarly, Ava's effortlessness as Laura Dean and the chemistry between them as actors was electric. I couldn't be more thrilled to work with both rising stars on my sophomore film.' Phillippe shared her excitement at the announcement posting a copy of the THR article in her Instagram Stories and adding her own good news. 'IT'S HAPPENING!' she wrote, 'Can't wait to break your hearts,' tagging Dorfman and Morelos in the post. She also shared some of Laura's looks which include pink hair and a photo of the character in a school uniform, with the word 'liar' written across it. 'Ava Phillippe is Laura Dean' was written at the top of the composite. The star's friends expressed their congratulations.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Victoria's Whitney Gardner explores fame, phantoms and free (not haunted) pianos in new graphic novel
When Whitney Gardner came across an ad for a free piano, advertised as "not haunted," she knew there was a story there. "That piano is obviously very haunted," she told CBC's North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher. And while she never learned the story of that particular piano, the Victoria-based author and illustrator felt moved to write her own story that includes a haunted instrument. The book, a young adult graphic novel, is centred around a pre-teen girl searching for fame. It begins in 1980 and then jumps forward to the present day. "When I sat down to write the book, I first thought that it would be like this big wooden stand up piano haunted by a Victorian ghost," Gardner said. "I kept hitting roadblocks and hitting the wall and not wanting to write this sad dreary piano music book. And then I realized, wait, I'm in charge. I can write whatever I want." So, she chose a haunted synthesizer, one just like the model John Carpenter used to compose the soundtracks for the Halloween horror films. In Gardner's book, the synthesizer is haunted by a ghost from the 80s, named Vision. The ghost is based on the American pop star Tiffany, who rose to fame with her cover of I Think We're Alone Now in 1987. While writing the book Gardner watched the music video for I Think We're Alone Now every day. "Just to put myself in the mindset of this superstar and also to see all of the backgrounds and the antics of the 80s," Gardner said. The book's main character, Margot, has a lot in common with her creator, Gardner. For one, they both have fathers who spent much of their lives in search of fame, which left Margot and Gardner feeling that they had to compete for attention with their father's fans. Second, Margot and Gardner both tend to write light-hearted pieces. "There's a lot of myself in Margot, probably more so than any of the other books I've written." LISTEN | The story behind Whitney Gardner's latest book: In the story, Vision and Margot share a commonality: by making music that makes them popular, they're giving up making music for themselves. Gardner is both the author and illustrator of this book as well as her previous works, Fake Blood and Long Distance. While art and drawing are her first loves, writing stories for younger audiences has become her passion. "These books, comic books, have more pictures than any kind of book. This is where my heart is now. I sort of fell in love with telling stories through words and pictures together. And now it's like all I want to do." Free Piano (Not Haunted) is available now.
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Victoria's Whitney Gardner explores fame, phantoms and free (not haunted) pianos in new graphic novel
When Whitney Gardner came across an ad for a free piano, advertised as "not haunted," she knew there was a story there. "That piano is obviously very haunted," she told CBC's North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher. And while she never learned the story of that particular piano, the Victoria-based author and illustrator felt moved to write her own story that includes a haunted instrument. The book, a young adult graphic novel, is centred around a pre-teen girl searching for fame. It begins in 1980 and then jumps forward to the present day. "When I sat down to write the book, I first thought that it would be like this big wooden stand up piano haunted by a Victorian ghost," Gardner said. "I kept hitting roadblocks and hitting the wall and not wanting to write this sad dreary piano music book. And then I realized, wait, I'm in charge. I can write whatever I want." So, she chose a haunted synthesizer, one just like the model John Carpenter used to compose the soundtracks for the Halloween horror films. In Gardner's book, the synthesizer is haunted by a ghost from the 80s, named Vision. The ghost is based on the American pop star Tiffany, who rose to fame with her cover of I Think We're Alone Now in 1987. While writing the book Gardner watched the music video for I Think We're Alone Now every day. "Just to put myself in the mindset of this superstar and also to see all of the backgrounds and the antics of the 80s," Gardner said. The book's main character, Margot, has a lot in common with her creator, Gardner. For one, they both have fathers who spent much of their lives in search of fame, which left Margot and Gardner feeling that they had to compete for attention with their father's fans. Second, Margot and Gardner both tend to write light-hearted pieces. "There's a lot of myself in Margot, probably more so than any of the other books I've written." In the story, Vision and Margot share a commonality: by making music that makes them popular, they're giving up making music for themselves. Gardner is both the author and illustrator of this book as well as her previous works, Fake Blood and Long Distance. While art and drawing are her first loves, writing stories for younger audiences has become her passion. "These books, comic books, have more pictures than any kind of book. This is where my heart is now. I sort of fell in love with telling stories through words and pictures together. And now it's like all I want to do."
