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‘Edge of Seventeen’ TV Spinoff Set at YouTube

YouTube Red is looking to add some teen angst to its lineup.

The streaming platform’s subscription service has handed out a pilot production commitment to a TV spinoff based on Hailee Steinfeld feature The Edge of Seventeen.

Based on the 2016 film from Robert Simonds’ STX Entertainment, Annabel Oakes (Amazon’s Transparent, Netflix’s Atypical) will pen the script for the potential series. Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote, directed and produced the feature, is attached to exec produce the YouTube iteration.

Steinfeld, who earned a Golden Globe nomination, stars as Nadine, a teen outcast balancing strained relationships with her overly dramatic mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and her popular older brother (Blake Jenner), who begins dating Nadine’s best friend (Haley Lu Richardson). Woody Harrelson co-starred as a sympathizing high school teacher.

The YouTube comedy, while described as a spinoff, will feature an entirely new cast and follow a high school student and her best friend as they navigate the relationships, feelings and realities of being a teenage girl. YouTube says the series will “subvert standard teen show tropes.”

“Kelly Fremon Craig created an honest, hilarious and heartbreaking film with The Edge of Seventeen. It went beyond most teen movies, and was able to captivate an audience beyond those in high school,” YouTube head of comedy Dustin Davis said. “We’re excited to work with the entire team at STXtv and have Annabel and Kelly create a series for YouTube Red using themes from the film as inspiration.”

Released in November 2016 after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, Edge of Seventeen went on to gross $18 million worldwide on a budget of $9 million. The film has a 95 percent rating among critics and an 83 percent score among moviegoers on RottenTomatoes.com. (THR’s Jon Frosch called it a “warm, winning teen-com.”

“At STX, an infrastructure was built that encourages all divisions to create engaging content that can live on any platform,” said Jada Miranda, STXtv exec vp and head of scripted television. “So when critics and audiences fell in love with the Edge of Seventeen film in 2016, we knew there was more story to tell and new ideas to explore, and from there the possibility of creating a TV version came to light. We worked closely with Kelly Fremon Craig to find a special writer like Annabel who could do just that. The YouTube audience is exactly who the original film was made for, which is why they’re the perfect fit to bring this incredibly funny and smart franchise to life.”

YouTube’s Edge of Seventeen is STXtv’s second scripted foray in the past six months, joining National Geographic’s miniseries Valley of the Boom, starring Bradley Whitford and Steve Zahn.

For YouTube Red, Edge of Seventeen marks the latest high-profile reboot to join the subscription service after Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai, co-starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.

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May 07 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York


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Hailee Steinfeld Will Release New Music Before Tour

Get excited Hailee Steinfeld fans!!

The 21-year-old entertainer announced that she will have new music coming out very soon.

A fan tweeted and asked if Hailee would be releasing new music before going on tour this summer and she simply responded with a “yes.”

Hailee is set to join Katy Perry on Witness: The Tour in the UK in June before kicking off the Voicenotes Tour with Charlie Puth in July.

Be sure to head to HaileeSteinfeldOfficial.com for a full list of summer tour dates and links to purchase tickets!

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Singer Hailee Steinfeld On Transitioning Your Career With Grace

Hailee Steinfeld always knew that she wanted to sing. “I have been singing for as long as I can remember. I’m sure my parents would tell you the same,” she shares.

Her parents nurtured their daughter’s passion when she was seven and they bought her an amplifier and microphone. “Once they brought it home I believe they regretted that instantly,” says Steinfeld But I would set it up in front of the mirror at the bottom of our staircase. Every day I sang into this amplifier. The speaker would run throughout the house. And I would do it for hours and wouldn’t stop.”

Her repertoire was a medley of the last ten songs she had heard that day. She graduated to recording songs in a studio. One of the first songs she ever covered in the studio was “Count On Me” by Bruno Mars. “It was my first real introduction to being in a recording studio,” she says.

While Steinfeld was singing and recording cover songs, she had a parallel career. At same time, she was auditioning every day for acting gigs. Since she was eight she worked in commercials and on television. By the time she was 13, Steinfeld was cast as Mattie Ross in the Coen brothers western True Grit. She starred opposite Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper. The role was a total breakthrough and Steinfeld was nominated for an Academy Award. “Acting became my full-time focus for a couple of years,” she explains. But the music muse never left her. “I realized, I really wanted to get into music,” she says.

As much as she wanted share her musical voice with the world, she was also mindful of the timing. “I wanted it to feel right. Obviously timing is everything. I thought, I would really love for it to happen through a film. I didn’t want it to be, here I am, a movie came out last week and now I’m dropping an album. I wanted it to make sense. It all ended up coming together,” says Steinfeld who starred in Pitch Perfect II and then released a cover version of the song Flashlight that she sang in the film. “I’m so glad that it came when it did because I couldn’t have been more ready. The music journey has been a whole crazy ride.”

The crazy ride continues as Steinfeld’s proverbial candle is burning from every possible end. She attributes her success to having fierce mentors. “I started my career with some of the most incredible people and I’ve had my parents to guide me the whole way,” she explains. “My mom is probably the best advice-giver.” Continue reading “Singer Hailee Steinfeld On Transitioning Your Career With Grace”