HBO has dated several TV and home media releases:
A classic Hans Christian Andersen fable gets a colorful, music-filled makeover this November when THE EMPEROR’S NEWEST CLOTHES is reimagined as a playful animated special for today’s children. Written and produced by Sheila Nevins, and featuring the voices of Alan Alda, Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill, the whimsical tale includes original songs by Tony Award winner William Finn (“Falsettos,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”). This HBO Family presentation debuts THURSDAY, NOV. 15 (6:00-6:30 p.m. ET/PT) on the main HBO channel and FRIDAY, NOV. 16 (8:45-9:15 p.m.) on HBO Family.
The special will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.
Directed by Simon Wilches-Castro and filled with bold animation, catchy musical numbers and expressive characters, the special brings an important message to today’s young audiences about speaking up for the truth and standing up to the powerful.
THE EMPEROR’S NEWEST CLOTHES tells the story of a vain ruler who lives in a great kingdom where he decides everything and everyone agrees with him – at least in his company! Whether he tells villagers it’s sunny when it’s actually raining, or it’s raining when it’s actually sunny, the Emperor is the only arbiter who matters. Fearful of losing their jobs (or more), the Emperor’s closest confidantes, Syco the Jester and Phantic the Advisor, praise his decisions, however foolish.
When the Emperor declares a holiday celebrating himself, he orders Syco to round up the world’s greatest tailors to choose who might make him the “most beautiful, most exquisite” outfit. Predictably, he hires the most flattering two tailors in the kingdom. Little does the Emperor know that the tailors are con men, and when Syco is sent to their shop, he sees only an empty metal mannequin, which the tailors praise as real clothes.
Afraid to crack the Emperor’s fragile, insecure shell, Syco and Phantic tell the increasingly impatient ruler that the outfit is glorious and perfect. Finally, the tailors are “finished” with the suit, and put it on him with great fanfare. Though skeptical in his heart, the Emperor believes the praise from his ministers and is convinced he’s wearing the finest frock the world has ever seen.
On the day of the parade, the Emperor marches before his subjects – wearing only his underwear! The townsfolk hesitantly go along, fearing the wrath that might come if the Emperor knew his clothes were fake. But Thomasina, a perky girl who is too young and too smart to join her elders in praising something that is not there, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all! It takes a child to reveal the truth that no one else is willing to say out loud.
Lending their voices to THE EMPEROR’S NEWEST CLOTHES are: Emmy® winner Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”) as the narrator; Emmy® winner Jeff Daniels (HBO’s “The Newsroom”) as the Emperor; Alison Pill (HBO’s “The Newsroom”) as Thomasina; comedians John Early (HBO’s “Animals.”) and Tim Heidecker (“Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories”) as the Emperor’s advisers, Syco and Phantic; and Gabriel Sunday and Matt Hobby as the two tailors.
THE EMPEROR’S NEWEST CLOTHES was written and produced by Sheila Nevins; original songs by William Finn; songs arranged by Danny Ursetti and Michael Starobin; directed by Simon Wilches-Castro; produced by Josh Hetzler, Casey Rup; art director, Galen Pehrson. For Starburns Industries: executive producer, James Fino. For HBO: executive producer, Jacqueline Glover; production executive, Susan Benaroya.
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25, 2018 – HBO Films has acquired the worldwide rights to director-writer Daniel Sawka’s feature debut, ICEBOX, it was announced today by Len Amato, president, HBO Films. Produced by Oscar® and Emmy® winner James L. Brooks’ Gracie Films and co-financed with Endeavor Content, the drama will debut FRIDAY, DEC. 7 on HBO.
ICEBOX tells the story of Óscar, played by Anthony Gonzalez (“Coco”), a 12-year-old Honduran boy who is forced to flee his home and seek asylum in the United States, only to find himself trapped in the U.S. immigration system.
“I have seldom seen a movie so of the moment – it’s almost reportage,” said Amato. “ICEBOX gives viewers not only an opportunity to witness what it’s like inside these migrant detention centers, but also to feel the emotions of the children, revealing a world that many journalists and citizens have not yet been able to sufficiently penetrate.”
