TORONTO – Rogers Sports and Media’s OMNI Television and Longhope Media Inc. announced today production has started on Abroad, a new satirical sketch comedy series in English and Tagalog.
The series, which features 12, 30-minute episodes, was co-created by and stars Isabel Kanaan (above; Second Jen, Air Farce NYE, This Hour Has 22 Minutes), a Filipina comedian. It is based on her “experience as an immigrant with her comedic perspective,” a press release says.
“Isabel moved to Canada from the Philippines when she was 16 and spent her teenage years learning how to navigate culture shock, language barriers, and – brrrr! – Canadian winters,” the release says.
She co-founded Tita Collective, an award-winning Filipina sketch group and “has more than 187,000 followers and 5.5 million likes on TikTok and is a recipient of the NBC Bob Curry Fellowship and RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award.”
“Isabel is one of Canada’s fastest-rising comedy stars with her work garnering a loyal fanbase on social media given her authentic voice. OMNI is proud to be working with Isabel and the talented creative team and cast, to bring this fresh brand of comedy to viewers,” said Nataline Rodrigues, director of original programming at Rogers Sports and Media, in the press release.
“We’re thrilled with Rogers Sports & Media’s support in bringing OMNI’s first sketch comedy series to life. While the immigrant experience is unique to each person, the universal feeling of being on the outside resonates with everybody,” said Lucy Stewart, co-founder of Longhope Media.
Abroad stars Kanaan, along with Aldrin Bundoc, Joy Castro, Nicco Garcia, Justin Santiago, Carolyn Fe, Jon Blair, Natalie Metcalfe, Sharjil Rasool, Nile Seguin, Christian Smith, and Jillian Welsh.
It is produced by Longhope Media in association with OMNI Television, and was co-created and written by Kanaan, Kevin Wallis and Wayne Testori. Stewart is the executive producer and Wallis is the showrunner. Kara Harun and Carly Heffernan are directors while Byron Abalos, Monica Garrido, Nour Hadidi, Mona Hersi, Josette Jorge Aliya Kanani, and Paloma Nûnez are writers for the show.
Abroad will air in spring 2022 on OMNI Television. Additional details will be announced later, according to the press release.
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