Press Releases

There are very few children or adults who are not familiar with the Peanuts gang that was created 65 years ago by the late Charles Schultz. There are the comic strips, annual television holiday specials (It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas) that are required viewing in millions of homes, theatrical productions (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy), greeting cards, merchandise, books…all lasting tributes to the group of children who never age while providing timeless lessons on life and living.

With a fresh take on the techniques of production — but without changing the essence of the characters — comes The Peanuts Movie, co-written by Schulz's son Craig and grandson Bryan, along with Cornelius Uliano. This is the fifth theatrical Peanuts film after A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Snoopy Come Home, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!). It is the first to use computer-animation and the first to be filmed in 3D.

“I find witchcraft to be interesting. It’s something that doesn’t often get explored in cinema or hasn’t been in a while. I think the approach is interesting in that it’s not a horror film and it doesn’t really have horror film elements. It’s more of an action-adventure film, fantasy adventure in a way, and that was something that was kind of intriguing.” – Elijah Wood

It makes perfect sense to release a film about witches right before Halloween. However, the kind of witches faced in The Last Witch Hunter aren’t the kind you want showing up on your doorstep trick-or-treating. These witches are vicious, supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world…which doesn’t sound like a good thing. Though the all-powerful Queen Witch was slain many years ago by valiant warrior Kaulder, her resurrection once again puts the world in danger and it is up to Kaulder (a.k.a., the Last Witch Hunter) and the Dolans to stop the Queen from unleashing a plague upon humanity.

“I read the script and I thought it was wonderful. Actually, I was extremely moved by it…I laughed, I cried, Ihad never seen a Hook like this before. I was wildly entertained by him, by all of his attributes—how clumsyhe was, how selfish and childish he was. ...He’s Hook without the hook.”– Garrett Hedlund

Nearly everyone knows the story of Peter Pan—the boy who can fly, lives in the magical world of Neverlandamongst warriors and fairies, battles pirates led by the infamous Captain Hook, andnever has to grow up. The tale by author J.M. Barrie has been animated, played out onthe stage and treated to several film versions. But none of the adaptations have dealtwith the origins of how Peter and Hook came to be sworn enemies…until now.

“I get really nervous especially with the whole red carpet thing. The worst thing about it is just standing there and all these people are taking your picture and I am just thinking ‘Why are you taking my picture?’ I'm just Jill Wagner.”

The Hallmark Channel, known for family-friendly programming and heart-warming movies, begins a new tradition this October with a “Fall Harvest” of seasonal programming, featuring four original premieres, one debuting each Saturday in October. Included in the programming are three new Hallmark movies and a two-hour sneak preview of the channel’s popular series “Good Witch.”

“We were nervous because we had a lot of kids, and a very short amount of time and limited budget to make the movie. It’s nerve-wracking – it could go either way with kids. But they were super-professional and really wonderful. We worked really fast and had a blast.” – Elijah Wood

Getting cooties from another kid at school is absolutely one of the worst things that can happen. Cooties are usually thought to be something imaginary boys can get when a girl touches them…or vice versa. But the word cooties is derived from the Malay word “kutu” that refers to body lice, and to literally catch cooties is grounds for being sent home from school. Unfortunately for the students at Fort Chicken Elementary School, the Cooties they get turn them into raving, flesh-eating zombies. Talk about a bad day at school.

Each year, fall is a time to look forward to new TV series, say goodbye to cancelled favorites, make decisions about what to watch (or not), bookmark web sites or YouTube channels, and make mental notes (or program your DVR) of upcoming shows. At IMTA, it is a time to celebrate the successes of some of our alumni who will be on the viewing schedule in broadcast, cable and web TV series as series’ regulars or guest-stars, appearing in made-for-TV movies or booked for a guest-star role in the upcoming year.

Not every new show has been announced and there will be many alums showing up in episodes that we do not yet know about. If you learn news of an IMTA alum’s casting, please let us know. While it may not be a comprehensive list, here are just a few alums to watch for in the upcoming season.

“Its a horror film, but its got a family love story to it. Its about two men, my dad and my neighbor…who are trying to protect my character from a new breed of zombies that evolved, and they are harder to beat.” – Quinn McColgan

The horror film Extinction is based on the 2010 novel “Y pese a todo...” (“And despite everything...”) by Spanish writer Juan de Dios Garduño. The setting is a forgotten, snow-covered town called Harmony nine years after a devastating zombie outbreak has wiped out most life on Earth. A father, his 9-year-old daughter and their grumpy neighbor are trying their best to survive. For a long time, their only enemies are the hunger and the cold…but then, one day, one of the flesh-hungry zombie creatures finds them and now they must fight for their lives.

“I’ve never been at that moment in my career where I’ve been so successful that offers kept pouring in. I like the fact that I have to fight to get good parts” – Seann William Scott

In Just Before I Go, IMTA alum Seann William Scott plays Ted Morgan, an unfulfilled everyman who has decided that what life has to offer isn't much. He gets motivated for the first (and the last) time to do himself in, but not before facing the people back in his hometown who he feels are responsible for the hollow man he has become. But Ted soon discovers that he's not the only one who has faced difficulty and made mistakes in life and, just when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.

Just Before I Go is the directorial debut of “Friends” and “Cougar Town” star Courtney Cox. “I wanted to direct this particular movie because it makes you laugh out loud,” Cox said.

