Netflix’s ‘Fauda’ Co-Creator, Star Teases Season 2: ‘It’s Going to Have a Lot of Action’
Isla Fisher, Ayelet Zurer (“Munich,” “Shtisel”) and Lior Raz, co-creator and star of Netflix breakout hit “Fauda,” were among those on hand Thursday night (May 18th) at a fundraising soiree held at a private residence in Los Angeles to benefit the Cord, an Israel-based organization founded in 1999 by Igal and Dana Goldstein that serves troubled and homeless youth. Guests, which also included Israeli actress Moran Atias (“24,” “Tyrant”) and Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, Sam Grundwerg, partied to live music and dined on kosher Mediterranean cuisine.
“The work that the Cord does is so important not only because of the immediate help that it provides troubled youth, but because it also provides much needed life skills so that these kids can help themselves,” said Grundwerg. “The Cord provides hope.”
Event host Raz, who based “Fauda” on his own his experiences as an undercover operative in the Israel Defense Forces, offered up a free plane ticket to Israel and a walk-on part in Season 2 of the series, which begins shooting next month. In exchange for a $5,000 donation to the org, an offer snapped up for an inflated $7,000 by one enthusiastic attendee.
Raz also opened up about the initial struggle to get “Fauda” sold, and his continued surprise at the series’ commercial and critical success.
Continue reading Isla attends fundraising party for the Cord
Isla attached to “Saint Judy” biopic?
A couple of weeks ago, Backstage.com reported that Isla was attached to star in Saint Judy, a biopic about an immigration lawyer, however, the report has since been removed for an unknown reason. Here is the original article, and we’ll keep you updated if this project does progress…
“Saint Judy”
Immigration is a hot button, and often polarizing, topic for a lot of Americans these days but for one woman the fight wasn’t to be had on Facebook, but in the courts. Isla Fisher is brushing up on her legal jargon and preparing to step into the shoes of Los Angeles-based immigration lawyer Judy Wood. Back in 2000, as the world was recovering from the non-apocalypse of Y2K, Wood was inadvertently changing the laws of asylum for women. While representing an Afghani immigrant who had been persecuted for opening a school for girls in her home country, Wood, by way of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, managed to have women, including female refugees, designated a protected class. Documentary director Sean Hanish will pilot the film with the help of Betty Mae casting. Currently Fisher is only attached but Alfred Molina has also been rumored, though unofficially, to join. Production on the biopic is expected to start at the beginning of May. Los Angeles will host the film.
Isla Fisher Announces Her New Children’s Book Series: Reading Is an ‘Integral Part of Childhood’
Marge In Charge will be released in the US at the end of 2017:
Isla Fisher Announces Her New Children’s Book Series: Reading Is an ‘Integral Part of Childhood’
Actress Isla Fisher charmed audiences in Wedding Crashers, and now, she’s channeled her quirky humor into children’s books.
PEOPLE has the exclusive cover reveal for her book Marge In Charge, which is the first of a three-installment series and will be published in the U.S. this fall.
” ‘Don’t worry about being perfect or you’ll miss out on the fun!’ That’s the message in the Marge books,” Fisher tells PEOPLE when describing the middle-school book series, which follows the adventures of two siblings and their unorthodox babysitter Marge.
“Jemima, who is the narrator and the eldest child, feels she has to be a ‘good girl,’ so thanks to Marge she learns to let her ‘freak flag’ fly and enjoy being a kid,” continues Fisher, 41, a mother of three.
In conjunction with the U.S. book deal, Fisher will be the final speaker at the BookExpo’s Children’s Book & Author Breakfast on June 2 (which will also feature authors Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp and Jennifer Weiner). There, she’ll discuss her upcoming book, as well as personal stories tied to her love for literacy.
“It saddens me when I think about how much vocabularies are shrinking — I know mine is, and there’s only so much I can blame on lactation,” writes Fisher about what inspired her to create the series.
