James Franco is going back in time for Hulu.

Earlier this morning at the Hulu Upfront Presentation in New York City, the streaming service announced that Franco will star in the nine-hour limited event series 11/22/1963, a thriller based on the best-selling 2011 novel by Stephen King.

Executive produced by the creative dream team of King and J.J. Abrams, 11/22/1963 follows high school history teacher Jake Epping (Franco) as he travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Complications arise in the form of Lee Harvey Oswald, love, and the past itself, which, according to the series synopsis, doesn’t want to be changed.

Hulu announced five new original programs in all at the upfronts, including Difficult People, a comedy executive produced by Amy Poehler. Starring Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner, the series follows two best friends dealing with awkward situations in New York City, and will premiere some time this summer.

Not content with merely creating something new, Hulu is also taking an enormous step towards becoming master of the online domain by acquiring the exclusive subscription video-on-demand rights to Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld himself made a surprise appearance at the event to announce the big news).

Seinfeld will be available for Hulu subscribers to stream beginning this June

Source

ery week in the Culture List, Vanity Fair editors present a ruthlessly curated selection of parties, art openings, exhibits, and mustn’t-miss events. This week includes the Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival, art from one half of a Parisian powerhouse couple, and two major Broadway openings.

The A-list cast discusses True Story, which tells the real-life tale of Mike Finkel, a disgraced New York Times journalist who develops a close bond with a suspected killer.
In December 2001, Mike Finkel, a prolific New York Times Magazine journalist, was roped into the most bizarre story of his career. An Oregonian by the name of Christian Longo, who had been accused of brutally murdering his wife and children, had used his name as an alias while he was a fugitive on the run. Then, Finkel’s career came crashing down when his Times Magazine cover story on the life of a young Ivory Coast laborer on a cocoa plantation, “Is Youssouf Malé a Slave?,” was proven to include fabricated and conflated facts. So Finkel, in an effort to repair his name, pursued the Longo story and attempted to get to the bottom of why he used his name, and whether this charismatic, attractive accused killer really did what they say he did.

True Story, directed by Rupert Goold, tells the “true story” of Finkel (Jonah Hill) and Longo’s (James Franco) complex relationship. The more Finkel learns about Longo, the more he begins to empathize with him—and believes he may be innocent. All this doesn’t sit well with Finkel’s girlfriend, played by Oscar nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), who begins to question whether the man she loves is once again committing a journalistic sin.

Watch an exclusive behind the scenes video on “The True Story Behind True Story,” featuring the A-list cast (Hill, Franco, and Jones) and crew discussing the strange case and the making of the film:

Source

James Franco took time away from filming his upcoming screen adaptation of John Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle to talk with a crowd at The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta earlier this morning. The discussion was part of the Atlanta Film Festival , being held in multiple venues throughout the city from March 20th through 29th.

Franco shared his view on multiple topics, ranging from his experiences in acting and directing to advice for budding new filmmakers. The following are a few highlights, along with some photos from the event.

Never Stifle Creativity
With the internet making it extremely easy to reach audiences with platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, there is nothing that should “stay sitting on the shelf.” He emphasized this importance of getting a final product in front of an audience, saying “I do believe feedback is incredibly important… That is the final ingredient that will make you better.” He also cautioned that some of that feedback can be harmful. Just read the comments section of nearly any YouTube video and you can understand why. In the context of Franco’s “Jack of All Trades” career, including acting, writing, directing, painting – there’s not much the guy hasn’t dabbled in – he advised to not listen to critics that try to pigeonhole talent. Promoting creativity was one of the main messages taken away from his discussion.

Resist Micromanaging
Ultimately, Franco is able to do so much because he lets the crew do their jobs. Film production is daunting feat, requiring writing, camera work, lighting, acting, sound, editing and more, and all these disciplines must work together to create the vision of the director and/or producers. He used The Room by Tommy Wiseau as an example, commending Wiseau on his ambition and ability to execute, saying that “He got it done and he made his movie. But, he was working in a collaborative medium, and not understanding it was a collaborative medium. If he had just asked for a little help…maybe he wouldn’t have had to have shot the whole thing in…the parking lot of the lighting rental place.”

Place Yourself Among Those You Trust
Another topic that Franco discussed was the necessity of working with people he trusted, which made it easy for him not to micromanage all aspects of production. Along with his usual crew of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, he mentioned a current co-star from In Dubious Battle, Vincent D’Onofrio (of Full Metal Jacket and Law & Order: Criminal Intent fame). Franco said that there was no reason for him to have to explicitly tell D’Onofrio every detail because he trusted him with the character.

In all, Franco talked for about forty-five minutes to an hour, despite a late night of filming the previous day. The man must run on a gallon of coffee each day, and it was clear the audience was very appreciative for the insights into the film industry which he offered.

Other events showcasing Franco’s work this week at the festival include The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards (producer), Masculinity/Femininity (actor), and I am Michael (actor).

Source

James Franco has a child-like enthusiasm when he is behind the camera, his brother Dave has revealed.

The siblings team up for Zeroville, which also sees James in the director’s chair. The comedy-drama, which also stars Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Megan Fox and Will Ferrell, is the big-screen adaptation of Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel of the same name.
“I love working with him in that capacity, with him as a director, just because he’s the happiest when he’s behind the camera,” Dave said.

“He’s like a little kid when he’s directing. His energy is very infectious. Obviously, he’s a great actor too so he knows how to talk to actors and he can get great performances out of you. I would love to keep working with him in the actor-director relationship.”
Zeroville looks at the power of movies and the influence of Hollywood through the eyes of a young man, who arrives in Hollywood in 1969, during a transitional time in the film industry.

James shaved his hair off for his role.
Dave added: “To be honest, I only have a cameo in that movie. We’ve already shot everything, I was only there for one day.”

James Franco has our book cover on his head. Steve Erickson's Zeroville. #venicefilmfestival2014 @europaeditions pic.twitter.com/YC8dz8pt3X

— Michael Reynolds (@reynoldsmichael) September 8, 2014

Source