Several More Stars Cast In Broadcast Aircraft aircraft pilots

Jericho alum Lennie James remains cast inside the ABC drama pilot Gotham. The 20th TV-produced project concentrates on Detective Annie Travers (Megan Ketch), considering the impossible murder from the nightclub owner who's stunned to know that NY features a whole secret magical good status that she (and everyone else) was formerly unaware. James, repped by UTA and manager Estelle Lasher, will playGabriel Riga, the magnetic and wealthy Boss running for Mayor of NY City. He was most recently an ordinary on HBOs Hung. Kevin Bishop is positioned since the male lead in CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot Super Fun Evening, put together by and starring Bridesmaids‘ Digital digital rebel Wilson. The project, from Warner Bros TV and Conan OBriens studio-based Conaco banner, follows three nerdy female pals on theirfuncomfortable pursuit to possess super fun every Friday evening. Bishop, repped by ICM and Uk’s Troika, may have a guy who's attracted to one of the women. Mo Gaffney remains put in the cast of ABC’s untitled Kari Lizer project (also called The Under professional). The multi-camera comedy, from Warner Bros. TV, concentrates on Hilary Pfeiffer-Dunne (McCormack), a greater-powered executive who now faces the finest challenge of her existence when she finds herself unemployed and becoming an entire-time mother to her two teens. Gaffney, repped by Stone Manners Salners, may have Robin, a supermom who clashes with Hilary. Khary Payton, who was simply just released within the Foreign exchange pilot Forces, remains cast in NBCs comedy pilot Continue. The only real-camera project, put together by Scott Silveri and directed by Todd Holland,concentrates on Ryan (Matthew Perry), an irreverent yet charming sportscaster who, trying to maneuver ahead in the loss, finds surprising solace within the people of his mandatory support group. Payton, repped by Bauman Redanty & Shaul and Gekis/Ribers, may have one of the group’s people, Don, a practical-class guy who went bankrupt and whose wife left him while using kids. Zoe Jarmon, and Dana Delorenzo are actually put in Mindy Kalings Fox single-camera comedy pilot, through which she stars just like a youthful Bridget Manley-type Physician/Gyn balancing personal and professional existence, ornamented by awesome co-employees inside a small office. Jarmon, repped by TalentWorks and Variety, may have a receptionist at work. Delorenzo is to apply 3 Arts and attorney Lev Ginsberg.

New NBC Drama and CBS Comedy Pilots Tap Casting Directors

Two network pilots have secured casting directors, Back Stage has confirmed."Notorious," a drama for NBC will be cast by Julie Tucker and Ross Meyerson. The pilot focuses on a female detective who goes undercover as the daughter of a wealthy family's maid in order to solve a murder. Tucker has also worked as a casting director on "Damages," Rescue Me," "Nurse Jackie," and "White Collar." Victor Garber, who received three Emmy nominations for his role as Jack Bristow on "Alias," is attached to star. Shooting is scheduled to begin this month. The renewal of this season's "Prime Suspect," another NBC show centered on the exploits of a female detective, is currently uncertain due to low ratings. Brett Greenstein and Collin Daniel will cast an Untitled Project by producers Mike Lisbe and Nathan Reger for CBS. The pilot is about a widower and father of two teenage girls who loses his job in construction and decides to become a police officer. Lisbe and Reger produced the 2010 CBS comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," starring William Shatner. They also worked on this season's "How to Be a Gentleman." Both shows were cancelled in their first seasons. Comedian Martin Lawrence is set to star as the single dad. This marks Lawrence's first return to television after his breakout show "Martin" ended in 1997. Since then, he had enjoyed a steady career in Hollywood, starring in "Bad Boys," "Wild Hogs," and a series of "Big Mommas House" films. However, he has not taken on any movie projects recently. The pilot is scheduled to shoot in April.

Fuentes-Leon preps 'Vanished Elephant'

GUADALAJARA -- Helmer-scribe Javier Fuentes-Leon is prepping "The Vanished Elephant," the follow-up to his debut feature, "Undertow," which won Sundance's World Dramatic Competition Audience Award in 2010. The film noir thriller turns on crime novel scribe Edo Celeste, whose girlfriend disappeared years before. On the 5th anniversary of her disappearance, he receives an envelope with photos that seem part of a collage, clues to what happened to her. The pic was originally set in L.A., but will now lense in Peru, placing elements of classic film noir against the backdrop of Lima, "a humid, sprawling, chaotic urban area," Fuentes-Leon said, "bursting with movement, vibrancy and sharp contrasts between the haves and have-nots." Moving from the streets of Lima to Peru's Paracas beaches, " 'Elephant' asks constantly: What is fiction and what is reality?," and explores "the creative process, and the loss and emptiness which remains when something close or personal escapes us," Fuentes-Leon explained at Mexico's Guadalajara festival. The pic's title refers to an elephant-shaped rock-formation off Paracas, which collapsed and disappeared into the ocean during Peru's 2007 earthquake. Skedded to shoot fall 2012, "Elephant" is set up at Lima's Elcalvo Films. Fuentes-Leon and Colombia's Dynamo, a producer on "Undertow," are working together to raise the financing and to make the film. Peru's Oscar submission, "Undertow" was picked up for U.S. distribution by The Film Collaborative for theatrical and Wolfe Releasing for DVD. The pic was a sales success for Shoreline, and grossed a sturdy 155,836 ($208,976) in Spain. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Medvedev to launch 'independent' channel

MOSCOW -- A new fully independent public television channel could be created in Russia under plans unveiled by the country's lame duck president Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev -- who is due to stand down following Sunday's presidential election in which current prime minister Vladimir Putin is almost certain to win in the first round -- plans to issue a presidential decree next month. If he does, it will likely be one of his last acts as president before formally standing down ahead of the inauguration of the new president in early May. The plans for the new channel, to be funded by a combination of tax-exempt donations and a levy on advertising from other networks, have been drawn up by film and television industry representatives on the Presidential Council on Human Rights. Nailing his colors to a liberal agenda just days before an election that critics charge will be characterized by massive vote rigging to ensure Putin's victory, Medvedev said the new channel would not carry advertising and would be wholly independent of both government and private interests. If the scheme -- the cost of which has not been revealed by the Kremlin -- goes ahead, it is likely to use an existing public channel, such as Rossiya 2, Moscow's TV Tsentr or Zvezda (Star TV), a patriotic military-themed channel launched several years ago. Russia's major public channels all carry advertising and combine public and private ownership. Critics of Putin's earlier two terms as president claim that investigative reporting on political and business issues have been effectively banned from the airwaves over the past decade. In signs of some loosening of the reins, Russian channels have recently begun reporting the mass opposition rallies that have been taking place since parliamentary elections in December were marred by widespread fraud. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com