Brooks and his production company, Gracie Films, partnered with Sawka to expand the project from a master’s thesis short into a feature-length film. ICEBOX premiered in the Discovery section at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Endeavor Content co-financed the production and handled the worldwide sale.
The film also stars Omar Leyva, Johnny Ortiz, Matthew Moreno, Jessica Juarez and Genesis Rodriguez.
As Óscar attempts to reach his uncle, Manuel (Leyva), in Arizona, he is apprehended by Border Patrol and placed in “the icebox,” a detention facility where he joins scores of other migrant children being held without their families. Faced with a seemingly impenetrable immigration system, Óscar struggles to navigate a path to freedom, with a journalist (Rodriguez) and his uncle, himself a recent immigrant, as his only lifelines.
“The narrative and characters in ICEBOX are inspired by so many personal stories that were told to me through years of research and outreach – stories that unfortunately have become all too prevalent in today’s world,” says Daniel Sawka. “I can’t think of a better partner than HBO Films with which to present this incredibly timely issue.”
“Working with the children from this cast, with their parents rooting them on, was maybe the best working atmosphere of my life,” notes James L. Brooks.
Filmed on location in New Mexico, the film was shot primarily in Spanish with English subtitles. Sawka originally wrote and directed ICEBOX as a short film for his 2016 American Film Institute MFA thesis project. This short was subsequently shortlisted for the 2018 Academy Awards®, won the Grand Jury Award at AFI fest, and screened at Telluride Film Festival.
ICEBOX is an HBO Films presentation of a Gracie Films production and co-financed with Endeavor Content; producers, James L. Brooks, Richard Sakai, Julie Ansell, David Greathouse; director of photography, Carolina Costa; production designer, Sue Tebbutt; editor, Salvador Pérez García; composer, Steve Mazzaro; costume designer, Maria Bentfield; casting, Carla Hool; additional music by Hans Zimmer.
Ten years after their critically acclaimed HBO® series debut, musical comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement return in Flight of the Conchords: Live in London. Filmed in front of a sold-out audience at the Eventim Apollo in London, Bret and Jemaine play new, never-before-televised songs from their recent “Flight of the Conchords Sing Flight of the Conchords Tour” on the special, as well as some of their classics. Flight of the Conchords: Live in London “offers a welcome, proudly silly respite from current affairs” (Los Angeles Times) and is available for Digital Download on November 12th.
New Zealanders McKenzie and Clement debuted on HBO in 2005 in an edition of the comedy series “One-Night Stand,” returning to the network in 2007 for the debut season of the series “Flight of the Conchords,” which followed fictionalized versions of their lives in New York City. The show was praised by critics and beloved by fans, turning the cult favorites into an international sensation. “Flight of the Conchords” earned ten Emmy® nominations over its two-season run on HBO, while their album “The Distant Future” won Best Comedy Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Flight of the Conchords; Live in London is directed by Hamish Hamilton, an Emmy®-nominated and BAFTA-winning director of numerous televised concerts and special events including the Super Bowl Halftime Show, The Oscars®, the MTV Video Music Awards and the MTV Movie Awards.
For almost five decades, SESAME STREET has been helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder. This November, the groundbreaking show kicks off its 49th season with a special evening presentation of WHEN YOU WISH UPON A PICKLE: A SESAME STREET SPECIAL, debuting SATURDAY, NOV. 10 (7:00-7:45 p.m. ET/PT), followed by new weekly episodes starting SATURDAY, NOV. 17 (9:00-9:30 a.m.). This season, the iconic children’s show will explore a “Learning Through Play” curriculum that models how kids can build school readiness skills as they try out different roles during play.
In line with the new curriculum, WHEN YOU WISH UPON A PICKLE: A SESAME STREET SPECIAL puts a madcap spin on pretend-playing different careers. After a mysterious Wish Pickle is delivered to Sesame Street, Elmo, Abby and Bert see their wishes coming true. All three wish to have jobs, and once the Wish Pickle springs into action, Elmo finds himself switching bodies with Chris so that he can be grown up and run Hooper’s store. Abby gets to solve mysteries with her favorite literary detective. And Bert winds up on TV to achieve his impossible dream of being a TV weathercaster. In the end, Elmo, Abby and Bert learn that if they believe in themselves – and practice, and play it, and dream it – they can be anything they want to be, without needing magic.
