Today, Netflix announced new cast additions who will be joining Big Mistakes, Netflixâs previously untitled family crime comedy series co-created by and starring Dan Levy. The series has also started production in New Jersey.
New cast members include:
Series Regulars:
Jack Innanen (Adults, The Office Movers) plays âMaxâ
Boran Kuzum (Thank You, Next, Bihter: A Forbidden Passion) plays âYusufâ
Abby Quinn (Hell of a Summer, Knock at the Cabin) plays âNatalieâ
Recurring:
Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds, Sharp Objects) plays âAnnetteâ
Jacob Gutierrez (Dear Edward, Bull) plays âTareqâ
Joe Barbara (Just in Time, FBI) plays âMikeâ
Josh Fadem (Better Call Saul, Twin Peaks) plays âAshleyâ
Mark Ivanir (Emilia PĂŠrez, Zero Day) plays âIvanâ
Previously-announced cast members Taylor Ortega and Laurie Metcalf will also co-star alongside Levy:
Dan Levy (Schittâs Creek, Good Grief) plays âNickyâ
Taylor Ortega (Welcome To Flatch, The Four Seasons, Another Simple Favor) plays âMorganâ
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird, Scream 2, Roseanne, Hacks) plays âLindaâ
The new series continues the ongoing successful creative partnership with Dan Levy and his Not a Real Production Company banner that recently saw the release of Levyâs directorial debut, Good Grief, in which he also wrote and starred alongside Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel and Luke Evans. This is the first series from Levyâs overall television deal with Netflix and marks his second original scripted series following the success of the Emmy-winning show Schittâs Creek.
Big Mistakes Logline: Two deeply incapable siblings are blackmailed into the world of organized crime.
Format: 8 Episodes
Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer/Star: Dan Levy (Schittâs Creek, Good Grief)
Creator/Executive Producer: Rachel Sennott (Bottoms)
Executive Producer: Anne-Marie McGintee for Not a Real Production Company
Dan Levyâs Not A Real Production Company, Elevation Pictures (Infinity Pool, Alice, Darling) and CBC are excited to announce that production has been completed on the upcoming official LILITH FAIR documentary presented by White Horse Pictures (Lucy & Desi, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart) in association with Epic Magazine. The film is produced with the support of the original Lilith Fair founders â Sarah McLachlan, Terry McBride, Dan Fraser, and Marty Diamond, who will executive produce. The documentary is directed by Ally Pankiw (I Used to Be Funny, Black Mirror, The Great) and tells the story of the groundbreaking music festival featuring only women artists, started by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and her team in the late-1990s in direct opposition to the prevailing âindustry wisdomâ that limited women from playing together on a concert bill and getting back-to-back airplay on the radio.
The tour, which McLachlan titled Lilith Fair, attracted an array of stars like Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, the Indigo Girls, Erykah Badu, Bonnie Raitt, and Liz Phair, and quickly went from longshot idea to cultural juggernaut. Over three enormously successful summers, Lilith Fair helped launch the careers of artists like Missy Elliott, The Chicks, Nelly Furtado, and Christina Aguilera, raised millions of dollars for womenâs charities, and catapulted feminist and queer representation into mainstream pop culture.
Commissioned by CBC with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the Rogers Group of Funds, LILITH FAIR is produced by Dan Levy for Not A Real Production Company and Elevationâs Christina Piovesan. Executive producers are Cassidy Hartmann, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair and Jeanne Elfant Festa for White Horse; Noah Segal for Elevation; Jessica Hopper; Arthur Spector, Joshuah Bearman, and Joshua Davis for Epic Magazine; Ally Pankiw, Steve Cohen and Paula Froehle for Chicago Media Project; and Wayne Isaak. Rachel McLean serves as supervising producer and the cinematographer is Nina Djacic. The documentary is presented by Chicago Media Project and produced in association with Epic Magazine, Carlene Laughlin, Minderoo Pictures, and the Elfant Festa Family. Elevation Pictures will distribute theatrically in Canada, and the feature will premiere during the 2025-26 season of documentary showcase The Passionate Eye on CBC and CBC Gem. White Horse Pictures is acting as sales agent Worldwide.
