All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.

Link: ‘Orphan Black’s Temple Street to adapt Kelley Armstrong’s ‘Rockton’ crime novels

From Nancy Tartaglione of Deadline:

Link: ‘Orphan Black’s Temple Street to adapt Kelley Armstrong’s ‘Rockton’ crime novels
Orphan Black and Queer As Folk‘s Temple Street Productions has acquired TV rights to prolific Canadian author Kelley Armstrong’s trio of Rockton mystery novels. They will be adapted by showrunner Julie Puckrin (Killjoys, X Company, Motive) and exec produced by David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg of Temple Street parent Boat Rocker Media. Toronto-based Temple Street’s SVP Kerry Appleyard and Puckrin also exec produce. Continue reading.

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Hulu acquires U.S. rights to CraveTV Original and New Metric Media hit comedy Letterkenny

From a media release:

CraveTV and New Metric Media confirmed today that U.S. streaming platform Hulu has acquired the exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the first two seasons of the award-winning Canadian comedy series, LETTERKENNY, in a deal executed by series distributor DHX Media. Created by and starring Jared Keeso, the half-hour, small-town comedy is produced by New Metric Media in partnership with DHX Media and Playfun Games. Seasons 1 and 2 of the small-town comedy series will make their debut in the U.S. on Friday, July 13, only on Hulu.

As announced in October, CraveTV entered into a 40-plus episode production commitment and comprehensive multi-year deal with LETTERKENNY producers New Metric Media, the recipient of the 2018 Innovative Producer Award for entrepreneurial achievement at the upcoming Banff World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards.

As announced last week, all-new LETTERKENNY returns to Canadian screens Canada Day weekend, with a fresh six-pack launching Friday, June 29 exclusively on CraveTV. Jay Baruchel guest stars as Hard Right Jay, a Tiki Torch-carrying out-of-towner, who stirs things up in Letterkenny.

Based on the internet sensation Letterkenny Problems, the half-hour comedy is a top performer and marquee program for CraveTV since its memorable launch on Super Bowl Sunday in 2016.  LETTERKENNY took home two 2018 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Writing in a Comedy Program or Series, and Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series. The series has also spawned brand extensions including sought after LETTERKENNY merchandise and the highly successful Puppers Premium Lager, in partnership with Stack Brewery in Sudbury, available now at LCBO stores in Ontario. LETTERKENNY LIVE!, a packed 26-city tour featuring a 90-minute comedy experience starring Keeso, and LETTERKENNY cast Nathan Dales, K. Trevor Wilson, and Mark Forward kicked off in Halifax on February 28 and wrapped in Surrey on April 6.

LETTERKENNY revolves around the dustups Wayne (Jared Keeso) and his buds get into with their small-town rivals. The Hicks, The Skids, and The Hockey Players get at each other about the most mundane things, often ending with someone getting their ass kicked. Key residents of LETTERKENNY are Daryl (Nathan Dales), Wayne’s free-spirited younger sister Katy (Michelle Mylett), and Wayne’s buddy, Dan (K Trevor Wilson) – all Hicks. CSA-nominated Daniel Petronijevic stars as Hick McMurray while Dylan Playfair and Andrew Herr are hotshot Hockey Players “Jonesy” and “Reilly”.Tyler Johnston and Evan Stern are Skids Stewart and Roald, Mark Forward is the temperamental Coach of the Letterkenny Irish, and Tiio Horn is the badass leader of The Natives, Tanis.

The first four six-packs of LETTERKENNY, along with special episodes “Ferda Edition”, “The Haunting of MoDean’s II”, “St. Perfect’s Day,” “Super Hard Easter,” and the original web series Letterkenny Problems are currently streaming on CraveTV.LETTERKENNY is also available on iTunes and Google Play. Seasons 1 and 2 ofLETTERKENNY are currently available on DVD wherever DVDs are sold.

LETTERKENNY is produced by New Metric Media, in partnership with DHX Media and Playfun Games in association with Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, OMDC Tax Credits and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and distributed by DHX Media. Jared Keeso is executive producer, co-writer, star, and creator, Jacob Tierney is executive producer, director, and co-writer and Mark Montefiore is executive producer for New Metric Media.

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Courtney Campbell named new president of JV Productions; Kirk Hipkiss new executive VP

From a media release:

Toronto-based JV Productions Inc. announces the appointment of Courtney Campbell as the unscripted company’s President. Campbell takes over the role from founder Vyvyan Campbell, who recently retired after starting the company almost 21 years ago. Kirk Hipkiss has also been appointed to the role of Executive Vice President. Both roles are effective immediately.

As JV Productions’ new President, Campbell will spearhead the further development and growth of the company’s creative and strategic direction — including content development and production for a variety of markets and buyers in Canada, the US and abroad.

“There are so many exciting opportunities out there — whether we’re talking OTT or linear, non-scripted or scripted, regional or global,” says Courtney Campbell, President, JV Productions. “I want to see JV make the most of all of it.”

Under Campbell’s direction, the company is already in development on a new real estate format with HGTV US. They are also developing talent for a new adventure series with a major US broadcaster, negotiating their first book option deal with a UK publisher, and pitching and developing multiple projects in both the unscripted and scripted space.

Campbell has worked for JV Productions Inc. since its start in 1997. She has developed, executive produced, directed, and done script work on a wide variety of projects since the company’s inception — including their most popular lifestyle series: Selling New York (HGTV), Curse of the Frozen Gold (Animal Planet & History Canada), and Yours, Mine or Ours (Bravo US). Campbell is a journalism school graduate of Ryerson Polytechnic University. For Courtney Campbell’s full bio, please click here.