Season 49 of SESAME STREET features “Abby’s Amazing Adventures,” a recurring animated segment starring Abby Cadabby. In each episode, Abby and her stepbrother, Rudy, travel beyond Sesame Street to solve problems in fantastical new places with the help of a magical basket. Together, they complete “missions” like traveling deep under the sea to photograph a rare fish, visiting an active volcano as scientists to find lava rocks and even blasting into space as astronauts to fix a space station. Led by SESAME STREET curious and determined fairy-in-training, “Abby’s Amazing Adventures” serves as a valuable example of young girls thinking big and imagining exciting futures for themselves.
As always, this season of SESAME STREET features a lineup of top celebrity guests. Individual episodes throughout the season celebrate the careers theme, as the gang learns about scientific inquiry with Bill Nye, explores the library with Zoë Kravitz, plays the drums with Questlove, and more.
he hit political podcast POD SAVE AMERICA concludes its series of four HBO specials this FRIDAY, NOV. 2 (11:00 p.m.-midnight ET/PT) in Irvine, Calif. LaTosha Brown, co-founder, Black Voters Matter Fund, will be a guest on this Friday’s show. Funny and informative, POD SAVE AMERICA is taped the same day in front of a live audience; previous editions originated from Miami (Oct. 12), Austin (Oct. 19) and Philadelphia (Oct. 26).
Each week’s show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms on the Saturday morning following its Friday-night debut.
POD SAVE AMERICA is hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor, former aides to President Obama, who break down the week’s events and help Americans figure out what matters and how to make a difference in these turbulent political times. After a brief recap of up-to-the-moment political news, each edition features a pre-taped field piece highlighting a local issue, followed by a discussion with hosts, their co-host and guests, who include local and national politicians, journalists and activists.
The twice-weekly podcast “Pod Save America,” which is also hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor, has been downloaded more than 310 million times since launching in Jan. 2017.
The HBO specials are executive produced by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, Ravi Nandan and Josh Lieb.
New York, NY (November 2, 2018) – Catch the hilarious Orlando Leyba in an all new, stand-up comedy special, Orlando Leyba: Adorable, premiering Friday, November 16th at 9:30pm ET/PT on HBO Latino®. After a whirlwind year performing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and appearing in HBO Latino®’s Entre Nos: Part 3, Orlando entertains audiences with his dynamic storytelling and undeniable likeability in this half-hour solo show. He has a knack for finding humor in just about anything that crosses his path, and his unique perspective and animated demeanor invites HBO audiences along for the fun ride of his life experiences.
“In the past year, HBO Latino has given a platform to up-and-coming comedians to showcase their talent with the Entre Nos series and we look forward to continuing to provide opportunities to unique and groundbreaking comedic talent on the network,” said Jackie Gagne, Vice President of Multicultural Marketing, HBO. The special will also be available on HBO NOW®, HBO GO®, HBO On Demand® and partners’ streaming platforms. Comedy fans can also catch up on Entre Nos: Part 1-4 and the extended one hour special, Entre Nos: The Series, available now on HBO platforms.
Orlando Leyba
Orlando Leyba is an American stand-up comedian who connects with diverse audiences through his unique life experience, and perspective as a domesticated man. With his animated demeanor, Orlando entertains the audiences through his dynamic storytelling and undeniable likeability allowing them to come along for the fun ride of his life experiences. He has been working hard, making his mark on the comedy scene. Orlando was a finalist in NBC’s Stand-Up Showcase, The Laughing Skull Comedy Fest, and BigSky Comedy Fest. He’s also become a regular at other comedy festivals and clubs throughout the U.S and Canada.
About HBO Latino®
HBO Latino is a dedicated Spanish-language premium channel that delivers compelling and culturally-relevant programming to the U.S. Latino audience. Exclusive to the channel are award-winning Original Series from Latin America, Spanish language films from the U.S., Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean, Latin music concerts and artist specials, original comedy shows and more. Additionally, HBO Latino offers the latest Hollywood movies and HBO original programming from the network’s main channel in Spanish. HBO Latino is included free with an HBO subscription. HBO Latino content can also be accessed on HBO GO®, HBO NOW®, HBO On Demand®, and affiliate portals.
