Demi Lovato 
Solo Album Don't Forget Debuts at # 2!
NEW ORLEANS (Hollywood Reporter) - Look out, Miley and Hilary, here comes Demi.
Disney Channel has ordered "Welcome to Mollywood," a live-action comedy series starring Demi Lovato of the network's upcoming Jonas Brothers movie "Camp Rock."
It's a role that could potentially put Lovato on the teen queen career path trod so successfully by Miley Cyrus and Hilary Duff.
The tentatively titled series centers on Molly (Lovato), a 15-year-old small-town girl who, after a nationwide search, is chosen to join the cast of the most popular and long-running teen sketch comedy show on television. The sitcom will feature a show-within-a-show with fully produced comedy sketches.
Lovato was introduced to Disney Channel viewers last year in the shortform comedy series "As the Bell Rings." She also co-stars in Disney's upcoming TV movie "Princess Protection Program."
Lovato also has a recording contract with Disney's Hollywood Records, and will tour with the Jonas Brothers in the summer.
The "Mollywood" cast also includes Tiffany Thornton, Brandon Mychal Smith, Doug Brochu and Allisyn Ashley Arm. It is set to go into production in September
PICS - Jonas Brothers Photoshoot
Move over, Miley Cyrus. Demi Lovato is the next big thing. The reason why is simple: The Walt Disney Co. says so.
Hand-plucked from an open casting call in Dallas, the 15-year-old has the hit-making machine that catapulted Cyrus, Hilary Duff and Zac Efron to stardom behind her. Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ) not only boasts a kid-friendly television network to exploit talent but also film studios, music labels and theme parks
Canada's Family Channel unveils slate
Acquires Jonas Brothers movie 'Camp Rock'
Demi and Selena are also hosting their own YouTube show and it is called, “The Real Demi Lovato.” The YouTube shows are vlogs that are fortunate enough to bypass protective parent companies and connect to fans using internet video portals.
Disney might actually be encouraging the self made video footage as this cheap marketing promotes the celebrities, while distancing Disney from blame.
One episode in “The Real Demi Lovato” had invited 50,000 comments that either praised or criticized the show. That showed the power of the internet vlogs.
was sitting in a conference room on Disney's Burbank, California, studio lot with a dozen high-powered executives from across the conglomerate's divisions.She had submitted an audition tape, and the assembled bosses wanted to talk to her about auditioning for a few upcoming TV pilots. Disney Channel Worldwide president of entertainment Gary Marsh asked on a whim: "I know you sing -- would you mind sharing something with us?"
"They kind of put me on the spot," Lovato recalls. "I don't mind it. When people put me on the spot, it's kind of like, 'Hey, I'm not going to get nervous. I'm just going to do what I do.' So I did what I did."
What she did was belt out a spot-on rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man." And, with that, she had the lead in the Disney Channel's summer movie "Camp Rock."
"Our jaws just dropped," Hollywood Records senior vice president and general manager Bob Cavallo says. Lovato signed a record deal, and her first album will be released in November.
Lovato's sweet show of vocal prowess as Cinderella-with-a-guitar in "Camp Rock" also led to another professional milestone: Now she's teaming up with her co-stars in the movie, the pop-rock trio the Jonas Brothers, on the music side of her career. Not only will she open for the siblings on their Burnin' Up tour this summer, but Lovato enlisted them in crafting the pop sound for her upcoming album as co-producers and co-writers.
"I'm more of a writer whose stuff wouldn't make it on a Disney album," she says, laughing. "It's too dark. My mom's like, 'Oh my gosh, go to therapy.' So I came to (the Jonas Brothers) like, 'Ummmm ... I need help writing catchy stuff just because, well, my target audience isn't metal music."
Disney Channels Worldwide entertainment president Gary Marsh, speaking here Tuesday at?Disney Media's?upfront presentation, also announced several new original movies for the tween-targeted network, several of them featuring the network’s "Next Big Thing," 15-year-old actress/songwriter Demi Lovato. Disney Channel doesn't except commercials, but rather multiplatform sponsorship packages.
The High School Musical movie franchise is expected to return to Disney Channel sometime in 2009 or 2010, after HS3 debuts in theaters this October, according to Marsh.
He said some of the stars from HS3 likely would not return to reprise their roles in the fourth installment, but that the?telefilm will feature several new characters that will appear in the upcoming theatrical.
"The franchise may be bigger than the stars itself, so if one two or none of the stars come back the franchise is still compelling," he said.
Sonny With a Chance (previously known as Welcome to Mollywood or Welcome to Holliwood) is an upcoming Disney Channel Original Series set to premiere February 8, 2009. The series is about a fifteen-year-old small town midwest girl named Sonny (Demi Lovato) who is cast in a popular sketch comedy called So Random. The series will follow Sonny, her family and new friends in Los Angeles and at the studio.Sonny With a Chance will be a show-within-a-show, complete with fully-produced comedy sketches.Sonny With a Chance!
Demi Lovato News
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