“Nocturnal Animals” HD Film Screencaptures
Isla’s recent drama/thriller movie Nocturnal Animals was released on DVD/Blu-ray last month, and we now have HD screencaptures from the film in our Gallery for you. The film was very slick and chic, however, overall I felt it was cold and underwhelming. Isla had a tiny part with very little to do – although it was great seeing her work alongside such an impressive cast! Make sure you see the movie if you can, and check out our screencaptures in the Gallery – although do be warned that they obviously contain major spoilers as well as some images that may not be suitable for younger viewers…
• Nocturnal Animals (2016) > Film Screencaptures x230
Isla at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party
Isla and her husband attended the Vanity Fair Oscars After Party in Hollywood last week. Isla looked vibrant in a yellow gown by Aussie designer Alex Perry, and accessorised with a Swarovski purse and Stuart Weitzman heels. Isla joked that she was “auditioning for Beauty & The Beast” in this outfit! Inside the party she mingled with friends including Reese Witherspoon and Diane Kruger. Browse through photos from the event in our Gallery:
• The Academy Awards – Vanity Fair After Party x26
Keanu Reeves In Talks, Isla Fisher Negotiating For Dome Karukoski’s ‘The Starling’
Keanu Reeves In Talks, Isla Fisher Negotiating For Dome Karukoski’s ‘The Starling’
Dylan Sellers and PalmStar Media’s Kevin Frakes are pulling together a dramedy entitled The Starling which is a decided turn for actor Keanu Reeves who is coming off the $125M+ (and climbing) worldwide box office actioner John Wick 2. Reeves is in talks and Isla Fisher is in final negotiations to star in the feature film that will be directed by Dome Karukoski (Tom of Finland). The script, which is just a superb allegory written by Matt Harris, was once on the Black List of best, unproduced scripts.
The logline: A married couple lose a child and the wife goes into a recovery place to help her with overwhelming grief, leaving the husband at home alone. To help aid in her recovery, the husband decides to build a beautiful garden for his wife in their backyard, but as he does he is tormented by an aggressive, black starling. At his wits end with the relentless nature of the bird, he goes to see a veterinarian to find out if there is a humane way to get rid of it. The vet, the husband finds out, used to be a psychiatrist but gave it up to help animals instead. However, the quirky vet begins counseling the husband in a turn that neither of them really expected.
The theme of the story is how love can carry you through grief.
The Finnish director Karukoski is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked both in film and TV and he is currently receiving critical praise in Scandinavia for Tom of Finland. He also directed Heart of a Lion, a film about a Neo-Nazi who falls in love with a woman who turns out to have a biracial child. That film from 2013 put him on the map around Hollywood as a director to watch.
The Starling is being produced by PalmStar’s Frakes and Sellers who both have relationships with Reeves. Frakes has worked with the actor on multiple films including the John Wick series while Sellers has a history with Reeves on Chain Reaction and The Replacements. Also producing is Buddy Patrick of Windy Hill Films (John Wick 2, The Alchemist) and Michael Bederman (Spotlight, Collateral Beauty). An early June start date is being planned.
Fisher’s previous credits include Tom Ford’s gritty Nocturnal Animals, the comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses and Arrested Development.
Sellers is the former president of TWC who oversaw such gems as St. Vincent and Southpaw. He launched his River Edge Films and formed a strategic partnership with the finance/production company PalmStar about two years ago. PalmStar, Sellers and Patrick are all together on The Alchemist.
This is not the first time that PalmStar has tackled this subject matter — it also produced and financed Collateral Beauty (with the aforementioned Bederman) which starred Will Smith as a father dealing with the death of a child. PalmStar also is in the midst of production on Catcher Was a Spy with Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, Jeff Daniels and Guy Pearce.
Reeves, who also has the romantic-thriller Siberia directed by Matthew Ross on his plate, is repped by WME and attorney Melanie Cook. Fisher is repped by UTA, Shanahan Management and attorney Warren Dern. Karukoski is repped by ICM Partners.
(Deadline)
Isla reads ‘Big’ by Tim Hopgood on CBeebies Bedtime Stories
Isla made another appearance on CBeebies’ Bedtime Stories last week, this time reading ‘Big’ by Tim Hopgood. Click the big picture below to watch the video on BBC iPlayer, and find HD screencaptures in our Gallery:
Happy Birthday Isla!
Isla celebrates her 41st birthday today, and we’d like to wish her a very Happy Birthday!! We hope she has a special relaxing day today, and wish her continued happiness and success in the year ahead – she deserves it!