“Lilith Fair exemplifies the âcool older sisterâ of the music industry, who already knows the joys and nightmares of being a woman and tries to make the path a little bit easier for future generations. I want to give a deeper understanding of the festival to the young female, non-binary and queer musicians and music fans who picked up a guitar or tickets to a concert for the first time because Lilith showed them how,â says director Ally Pankiw. âI am so excited to work with Dan Levy as a producer on this film, as we have had many wonderful experiences as collaborators who have been able to shed light on characters and heroes not often given a second look.â
Dan Levy added, âLilith Fair holds a very special place in my heart. It was one of the first spaces where I remember feeling at home. The music, the sense of community, and the power of a group of women proving an entire industry wrong was a tremendous thing to experience. What Sarah built with that festival changed so much for so many people. And while it is now seen as an odds-defying success story, it was an uphill battle every step of the way. And there is a lot to be learned from that story. Iâm thrilled to join Sarah on this adventure and am excited for everyone to understand just how revolutionary Lilith Fair really was.â
âOriginating with Canadian icon Sarah McLachlan, the Lilith Fair festival changed the course of the music industry beginning in the late 1990s and its reverberations are still being felt today,â said Sally Catto, General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports, CBC. âIn collaboration with the filmâs talented creative team, we look forward to giving audiences across the country rare access to this turning point in music history, seen through a contemporary lens.â
âThis is a story thatâs long overdue and also deeply relevant in todayâs times,â added Cassidy Hartmann for White Horse. âWeâre so excited to be working with Ally, Dan, and Elevation to bring Lilith Fairâs groundbreaking achievements and impact to light, and to help share its many joys with a wider audience.â
In addition to charting the underdog story of Lilithâs success, the film takes a fresh look at the often-toxic culture of the music industry in the â90s and the backlash that emerged against Lilith Fair, which marginalized Lilith Fair artists and made the tour a cultural punchline. It also follows McLachlanâs journey, illuminating how she became the person who turned the Lilith idea into a phenomenon, following her into the present day as she, and others, grapple with todayâs music industry and the festivalâs legacy.
The doc is inspired by the 2019 article, âBuilding a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fairâ, from Vanity Fair and Epic Magazine, written by Jessica Hopper with Sasha Geffen and Jenn Pelly. It will draw from more than 600 hours of never-before-seen archival footage as well as new interviews and stories from fans, festival organizers, and artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Natalie Merchant, MĂ˝a, Jewel, Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo. LILITH FAIR contextualizes the festivalâs story within a larger cultural moment to explore how the tide of âgirl powerâ helped give rise to some of the festivalâs most insurgent stars and continues to inspire the music and progressive movements of today.
Executive producing alongside the Lilith Fair founders are Lynne Stopkewich, Jessica Fraser, and Dean English. Along with Steve Cohen and Paula Froehle, Rose Lizzaraga and David Scherer, Eric and Barb Dobkin, Bill Gee and Sue Crothers will executive produce for Chicago Media Project. Blue Skyzz Trust and Christina Nolan will Co-Executive Produce.
For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual, & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; Sandra Kleinfeld is Senior Director, Documentary; and Michelle McCree is Executive in Charge of Production, CBC Docs and The Passionate Eye.
Toronto’s own Dan Levy tries his hand at writing and directing a Feature in GOOD GRIEF, opening in select theatres December 29, 2023 and on Netflix January 5, 2024.
SYNOPSIS:
Marc (Daniel Levy) was content living in the shadow of his larger-than-life husband, Oliver (Luke Evans). But when Oliver unexpectedly dies, Marcâs world shatters, sending him and his two best friends, Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh Patel), on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face. Good Grief marks Levyâs debut as a feature-film writer and director. He also produced as part of Not a Real Production Company, alongside Sister Pictures.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Daniel Levy
PRODUCERS: Daniel Levy, Megan Zehmer, Debra Hayward, Kate Fenske
EXEC PRODUCERS: Stacey Snider, Caroline Levy
CAST: Daniel Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Celia Imrie, David Bradley, Arnaud Valois, Emma Corrin, Kaitlyn Dever, and Luke Evans
(Photo/video credit: Netflix)
Four-time Emmy-winner Dan Levy makes his directorial film debut with Good Grief, which he also wrote and will star in alongside Ruth Negga (Passing, Loving), Himesh Patel (Station Eleven, Yesterday), Luke Evans (Echo 3, Beauty and the Beast), Celia Imrie (Better Things, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Arnaud Valois (BPM (Beats Per Minute), Spring Blossom), David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) and Jamael Westman (Hamilton, The Essex Serpent) for Netflix.
Director/Writer: Dan Levy (Schittâs Creek)
Producers: Not A Real Production Companyâs Dan Levy, Megan Zehmer; Sisterâs Stacey Snider, Kate Fenske, Debra Hayward
Logline:
Marc Dreyfus chose to distract himself from the loss of his mom with a comfortable marriage. But when his husband also dies, unexpectedly, Marc is forced to finally confront the grief heâs tried so hard to avoid, sending him and his two closest friends on a Parisian weekend of self discovery.
Dan Levy said, âGood Grief is a cautionary tale about friendship and loss and all the mess that comes with it when the truth is something youâve evaded for most of your life. Itâs funny, itâs bittersweet, itâs a project that has helped me work through my own grief. And I hope it does the same for other people as well.”
Good Grief marks the first project under Levyâs Not A Real Production Company and Netflixâs creative partnership.
(Photo credit: JosĂŠ Mandojana)
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