CANNES – Abbie Cornish doesn't take kindly to be called a gold-digger.
"She sets up services in Dawson City," the Australian Robocop star said of the female lead, Belinda Mulroney, she plays in Discovery Channel's first scripted mini-series Klondike, which shoots in Alberta. "She's also a real warrior, a survivor, someone driven by her heart and soul and instincts," Cornish adds about her character and others in Klondike that are drawn from the Charlotte Gray novel Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike.
Cornish isn't the only foreign actor that stars in the U.S. cable drama co-produced by Discovery, Entertainment One and Nomadic Pictures, in association with Scott Free Television. British actors Ian Hart, Tim Roth star alongside American thespians Tim Blake Nelson and Chris Cooper.
The series, while created and executive produced by Ridley Scott, was handed by Discovery to Canadian producers eOne and Nomadic Pictures to bring to the small screen. For eOne Television CEO John Morayniss, that's no coincidence, and instead borne out of necessity.
With Discovery and a host of other U.S. cable channels jumping into the scripted series game, on top of digital players like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, Hollywood is running dry when it comes to supplying American screenwriters, showrunners and directors to make those shows.
"With over 50 channels now in the U.S. commissioning original scripted programming, the truth is there's a limit to the talent pool in the U.S.," he said. Hence the current demand on studio lots for Canadian TV scribes and show-runners living in Los Angeles, who understand the studio model and can work in local writer rooms.
Canadian creative talent, facing reduced government subsidies back home for the CBC and other traditional platforms, are increasingly going out into the world to partner with American and other foreign players to share the risk and costs on global dramas and mini-series.
Klondike, a no Canadian-content series with its creative being driven from the U.S., was still handed to eOne and Nomadic Pictures to produce, before being sold to Discovery Canada. "It's necessary for U.S. buyers to look outside their market for programming, for writers, creators and ideas, for development. It's quite exciting," Morayniss explained.
"We've been doing that for years. We're perfectly placed to take advantage of what's happening in the U.S.," he added.
Another example is Welcome to Sweden, a TV comedy developed and produced by eOne and Swedish partner FLX for TV4 in that Scandinavian market, and which was created by and stars Greg Poehler, the younger brother of Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler.
Toronto-based eOne will this week unveil a U.S. network deal for the sitcom about an American in Stockholm, played by Greg Poehler, who falls in love with a Swedish woman. "It's rare. I don't think you're going to see a lot of shows coming out of Sweden that are in the English language that we're going to be selling into the U.S.," Morayniss said. But, it's an indication where a U.S. market, which Canadian TV producers and broadcasters are increasingly invested, in is headed.
"The fact that it (Welcome to Sweden) was made in Sweden was the reason I was allowed to do the role," Greg Poehler explained of his pact with eOne to make the sitcom. "If it was Los Angeles, they (studios) would have bought the show” and shunted Poehler to the sidelines.
The increasing foreign collaboration by American TV buyers worked to the advantage of Canadian producers like eOne that have long developed and produced multi-passport series out of necessity, and which are now increasingly in demand to do the same for American and UK partners. "It's challenging creatively, but from a business point of view, it plays to our strengths," Morayniss said.
The MIPCOM TV market continues through Thursday in Cannes.
