Cedric The Entertainer, More Board Heist Comedy ‘Above The Line’; Jesse Metcalfe Enters ‘The Comic Shop’; ‘Clocked’ Star Danell Leyva Set For OUTshine Prize – Film Briefs

EXCLUSIVE: Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Gregg Henry (Guardians of the Galaxy), Adhir Kalyan (United States of Al), Reno Wilson (Good Girls) and Jamie Lee (Crashing) will topline Above The Line, an independent dark heist-comedy from director Jeffrey Scott Collins. Others set for roles include Dylan Playfair (Letterkenny), Jackson Pace (The Walking Dead), John Way (Sweet Sunshine), Suzy Nakamura (The West Wing) and Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy).

The film currently shooting in Los Angeles is described as being of the world of Swingers, with the sensibility of Pulp Fiction. Essentially, Hollywood idiots getting in way over their heads. On Christmas eve, six fledgling Hollywood hopefuls get a mysterious knock at their door and an envelope of $$$ at their feet. It contains the “opportunity of a lifetime” to go burglarize a mutually despised producer that once screwed them over and steal his Best Picture awards. Who organized this holiday heist? Who will go through with this preposterous plan? And will these desperate idiots pull it off?

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Collins is directing from his script written with Jono Matt and is also producing under his banner This Seems Reel Entertainment, alongside Ian Michaels (Rainbow Time) for Green Step Productions, and Kemma Filby & Walker Barnes (Parallel) for Seasick Studios. Cedric the Entertainer exec produces, after working with Collins on his first feature, Poor Greg Drowning. Additional EPs include Joe Grano, Bill Way, Ned Kisner and Lan Kisner.

Cedric the Entertainer is repped by CAA, Visions Management Group and Del Shaw Moonves; Ali by Innovative Artists, Industry Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Henry by Innovative Artists; Kalyan by UTA, Thruline Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Wilson by A3 Artists Agency and More/Medavoy Management; Lee by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners; Playfair by A3 Artists Agency, Carrie Wheeler Management and Meyer & Downs; Pace by CESD, Alchemy Entertainment and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis; Way by Untitled Entertainment; Nakamura by Innovative Artists and Kass Management; Robbins by Play Management and Industry Entertainment; Collins by Stride Management and Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LawCo; Matt by Verve and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; Michaels by Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; and Filby & Barnes by CSP Management.

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EXCLUSIVE: SAG Award winner Jesse Metcalfe (On a Wing and a Prayer) has secured a lead role opposite Tristin Mays, Eric Roberts and Micah Giovanni in That’s Hollywood’s indie drama The Comic Shop, which Jonathan L. Bowen is directing from his script written with producer Scott Reed.

The film follows Mike (Metcalfe), the owner of a small comic shop in a strip mall in Las Vegas, as he struggles with addiction and his seemingly impossible dream of becoming a comic book illustrator. That’s Hollywood’s Ron Singer (The Story of Everything) and Reed (I Am Michael) are producing alongside Cynthia Huffman, with Joshua A. Cohen and Eduard Osipov co-producing. Metcalfe, Bowen and Chaz Rainey are the EPs.

Metcalfe is represented by Gersh, Link Entertainment and Brecheen Feldman Breimer.

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EXCLUSIVE: Clocked star Danell Leyva has been set to receive The Vanguard Award at the OUTshine Film Festival, where the drama marking the feature debut of writer-director Noah Salzman will make its East Coast premiere on April 26th. The prize recognizes notable individuals in entertainment for their contributions in helping to tell LGBTQ+ stories, as well as exemplifying outstanding leadership and support of community equality, representation and education.

Also starring Germain Arroyo (S.W.A.T.), Marisa Davila (Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies), Armand Fields (The L Word: Generation Q) and Brandon Hudson (Christmas on the Square), Clocked tells the story of Adolfo Rivera (Arroyo), an 18-year-old Puerto Rican boxer from a conservative Catholic family in Miami, Florida. Adolfo may be remarkably talented in the ring, but his family’s dreams for his profession are far different from what Adolfo has in mind. And Adolfo is secretly saving his winnings for the biggest fight of his life: self-acceptance in his desire to transition into a woman. Producers on the pic are Bernard Salzman and Maritza Cabrera.

Previously appearing in Disney+’s Love, Victor series and more, Levya is represented by Realm Talent and Maritza Cabrera at Zero Gravity Management.

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