As Kirk Hipkiss moves into the position of Executive Vice President, he will continue to execute the creative style and vision for JV’s new development and future series, as well as spearhead new scripted opportunities for the company.  Since 2000, Hipkiss has acted as Executive Producer, Director and Editor for JV Productions Inc. Kirk’s full bio can be found here.

About JV Productions
JV Productions Inc. is an innovative production company based in Toronto, Canada. The company has been making high quality, entertaining and original documentary, reality and lifestyle programming since 1997. JV has produced hundreds of hours of television for networks around the globe. Highlights include Selling New York (HGTV), Curse of the Frozen Gold (Animal Planet & History Canada), and Yours, Mine or Ours (Bravo).

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Citytv to broadcast original Bletchley Circle: San Francisco

From a media release:

Imagine a prime-time schedule packed with more programming that stirs excitement and captures the hearts of Canadian TV lovers. Today Rogers Media unveils Citytv’s 2018/19 schedule, anchored by last season’s proven hits and strengthened by highly-anticipated buzzy new shows. Rick Brace, President of Rogers Media, Colette Watson, Senior Vice President of Television & Broadcast Operations, together with the executive team, will present Citytv’s new Fall and midseason schedules to advertisers and media this afternoon at Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall.

The new Citytv schedule boasts 11 new shows, the return of 16 fan favourites, 3 live events and specials, and underscores a renewed investment in the 10 p.m. timeslot with two nights of compelling new dramas. While Hockey Night in Canada reigns supreme on Saturday nights, viewers will discover exciting new shows every other night of the week during the 2018/19 season.

Stories with Heart:

Whether bonded by blood or by choice, the power of family and friendship runs deep through Citytv’s 2018/19 lineup, with dramas and live-event programming that explore these complicated, messy, and tender relationships with the people who – for better or worse – matter the most. Rocked by the sudden loss of one of their own, Boston friends support each other through love, loss, and life in A Million Little Things – the fall season’s most anticipated breakout hit drama. New drama Manifest explores the unsettling lives of the long-missing passengers and crew of Montego Air Flight 828 as they try to understand what happened to them – and what they’re meant to do with second chances. Parenthood is tough – and family life in the Marvel Universe is no exception when mom and dad discover their kids have mutant super powers in the new-to-Citytv family adventure The Gifted. And renegades with retro style are coming to Citytv this Fall, as the code-cracking crime-solving Bletchley women take their formidable skills stateside to tackle new mysteries in the Citytv original The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco.

THE BLETCHLEY CIRCLE: SAN FRANCISCO
60-minute scripted Citytv original drama series
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Meet the original women who code. The first Bletchley Circle series followed a group of four female codebreakers at the elite Second World War code-breaking centre Bletchley Park, who used their skills to investigate a series of complex crimes. This new season picks up three years later in 1956, as Jean and Millie depart London for San Francisco to investigate the murder of a close friend. They are joined there by North American code-breakers Iris and Hailey who, like their British counterparts, find themselves undervalued and overlooked despite their indispensable war efforts. With renewed purpose, the code-breaking-turned-crime-solving team teases out an array of mysteries in the Bay Area.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Produced by Omnifilm Entertainment in Association with BritBox and World Productions
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Brian Hamilton, Jake Lushington, and Michael MacLennan
CAST: Crystal Balint (Prison Break), Julie Graham (Doc Martin), Chanelle Peloso (Level Up), and Rachael Stirling (Detectorists)

Citytv’s Fall Schedule
All times ET/PT; s=simulcast

Monday

  • 8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (s)
  • 10 p.m. Manifest *NEW* (s)

Tuesday

  • 8 p.m. The Gifted *NEW to Citytv* (s)
  • 9 p.m. Lethal Weapon (s)
  • 10 p.m. Mom
  • 10:30 p.m. Mom

Wednesday

  • 8 p.m. Black-ish (post-release)
  • 8:30 p.m. Cool Kids *NEW* (pre-release)
  • 9 p.m. Modern Family (s)
  • 9:30 p.m. Single Parents *NEW* (s)
  • 10 p.m. A Million Little Things *NEW* (s)

Thursday

  • 8 p.m. Bad Blood *Citytv original*
  • 9 p.m. Mom (s)
  • 9:30 p.m. Murphy Brown *NEW* (s)
  • 10 p.m. Mom
  • 10:30 p.m. Mom

 Friday

  • 8 p.m. The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco *NEW Citytv original*
  • 9 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen (s)
  • 10 p.m. Mom
  • 10:30 p.m. Mom

Saturday

  • Hockey Night in Canada

Sunday

  • 8 p.m. The Simpsons *NEW to Citytv* (s)
  • 8:30 p.m. Bob’s Burgers (s)
  • 9 p.m. Family Guy (s)
  • 9:30 p.m. Rel *NEW* (s)
  • 10 p.m. Mom
  • 10:30 p.m. Mom

 

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Link: Diverse storytelling wins big at final night of 2018 Leos

From Sabrina Furminger of YVR Screen Scene:

Link: Diverse storytelling wins big at final night of 2018 Leos
A feature film about life in Afghanistan, a music-driven documentary about the fight for Indigenous rights in Canada, and a short about four Arab teens on a quest to find a public pool in their new city took home the top prizes at the 2018 Leo Awards.

The Leo Awards recognize excellence in the homegrown film and television industry, and Black Kite – a gripping feature-length drama about a father in Afghanistan who defies the Taliban’s ban on kites in order to bring some joy into his daughter’s childhood – won Best Screenwriting and Best Direction for Tarique Qayumi, and Best Motion Picture for producer Tajana Prka. Continue reading.

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