Bill Simmons News

Bill Simmons' The Ringer is collaborating with HBO to create a multi-part documentary film series rooted in the music world. The untitled six-film project will concentrate on pivotal moments or stretches for a popular artist or band, an iconic album or the music business as a whole, with each film helmed by a different director. Executive produced by Simmons, Polygram Entertainment and Universal Music Publishing Group executives Jody Gerson and Marc Cimino, the series is expected to air in 2021 on HBO as a special six-week event.

HBO Sports and Bill Simmons' Ringer Films have partnered with Triple Threat TV to debut the documentary film WOMEN OF TROY, an illuminating tale of the historic and transcendent USC women's basketball team of the 1980s, it was announced today by Peter Nelson, executive vice president, HBO Sports.

“Brad Paisley Thinks He's Special” is set to air TUESDAY, DEC. 3 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. The variety special, hosted and executive produced by Sony country music superstar Brad Paisley, will showcase the energy of Music City from Nashville's iconic War Memorial Auditorium through a combination of Paisley's signature humor, unexpected surprises, heartfelt field pieces and rousing musical performances. “Brad Paisley Thinks He's Special” will be produced by Sony Pictures Television. Brad Paisley, Jane Mun, RAC Clark, Bill Simmons and Kendal Marcy will serve as executive producers. 

Country music superstar, Brad Paisley, is set to host and executive produce a?oeBrad Paisley Thinks He's Special,a?? an hour-long prime-time special set to air on ABC later this season from Sony Pictures Television. The variety special will showcase the energy of Music City from Nashville's iconic War Memorial Auditorium through a combination of Paisley's signature humor, unexpected surprises, heartfelt field pieces and rousing musical performances. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Grammy winner Brad Paisley will star in what is being described as a Larry Sanders-esque new comedy series on Amazon: it's called 'Fish Out of Water.'

Two-time Emmy-nominated editor, Tom Jarvis, took the time to speak with us about his editing process for The Late Late Show with James Corden and editing unscripted television.

Producer Brian Nitzkin is delighted to announce that Jennifer Blackmer's new play, PREDICTOR, will receive a public reading on Tuesday, June 25th at 7:30pm at the Phoenix Theatre located at 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Comedy Central, the #1 brand in comedy, today announced the launch of Comedy Central Productions (CCP), a new studio-production arm partnering with comedy's best writers, producers and on-screen talent to develop compelling, premium comedy content and bring it to market via distribution partners and buyers on all TV and digital platforms.

Lucy Kirkwood's explosive The Children begins as a caustic, bold comedy between a late-middle-aged couple (Hazel and Robin) and a friend (Rose) from many years ago who makes an unannounced visit to their seaside cottage on the east coast of England. The thin veneer of civility flakes away and the caustic nature of their relationships become apparent. What becomes apparent to the audience is that these three old friends have much more to discuss than just old times and these three actors bring years of experience and flare to the Phoenix stage.

MOMENTUM GENERATION Chronicling the Extraordinary Experiences of a Band of Youthful Surfers Who Transformed the Sport, 12/11 on HBO

The Country Music Association has today announced its new Board of Directors for both CMA and the CMA Foundation. The appointments are effective on Jan. 1, 2019. 

HBO Sports takes a deep dive into the fascinating, constantly evolving world of surfing, exploring how a group of dedicated teenagers changed the sport and its culture in the 1990s, when MOMENTUM GENERATION debuts TUESDAY, DEC. 11 (10:00-11:45 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

MOMENTUM GENERATION Chronicling the Extraordinary Experiences of a Band of Youthful Surfers Who Transformed the Sport, 12/11 on HBO

Bright Star is a bluegrass musical with a big heart. Written by banjo-playing renaissance man Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, the show is set in the hills of North Carolina in the 1940s with flashbacks in the 1920s. It is at times playful and at others steeped in nostalgia. There's a large ensemble cast with a full bluegrass band onstage providing live music. The set is simple, with movable pieces on wheels and straightforward staging. The result is an absolutely delightful show.

ESPN announced today a 20-hour, 10-part documentary 'Basketball: A Love Story' from Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores. The sweeping project, which consists of more than 60 interconnected 'short stories,' will be available across multiple ESPN platforms in a variety of viewing experiences. Klores has created a vibrant mosaic of the game, featuring 165 exclusive interviews. The cast encompasses basketball's most prominent figures, from Bob Cousy, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dr. J, Yao Ming, Stephen Curry and Diana Taurasi, to Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant. Klores' short stories explore the complex nature of love as it relates to the game and opens the window to insights and perspectives about race, politics, media, art, business, style and entertainment. The episodes will feature different narrators: Chadwick Boseman, Julianne Moore, Chris Cuomo, Ashley Judd, Michael Che, Ansel Elgort, Ahmad Rashad, Robin Quivers, Daveed Diggs, and Fisher Stevens.

HBO Sports, one of television's premier storytellers, is teaming up with the Bill Simmons Media Group for COURTSIDE AT THE NBA FINALS, an unscripted one-hour special chronicling the sights and sounds of the 2018 NBA Finals, debuting TUESDAY, JUNE 19 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), with a replay that evening at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT), on HBO. Bill Simmons will serve as executive producer.

Phoenix Theatre founding Producing Director Bryan Fonseca, who guided the original storefront operation to a new $ 11 million dollar theater on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, has been named the theatre's Founder and Producing Director Emeritus.

HBO Sports, one of television's premier storytellers, is teaming up with the Bill Simmons Media Group for COURTSIDE AT THE NBA FINALS, an unscripted one-hour special chronicling the sights and sounds of the 2018 NBA Finals, debuting TUESDAY, JUNE 19 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), with a replay that evening at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT), on HBO. Bill Simmons will serve as executive producer.

'Womanhood shouldn't always mean motherhood.' The line from Tom Horan's new play about the invention of the birth control pill is sure to start some interesting conversations. Horan is the Phoenix Theatre's playwright-in-residence and this is the world premiere of The Pill. The show is performed by an all-female quintet of characters, including the infamous Margaret Sanger.