AMC mood's playful

Celeb trio set to play 'Charades' at cabler

By DENISE MARTIN

AMC has greenlit "Celebrity Charades," a six-episode gameshow from exec producers Bob Balaban, Chad Lowe and Hilary Swank.

Skein is the premiere series project from Lowe and Swank's Accomplice Films shingle. Trigger Street Independent's Mark Kassen and Adam Kassen also will produce.

Production is under way in New York. AMC will air the half-hour series as a strip beginning June 20.

In each episode of "Charades," 10 celebs will be divided into two teams, with each player trying to raise money for his or her chosen charity. Ten clues will be thematically linked to a movie-related topic, and the first team to correctly guess all 10 charades and their overall theme -- while they wine and dine -- wins the game. In addition, viewers will be treated to trivia and factoids during the game on the lower third of the screen.

Players on board include Carson Kressley, Bebe Neuwirth, Joel Siegel, Peter Boyle, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anthony Mackie, Rosie Perez, Isaac Mizrahi, Peter Bogdanovich, Hank Azaria and Ana Gasteyer.

Lowe and Balaban will serve as rotating hosts and participate in various challenges.

AMC senior veep of original programming and production Rob Sorcher said "Charades" and forthcoming series are part of an ongoing "evolution of the AMC brand and our commitment to providing our audience with original content that centers on movie culture."

Upcoming primetime projects will announced shortly.

Lowe and Swank's Accomplice just signed a yearlong first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures (Daily Variety, March 16). Company is developing feature projects "The Walking" and "Batorsag and Szerelem." Swank last exec produced "11:14," which bowed on pay cabler Showtime.