Author: Natalie Jarvey

• 
  

  Broadcast TV’s New Shows for 2015-16 Season (Photos)

• 
  

  TV Shows That Failed to Survive the 2014-15 Season

• 
  

  TV Premiere Dates 2015: The Complete Guide

April 16, 2015 9:02am PT by Natalie Jarvey

 Courtesy of MPRM

The musical drama first streamed on the AwesomenessTV YouTube channel in 2013 and will bow its third season on the streaming platform beginning April 18.

YouTube series Side Effects is making its way to cable TV. 

E! will broadcast the musical drama on Friday, April 17 as a 90-minute movie ahead of its third season premiere on YouTube. 

Co-produced by AwesomenessTV and Universal Cable Ppoductions, Side Effects originally debuted in 2013 as a long-form special on the AwesomenessTV YouTube channel. A sequel aired in May 2014 as a four-episode series that debuted on the ATV app before making its way to YouTube. A third season will premiere April 18 on the ATV YouTube channel. 

“Side Effects was the first time we experimented with long form content on YouTube and it was a huge success,” said ATV CEO Brian Robbins. “Now viewers can choose to watch it as a movie on E!, download it or watch the third season on AwesomenessTV. In this on-demand universe, we want to engage our audience wherever they are.” 

The series, which tells the story of teenager Whitney Connolly who takes prescribed medicine and is thrown into musical hallucinations, generated more than two million views in its first week on YouTube. Covers of pop hits such as Katy Perry‘s “Roar” and Ellie Goulding‘s “Burn” occur throughout the Glee-style project. 

Side Effects stars Chester See, Meg DeLacy, Lulu Antariksa, Cande Canon Ball, Finn Roberts and Keli Price. YouTube creators Grace Helbig, GloZell, Lia Marie Johnson, Arden Rose and Meghan Rienks also star. 

“With its tremendous launch on AwesomenessTV and now its debut on E!, Side Effects proves that great content can gain traction in all forms of distribution,” said Aimee Carlson, vp digital and scripted development at UCP. “As a studio, Universal Cable Productions remains invested in creating this kind of quality content for a variety of platforms.”

Side Effects is executive produced by Robbins, Joe Davola, Shauna Phelan, See and Allison Schroeder, who also wrote the series. It is directed by Matt Stawski. 

Watch the season three trailer here: 

Natalie Jarvey

THRnews@thr.com

April 08, 2015 15 minutes ago by Natalie Jarvey

 AP Images/Invision

Jean Pierre Jeunet is directing the pilot, which tells the story of a little-known period in the life of of 18th century playboy Giacomo Casanova.

Amazon has found its Casanova. 

Diego Luna (Elysium, Milk) has signed on to play 18th century playboy Giacomo Casanova in the forthcoming pilot from Amazon Studios. The untitled project, which is currently in production in Europe, has also found a director in Oscar-nominee Jean Pierre Jeunet (Amelie). 

Casanova’s reputation might be that of a womanizer, but the Amazon project will reveal more about the historical figure by chronicling the little-known period of his life when he served as a spy for the Parisian government. The pilot begins after he has broken free from Venice’s most impenetrable prison and moves to Paris with nothing to start his life over. 

Rounding out the cast are Bojana Novakovic (Shameless) as Madame de Pompadour, Miranda Richardson (Rubicon) as Marquise d’Urfé, Ben Daniels (House of Cards) as Francois-Joachim de Bernis and Amelia Clarkson (Our Zoo) as Manon Balletti. 

The project is executive produced by The Americans‘ Stu Zicherman, who also wrote the script, and Electus’ Ben Silverman. Sarah Caplan (Ray Donovan) serves as co-executive producer. 

Amazon has not yet announced the premiere date for the project, but it will likely debut as part of its next batch of pilots. The production arm of the Seattle-based tech giant recently picked up series of post-World War II dystopian drama The Man in the High Castle, Shawn Ryan‘s dramedy Mad Dogs and Alex Gibney‘s docuseries The New Yorker Presents. 

Luna is repped by WME and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman; Jeunet is with Artmedia, Grand Large and Nikki Weiss; Novakovic is with CAA, Management 360 and Hirsch Wallerstein; Richardson is with Independent Talent Group, Parseghian Planco and Special Artists Agency; Daniels is with Gersh; and Clarkson is with Independent Talent Group. Zicherman is repped by WME and Mosaic. 

Natalie Jarvey

THRnews@thr.com