“It’s a great family movie, everyone can enjoy it. Everybody’s going to love it!” –Raini Rodriguez

After six years of keeping our malls safe, Paul Blart has earned a well-deserved vacation. With an invitation to a prestigious security convention, all expenses paid, he heads to Las Vegas with his teenage daughter before she heads off to college. But safety never takes a holiday and when duty calls, Blart answers.

“It takes place six years after the first movie. Paul is kind of in a rut because he’s had some events happen to him that weren’t all that great,” explained IMTA alum Raini Rodriguez, who is reprising her role as Maya Blart.

“1915 is about denial—how we try to escape history, how history continues to haunt us. It is also about the need to face the ghosts of our own pasts.” –Garin Hovannisian, Writer/Director

In 1915, under the cover of a world war, millions of Armenians were quietly taken out of their homes and marched to their deaths in the deserts of Ottoman Turkey. Their towns and villages were burned to the ground, their churches were dismantled. The crime was supposed to be unacknowledged forever.

Exactly 100 years after what came to be known as the Armenian Genocide, a mysterious director is staging a play at the Los Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of that tragedy—a horrifying crime forgotten and denied for an entire century.

“I love the actors, I love their performances. I created an environment as a director where they could be as great as they could be...” –Writer/Director Terry Jastrow

With the Master’s win this past weekend by Jordan Spieth—a young, personable, photogenic golfer garnered new, younger fans amid a resurgence of mainstream popularity. That popularity should play well into this week’s release of the golforiented drama The Squeeze, which stars IMTA alum Jeremy Sumpter as a young golf prodigy who faces an impossible moral dilemma.

Sumpter plays Augie Baccus, a modest young man in a small rural town with uncommon golf skills. A notorious gambler sees Augie’s potential and convinces him to abandon his dreams of winning the US Open and start playing in high-stakes matches.

Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman begins her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis. Among the artwork taken was Gustav Klimt’s famous painting Portrait of Adele BlochBauer I, one of Klimt’s celebrated gilded portraits of elegant Austrian ladies—and the elderly woman’s aunt—which was also known as The Lady in Gold.

The woman enlists the help of a young, inexperienced lawyer to embark upon a major battle which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark case concerning art restitution from World War II. Her fight also forces her to confront the difficult truths of her native country’s anti-Semitic past.

"The expectations are going to be high because it's Vince [Gilligan], it's David Shore, and I think once people realize it isn't ["Breaking Bad"], it's its own thing, it’s a version of that, they're really going to love it. We’re proud of it. And I think when people see it for what it is, they're going to love it." -Josh Duhamel

When news of a new show about mismatched police partners was announced, a lot of people were asking, "What could be new about that?" But when the announcement included the statement that the series was being created and written by Emmy Award winners Vince Gilligan—creator of "Breaking Bad"—and David Shore—creator of "House M.D."—the possibilities of a different take on the formula suddenly became much more exciting.

"Battle Creek" stars IMTA alum Josh Duhamel as FBI Special Agent Milt Chamberlain and Dean Winters as Detective Russ Agnew, two incompatible law enforcement officers who are tasked with cleaning up the streets of Battle Creek, Michigan..

"It's up to me and my team to figure out what is going on - to somehow make sense of it all" -Agnes Bruckner

Based on the International Emmy-winning French TV series "Les Revenants," "The Returned" follows the story of a small mountain town dealing with the return of several local residents who were presumed dead. Writer/producers Carlton Cuse ("Lost," "Bates Motel") and Raelle Tucker ("Supernatural," "True Blood") have said that, rather than re-create the original, they used it as a starting point for more expansive storytelling as "the returned" and their reeling loved ones navigate their new reality.

IMTA alum Agnes Bruckner co-stars in the 10-episode series as Nikki Banks, a whip smart chief deputy with a chip on her shoulder. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Mark Pelligrino, Jeremy Sisto, India Ennenga, and Sandrine Holt also star...

"She's doesn’t just want the fame that a lot of Powers get. She wants to be a hero." -Logan Browning

"Powers" is an edgy new drama series that is premiering exclusively through Sony's PlayStation Network. Based on the comic book by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the series follows the lives of two homicide detectives who are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as "Powers." Set amidst today's paparazzi culture, "Powers" asks the questions, what if the world was full of superheroes who aren't actually heroic at all? What if all that power was just one more excuse for mischief, mayhem, murder, and endorsement deals?

IMTA alum Logan Browning stars in the series, alongside Sharlto Copley, Susan Heyward, Eddie Izzard, Michelle Forbes, Noah Taylor and Olyesa Rulin...

Arrow’s “Nanda Parbat” episode airs February 25th, The Flash’s “All-Star Team-Up” airs March 17th

Since IMTA alum Brandon Routh joined the cast of The CW’s “Arrow” for the hit show’s third season, fans have been wondering when his character, Ray Palmer—a mega-rich, technological genius who lives his life with a secret desire for heroism following the murder of his wife—would transition into his superhero alter-ego, The Atom. In the DC Comic world, it is no secret that the transition will happen; it was just a question of when since his desire to build a suit and clean up the city is the main thing Routh’s character has been discussing for several weeks. Well, the wait is finally over as The Atom debuts in “Arrow’s” 15th episode of the season entitled “Nanda Parbat.”

According to the original DC comic book story created by writer Gardner Fox and illustrator Gil Kane in 1961, Ray Palmer, Ph.D., is a physicist and professor at Ivy University in New England, specializing in matter compression as a means to fight overpopulation, famine and other world problems.