Behind the Scenes Buzz with Sundance and Zoey

THE SURVIVALIST PLUMPS OUT CAST:  Jenna Leigh Green (Sabrina The Teenage Witch) has joined thriller The Survivalist, which already includes a star-studded cast: John Malkovich (Billions), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Vikings), Ruby Modine (Shameless) and Thaddeus Street (The Deuce). Jon Keeyes is directing the film, which takes place after the fall of civilization.

ROKU SURGES: Roku reached 51.2 million active accounts by end of year in 2020, up from 36.9 million in 2019 and 13.4 million in 2016, Deadline reports. “I’m excited that more than 50 million households now turn to Roku for their TV viewing,” CEO Anthony Wood said. “The world is moving to streaming and we look forward to continuing to help viewers, advertisers, content publishers, and TV manufacturers succeed in the Streaming Decade.”

SUNDANCE CANCELS DRIVE-IN SCREENINGS: The 2021 Sundance Film Festival has canceled plans to hold L.A. drive-in screenings amid a terrifying resurgence of COVID-19 in the state. “The safety and well-being of our audiences, community and staff is the most important thing to Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival. In consideration of the overall public health situation in the Los Angeles area and the trajectory of the spread of the virus there, the health guidelines, and crisis the hospital systems are facing we will be pivoting our planned drive-in screenings to our online platform,” Sundance said in a statement. Sundance will go ahead in the U.S. with screenings elsewhere; the festival has been shortened from 10 to seven days and will feature 72 features in a digital format, instead of the Park City fiesta that normally occurs.

ZOEY WITHOUT LAUREN GRAHAM: NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist lost Lauren Graham as a star, for now at least. She was unable to commit due to scheduling conflicts. Creator Austin Winsberg tells The Hollywood Reporter he hopes she can return: “I would have loved to have had more of her in season two. Unfortunately, the character of Joan was a victim of covid scheduling. Lauren had committed to doing another show that was supposed to be done shooting by the time we went into production. But the pandemic changed all of that and both shows ended up shooting at the same time. So, there was just no way for her to do both. However, the door is always open for Lauren and Joan to return, and nothing would make me happier than having her back. Lauren and Jane have such a great rapport when they are playing off of each other. And I feel very fortunate that we were able to get her at all.”