IMTA Alumni Projects Fill Network and Cable Primetime Slots
With much fanfare, the 2008-2009 Television Season officially gets underway next week with new series, returning favorites, and original TV movies that allow many IMTA alumni to showcase their talents in guest starring roles, as themselves in hosting/emcee gigs, and behind the scenes or in un-credited roles. Mark your calendar or set your Tivo to catch the following IMTA alumni projects:
Executive Producer Ashton Kutcher (NY97) helps kick off the new season on Tuesday,September 22 (8pm ET), with “Opportunity Knocks,” a one-hour ABC
game show that gives a lucky family the chance to win money and prizes in front of an audience made up of their family and friends. Hosted by J.D. Roth, the show travels across the country with Roth knocking on doors and asking trivia questions based on the family members’ lives. To win, the families must prove they know each other inside and out. Kutcher got the idea for the show from listening to his stepdaughters chatting away in the backseat of his car while driving them to school. “I think this show has a strong influence of the ‘Newlywed Game,’ says Kutcher. “I really liked that show when I was a kid.”Brooke Burns (LA94) supplements her current gig hosting Fox’s “Hole in the Wall” (which premiered on September 11) with a starring role in a Lifetime Channel original movie, “Trial by Fire” (renamed from “Smokejumpers”),premiering Saturday, September 27, 9pmET. Burns plays Kristin Scott, a firefighter working to become the first woman accepted into the elite Missoula Smokejumpers—the most dangerous form of firefighting. When a treacherous wildfire threatens the lives of her family, it takes all of her might and resolve to defeat this disaster and save her loved ones.
Sunday,September 28, marks the start of season five for Eva Longoria Parker on ABC
’s “Desperate Housewives” (9pm ET), and the second year on the show for LA00 alum Lyndsy Fonseca. While details surrounding the hit series are usually scarce, it was announced that this season has been placed five years in the future after the events of season four. Longoria Parker’s character of Gabrielle—a former model—has become a mother, a change that excited the LA98 alum. “I spend 10 minutes in makeup now instead of an hour,” she says.
Also premiering on September 28 is the new season of the Showtime drama “Dexter” (9pm ET), a series starring Michael C. Hall about a serial killer who works for the Miami Metro Police Department. Joining LA04 alum Dominic Janes in his recurring role as the young Dexter is NY06 alum Brandon Bass, who will be in a recurring role as Dexter’s son. Bass, who was 2nd Runner-Up Child Model of the Year and 3rd Runner-Up Child Actor of the Year, landed the role on the highly acclaimed series on his first major LA audition.LA05 alum Moises Arias stars in the role of Andre in the Disney Channel original movie Dadnapped, alongside fellow Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Jason Earles, currently scheduled to premiere on October 10th. Dadnapped finds14-year-old Melissa (Osment) with a bad case of sibling rivalry, only her competition is a fictional character in her father's best-selling novel about a teenage super spy. When her dad is abducted by a gang of obsessive fans Melissa is transformed into the superhero that her dad imagines in the best-selling novel he's written.LA02 alum Deprece Reddick appears on the new Comedy Central magazine show “Chocolate News,” hosted and co-executive produced by David Alan Grier, premiering October 15. Everyone and everything is fair game for Grier and his team of investigators, who look at inherently urban pop culture topics.Premiering October 17th on Starz is “Crash,” the cable network’s first series which is based on the Best Picture Oscar-winning 2005 movie. Long-time IMTA colleague Bobby Moresco serves as co-writer-producer for the series, along with the film’s writer-director Paul Haggis and film star Don Cheadle. Starring an ensemble cast led by film icon Dennis Hopper, “Crash” looks at the way different lives intersect and collide in the melting pot of L.A.
Katie Holmes (NY93, NY95) guest stars on ABC
’s “Eli Stone” on October 21st(10pm ET), playing a non-profit attorney on the episode titled “Grace.” “She does a song-and-dance number that is one of the best we’ve ever done,” says co-star Matt Letscher. “We’ve done tons [of musical numbers], and she was just phenomenal.” Adds Stephen McPherson, president of ABC
Entertainment: “I was at the table read. She was fabulous. It’s a great role for her. There’s actually some singing and dancing that she does, and she’s exquisite.” Holmes is currently in previews for her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons that opens on October 16 and runs through January 11, 2009.
NY07 Alum Taylor Randall reportedly cleans up as a major prize winner on the hit CBS game show “The Price is Right.” Randall, who recently started training at The New York Film Academy in LA, attended a taping of the show for his birthday and was chosen to compete. The air date for the show on which Randall appears is November 4th, 11am ET.
Making his debut appearance this fall on the Disney Channel as a Disney Movie Surfer is NY05 alum Hector Bucio. On the Movie Surfers segments, teenagers go behind the scenes of Walt Disney/Pixar films in videos that are periodically shown following Disney movies and shows. Bucio is currently featured interviewing George Lopez in the Movie Surfers video of
Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
In January 2009 look for CJ Kirkham (NY08) as a contestant on Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel.” She signed with Revolution Management following the convention. Also slated for January, Amy Acker (NY92) will star as Dr. Claire Saunders in Fox’s “Dollhouse,” a sci-fi thriller from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon. “I’m always hiding in the shadows,” Acker says about her role. “It’s a really fun character.”