TORONTO and HAMILTON – Boss & Co, Portfolio Entertainment and CBC today announced production on Homeschooled, a new CBC Gem original YA dramedy series, has begun in Toronto and Hamilton.
“Created, directed, and executive produced by Karen Knox and Gwenlyn Cumyn (Slo Pitch, Barbelle), Homeschooled explores the niche world of home education as mainstream and fringe teen experiences collide in a unique coming-of-age tale,” a press release says.
“Freaks are underrated and “trads” (a student attending a “traditional” education facility) rarely make history – or at least that’s what 16-year-old intellectuals Farzanah (Eman Ayaz, Ghostwriter) and Greta (Veronika Slowikowska, What We Do in the Shadows) set…
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OTTAWA — CBC’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) today released a new report called “TV Fandom” that looks at TV viewers and their fan activities online.
According to the report, just over one-third of TV viewers engage in online activities related to the TV shows they watch.
“This could include visiting official and fan-created show websites, or following shows or cast members on social media,” reads an MTM press release.
“Younger viewers are more likely to be engaging in these online activities, in particular, following shows and cast on social media.” In addition, “SVOD viewers are more likely to be engaging in online…
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TORONTO — CBC announced today the next edition of its ongoing One Stop Business Workshop virtual series, organized in partnership with the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), is designed to help independent producers learn more about sustainable production.
“In advance of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 and coinciding with National Waste Reduction Week, the newest edition of the virtual information session series, running October 19-21, is titled Green Week and will focus on easily implemented sustainable practices to reduce the carbon footprint of productions,” reads a CBC press release.
The Green Week workshop…
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TORONTO — CBC announced today the addition of three new podcasts to its fall 2021 slate.
Season two of Stuff the British Stole is launching on CBC Podcasts on Wednesday, Oct. 20. The podcast examines “the not-so-polite history behind artifacts locked up in respectable institutions around the world,” says a press release.
In each episode of this five-part series, “award-winning journalist Marc Fennell picks one artifact and takes listeners on the wild, evocative, sometimes funny, often tragic adventure of how it got to where it is now,” the release says.
Season two of Stuff the British Stole was produced by Australian Broadcasting…
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REGINA – Zarqa Nawaz (above) and CBC announced today production has begun in Regina, Saskatchewan on Zarqa (6×11), a new original comedy series premiering on CBC Gem in 2022.
Nawaz, the award-winning Canadian film and television producer, author, and journalist who created the CBC sit-com Little Mosque on the Prairie, is the series the creator, showrunner and lead actor.
“Zarqa follows its titular character, a complex, middle-aged Muslim woman (played by Nawaz) who learns on social media that her ex-husband is marrying a white yoga instructor half his age named Bethany. Zarqa impulsively comments that she will attend the wedding with…
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LOS ANGELES and TORONTO — Independent entertainment company Boat Rocker announced today it has struck a first-look deal with Canadian brothers, actors and producers Shamier Anderson (above, left) and Stephan James (right).
“Under the deal, Anderson and James, the stars of Boat Rocker’s highly anticipated series Invasion and Beacon 23, respectively, will develop and produce original television projects for the company under their Bay Mills Studio banner,” reads a Boat Rocker press release.
Anderson is starring in the Boat Rocker-produced series Invasion, created by producer Simon Kinberg, which will premiere on Apple TV+ on Oct. 22. James is an executive producer…
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ONTARIO – Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and CBC Sports announced today a two-year digital partnership agreement.
“Through this partnership, fans will be able to enjoy 13 of the conference’s championships online via CBC Sports’ digital platforms, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service,” a press release reads.
OAU events to be broadcast on CBC Sports platforms include both men’s and women’s basketball, hockey, soccer and volleyball. Football, women’s rugby, swimming, track and field and wrestling will also be broadcast.
The partnership begins with the 2021 edition of the Panda Game on Saturday…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – As his Liberal government begins its third mandate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could either fill key cabinet roles in Heritage and Industry with fresh faces or stick with the status quo – as he has already by leaving in place Chrystia Freeland as deputy prime minister and finance minister, according to Parliament Hill watchers.
Sheila Copps, a former deputy PM who served as minister of the newly created department of Canadian Heritage from 1996 to 2003, would like new leaders recruited for her old job and to head Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
Her…
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TORONTO — Hollywood Suite announced today it will support the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by presenting a full day of programming from Indigenous filmmakers and producers on Sept. 30.
The programming will air on Hollywood Suite’s 2000s channel and will spotlight the culture, history and perspectives of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, says a press release.
Hollywood Suite’s special programming will begin on Sept. 29 at 7:20 p.m. ET with the premiere of Darlene Naponse’s award-winning film Falls Around Her (2018), which follows a world-famous Anishinaabe musician (played by Tantoo Cardinal) “who leaves everything behind to return…
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TORONTO — CBC and Pier 21 Films today announced casting for the new original comedy series Run the Burbs, from award-winning comedian, writer and actor Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience) and his best friend and collaborator, filmmaker Scott Townend (The Secret Marathon).
The previously announced series is currently in production in and around Toronto and Hamilton and is scheduled to premiere on CBC and CBC Gem in winter 2022.
Phung (above, left) stars as stay-at-home dad Andrew Pham, living in the suburbs with his entrepreneurial, executive wife Camille (played by Rakhee Morzaria, right, Note to Self, Private Eyes), and two kids…
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