Felicity Huffman’s 14-Day Sentence Deemed ‘White Privilege’ by ‘Desperate Housewives’ Co-Star Ricardo Chavira

Younger star Molly Bernard and Nike Kadri One Dollar have been added to the cast of Master, the Amazon Studios thriller starring Regina Hall. Zoe Renee and Amber Gray recently joined the film, which is written and directed by Mariama Diallo. Production is currently underway. The plot follows three black women who strive to find their place at the celebrated Ancaster College, an elite university in New England. It examines how each of these women will — or won't — survive in this space of privilege. Andrea Roa, Brad Becker-Parton and Joshua Astrachan will produce for Animal Kingdom with Hall and Terence Nance serving as executive producers. Bernard is repped by Innovative Artists and D2 Management. Kadri is repped by D2 and HCKR.

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Patrick Duffy Dallas, You Again is set to appear in Lady of the Manor, the directorial debut film from Justin Long. Ryan Phillippe, Melanie Lynskey, Luis Guzman, and Judy Greer star in the pic, which was written by Long and his brother Christian Long. The plot centers on Hannah Lysnkey, an aimless, jobless, ne'er-do-well who stumbles into a gig as a re-enactment tour guide in a historic, antebellum estate. She soon discovers that she is not alone in her new home and winds up befriending the manor's resident ghost, the refined Lady Wadsworth Greer. With the help of college professor Max Long, this odd-couple must work together against the selfish ploys of the Lady's playboy descendent, Tanner Wadsworth Phillippe in order to right a centuries old injustice that has kept Lady's Wadsworth soul from rest. Tony Stopperan, Joseph Restaino, Dori Rath, Michael Brown, Nick Morgulis, Christian and Justin Long produced the project. Endeavor Content is handling worldwide rights.

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Felicity Huffman has been released from a federal prison in Dublin, CA, three days short of a 14-day sentence in the college bribery scheme, a prison spokesperson confirmed to Deadline.

Huffman was released early Friday morning. She began her 14-day sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin on Oct. 15, but was released early as is normal prison policy for inmates who are set to be released on weekends.

The Desperate Housewives actor also is ordered to serve a year’s probation, perform 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine.

Having plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud back in May, Huffman was the first to be sentenced among the more than 30 parents indicted in the nationwide effort of wealthy families to get their children into top schools using underhanded methods.

Backed by letters of character reference and support from Desperate Housewives co-star Eva Longoria and creator Marc Cherry among others, Huffman threw herself at the court's mercy at her sentencing last month in Boston in front of Judge Indira Talwani.

“In my desperation to be a good mother I talked myself into believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter a fair shot,” the When They See Us co-star stated of her entanglement with ex-call center manager William Singer and his phony Key Worldwide Foundation to get her eldest daughter into a top college using faked test scores.

“I honestly didn't and don't care about my daughter going to a prestigious college,” Huffman noted in the letter delivered to the court September 6. “I just wanted to give her a shot at being considered for a program where her acting talent would be the deciding factor.”

Unlike Huffman, Full House star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli rejected a plea deal from the U.S. Attorney and are fighting their case stemming from the “Operation Varsity Blues” sting operations with strident not-guilty declarations. Facing 40 years behind bars, the duo look to be headed for trial next year.

Deadline’s Dominic Patten contributed to this story.

Source: deadline.com

Director Tom Harper also explained why the historical adventure film is centered around a male-female pair: 'Two men in a basket not talking to each other was not going to fly.'

The leads of Amazon Studios' 1860s-set adventure The Aeronauts start their record-breaking balloon expedition, nearly 40,000 feet into the sky, off on the wrong foot. But for the award-winning actors behind the characters, Theory of Everything co-stars Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, their past work and real-life friendship helped them begin their latest collaboration on the right one.

"The thought of building on what we'd already established in Theory of Everything I think gave us an enormous confidence," Jones told The Hollywood Reporter at the New York premiere of The Aeronauts. "To go on that adventure with someone that you already had built a trust, a love, an affection with and the ability to admit mistakes — I think it's when you can take the ego out of a creative dynamic and make it so much more personal that you get a grateful, strong working relationship."

Directed by Tom Harper Peaky Blinders, The Woman In Black 2 and co-written by Harper and Jack Thorne Wonder, His Dark Materials, the biographical adventure follows daring pilot Amelia Wren Jones and unyielding scientist James Glaisher Redmayne through a perilous journey.

Trapped thousands of feet in the air, the two trailblazers must survive extreme weather events as they navigate flying higher than anyone before them in the name of air travel, weather science and the spirit of discovery.

Recalling how he and Jones got involved with the project, Redmayne told THR both actors were sent the script on the same day, and after calling each other up, mutually agreed to do the movie only if the other did. The Fantastic Beasts actor described the nature and requirements of the role, which involved "three months stuck in a tiny basket with someone" as "quite a hard task." It was one made easier by having someone he knew and cared about at his side.

That familiarity not only helped the actors navigate their characters tougher challenges — both with the elements and with each other — but also eliminated the early back and forth of gauging and gaining creative trust. Already knowing their each other's process didn't just benefit the actors. Director and co-writer Harper says that because of Jones and Redmayne's bond, the production was able to get a "head start."

"They had such great working relationship and a foundation of trust that enabled them to sort of dare each other to go further and to take risks," Harper told THR at the Wednesday night premiere. "And they were genuinely including me in that process, and so, therefore, I was able to join them in that inspiration. They inspired me. We dared...