KAL PENN GOES TO SUNNYSIDE

Kal Penn’s upcoming NBC sitcom finally has a title – Sunnyside -  named after the neighborhood in Queens, New York. Penn who co-wrote the comedy with Matt Murray, will play New York City Councilman Garrett Shah who “finds his calling when faced with seven recent immigrants” who are in search of the American Dream and need his help.

According to Deadline, 5 of the 7 immigrants will be portrayed by immigrant actors. The cast includes Joel Kim Booster, the high profile, South Korean-born comedian; Kiran Deol, the UK born actor, Poppy Liu, an actress born in China; Tudor Petrut, of Romanian origin; Samba Schutte, a Dutch Mauritanian actor who grew up in Ethiopia; Diana Maria Riva, a first-generation Dominican; and Moses Storm.

The pilot is also directed by immigrant Oz Rodriquez.

MINDY KALING'S "LATE NIGHT" TRAILER RELEASED

The official trailer for Mindy Kaling’s feature film, Late Night, has just been released.

Kaling serves as producer and writer of the film and stars alongside Emma Thompson who plays a talk show host on the verge of losing her show. Thompson hires a female writer, played by Kaling, to help revamp her program. Late Night also stars Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow, Ike Barinholtz and Dennis O’Hare and is directed by Nisha Ganatra.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Amazon Studios bought the US distribution rights for the film for $13 million. According to Deadline, the deal was made after an all-night bidding battle and became the largest deal for a US only distribution at Sundance.

Late Night is scheduled to hit theaters on June 7th.