New York Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
My Teacher Is a Robot. Wait Till You Meet My Mom.
Two new graphic novels for kids feature alien beings that aren't what they seem. One is a monster disguised as a helper. The other is a monster that turns out not to be monstrous after all. In SCHOOLBOT 9000 (Dial, 288 pp., $14.99, ages 9 to 12), the first-time graphic novelist Sam Hepburn skewers artificial intelligence and the people hustling to sell it to us. Hepburn, a former tech writer, has built a near-future world full of robotic helpers that include taxi drivers, public safety officers, companions and pets. Just about everybody is awed by this shiny technology, burnished with retro design to appear friendly. But James, an 11-year-old with an artistic bent, prefers a more natural world. He got his skepticism from his father, who once told him that robots aren't 'just cold metal. They're cold — here,' and touched his heart. Dad has since died, and Mom has bought a HOMEBOT 3000 to help her manage the house and her busy career. As if a nattering robot at home weren't bad enough, James's school is taking part in a pilot program to introduce A.I. education via the SCHOOLBOT 9000. (Science-fiction-inclined parents will recognize the reference to HAL 9000, the murderous computer in '2001: A Space Odyssey.') Hepburn devotes loving attention to the ways in which human teachers connect with their students and give them confidence. By contrast, the A.I. educators ridicule the kids' artwork and music practice, even breaking one child's violin. 'Studies show that exposure to poor quality music is detrimental to brain structure, and may lead to cognitive and behavioral problems,' the SCHOOLBOT spouts. Cold indeed. They excel at some things. A lesson on Mesopotamia delivered by a human substitute teacher falls flat, so a SCHOOLBOT steps in with an impromptu rap: 'Stories and laws, math and much more, they inscribed it all, yeah, they built the core, in cuneiform script, forever they store! … Mesopotamia-mania! Feel the knowledge rain-ia!' The kids are entertained, but did they learn anything? Bit by bit, the budget-squeezed school kicks out the human teachers, which was the plan all along. The robots' big, evil manufacturer, Bux Global, is in cahoots with the paid-off mayor to make sure the pilot program succeeds at any cost. But the robots are glitchy, and the company's prejudices play out in the lessons. The arts and humanities are useless, one SCHOOLBOT contends: 'I am unable to find job descriptions that require specific knowledge of literary works such as 'Romeo and Juliet.'' They sort the kids into binary categories of tech work: 'creation' or 'maintenance.' The first group will be the programmers and designers; the others will keep the creations running. No reason to think about other professions, the robot sniffs: 'By the time you leave school, it is highly probable that your preferred job will already be performed by A.I.' Gee, it's almost as if Sam Altman were in the room. The students rebel. They enlist their parents. The SCHOOLBOT program is suspended. Freethinkers, rebels and techno-skeptics will find a lot to love here. Others might consider the book preachy and didactic. But tension builds again at the end as Bux Global performs an automatic software update on all its homebots: James's family's HOMEBOT 3000 suddenly reboots as the SCHOOLBOT Homeschooling System. Will the evil corporation take over education after all? And maybe the planet? Stay tuned: This is the first installment of a promised series. In DEEPLY DAVE (Holt, 240 pp., $14.99, ages 8 to 12), Michael Grover gives us a weird treat. Dave is a young explorer who's looking for his mother, an astronaut whose spaceship has gone missing in the depths of the ocean. (OK, that part doesn't really make sense. Keep going.) The delight of this book — a vertical rectangle bound at the top — is its format: Each flipped page takes you deeper, as if you're scrolling down a screen. That unusual design mimics the story's origins in the unfolding episodes of a webcomic (which in this case blinks and jitters, thanks to Grover's animation wizardry). Undersea creatures warn Dave that he's about to encounter 'the Big Doom.' He doesn't know what they're talking about, except that it's gigantic and powerful. But Dave isn't powerless. He's brought a pocketknife (which he shows to everyone he meets) and he makes friends along the way, including Amos, a shrimplike 'scavenger and entre-pruner' who's willing to help, in return for the quality seating inside Dave's mother's spaceship. (He craves a commode.) In a wry Freudian twist, the monster turns out to be … dun, dun, dun … Dave's mother, possessed by an alien creature she was studying — whom she inadvertently enraged by being callous about its egg. So the rescue mission gets a bit complicated, especially after an octopus, which used to be human, body-swaps with Dave to get its humanity back. Minds are melded. Bodies re-swap. The power of love saves the day. Ultimately, Dave's mother re-emerges, still gigantic but demonstrating a new empathy for the alien creature, with whom she's now fully symbiotic: 'She might be a cosmic being from another galaxy, and I might be an accomplished human astronaut … but at the end of the day we're just a couple of moms, trying to do right by our kids.'
