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: CBC’s The National and its evolution – still strangely unengaged

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: CBC’s The National and its evolution – still strangely unengaged
It is no longer the baffling, near-hallucinatory experience it was during its first week with multiple hosts and a new format. Still, it is sometimes hard to fathom its exact mandate and purpose as a nightly news program. The new format was off-putting to some of CBC TV’s loyal viewers and it’s possible they have never returned. If they do, they will find an improved program but one that can be excruciatingly unengaging. Continue reading.

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CHCH and Motion Content Group launch drama development partnership

From a media release:

CHCH and Motion Content Group today announce a partnership to invest in the creation of original high-quality Canadian programming with international appeal.

The drama development partnership will see CHCH and Motion Content Group jointly select projects to be developed, produced and distributed worldwide. Together, the companies will work directly with writers as well as third-party producers to secure premium returnable series.

The creative sensibilities and domestic relationships of CHCH, together with Motion Content Group’s global relationships and interest in supporting quality content creation will allow the companies to build international co-productions speeding up the process to get original series from development to air.

The initiative is being led by Jennifer Chen, Vice President of Programming for CHCH, and Tony Moulsdale, Global Director of Programming for Motion Content Group.

“Motion is committed to developing new funding models which bring premium content to the international market and which support our broadcast partner’s programming ambitions,” said Tony Moulsdale. “This deal builds on the success of our previous deals with CHCH on THE PINKERTONS and WYNONNA EARP.”

“This collaboration will unlock great opportunities for Canadian content-creators, and we’re looking to work with new talent as well as world-leading established writers,” added Jennifer Chen.

 

 

 

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Jill Hennessy stars in CBC’s offbeat critter-filled comedy Crawford

While you may not know exactly what you’re going to get from a television series involving Mike Clattenburg, you have a pretty good idea. He is, after all, the creator of Trailer Park Boys, that ribald comedy starring three East Coast dudes smoking weed, sipping adult beverages and going on profanity-laced adventures. At its heart, Trailer Park Boys was about family. Family is also at the heart of Clattenburg’s latest project, Crawford. Well, family and raccoons. Many, many raccoons.

Debuting Friday on CBC.ca and the CBC TV app before moving to the main network on June 14 at 9 p.m., Crawford‘s 12 episodes centre on a dysfunctional family headed by Cynthia (Jill Hennessy), an award-winning cereal executive trying to juggle work, her husband Owen, and her lover; and Owen (John Carroll Lynch), a former police chief who suffered a bullet wound on the job and communicates via an app on his smartphone. Adding to the nuttiness are siblings Don (Kyle Mac), a musician who returns home following an emotional breakdown; Wendy (Alice Moran) and Brian (Daniel Davis Yang).

In the first episode, “I’m not crazy, I love you,” Owen awakes to a ransacked kitchen. Food is all over the place and he has no idea who, or what has done it. Suddenly, Don arrives and begins hauling clothes and musical equipment into his old bedroom, putting a strain on a father-son relationship already smarting from something in the pair’s past. Owen is convinced burglars broke into the house while he was asleep; turns out a family of raccoons enjoyed a buffet lunch while he snoozed. And, strangely, Don feels a weird connection with the little beasts.

“I had worked with raccoons once before on Trailer Park Boys, and had a wonderful experience with them,” says series creator, head writer, director and executive producer Clattenburg. “And then I saw a documentary called Raccoon Nation and I became infatuated with them and what kind of person might try to relocate them.”

Clattenburg and co-creator, writer and composer Mike O’Neill were thinking about their own fathers—who had recently passed away—and came up with the dad character. The rest of the family dynamic followed soon after and the duo was determined to create something not seen on television before. Far from being outlandish, the pair sought to make Crawford as realistic as possible via scripts written by them, Zoe Whittall, Kathleen Phillips-Locke, Monica Heisey and Timm Hannebohm and hired dramatic actors to take on comic roles. And, in a departure from how television is usually made—table read followed by filming—the cast rehearsed extensively in advance.

“It was a luxurious, delicious gift,” Hennessy says. “You never get a chance to rehearse in TV or even in films. The rehearsal process was so invaluable because we got to know each other and become a family. We heard the dialogue come to life and the spectrum of the characters really came to life. It was one of the closest experiences I’ve had in TV to theatre.” Lines were workshopped, improvised and worked on to determine what was best for the scene and the plotline.

“It’s really spoiled me,” Mac admits. “On other shows, like 21 Thunder, for example, I had gotten into trouble all of the time for changing lines to suit how I wanted [my character] Tim to speak. You feel nervous to even experiment. And then, on Crawford, I was allowed to do that. Liberating is really the only way to describe it as an actor.”

Crawford‘s first season is available for streaming this Friday via CBC.ca and the CBC TV app. Crawford airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on CBC beginning June 14.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Buck Productions proud to support Little Bear Big Wolf Picture’s doc series Merchants of the Wild

From a media release:

Little Bear Big Wolf Pictures producer Daniel Fortin has announced the completion of principal photography of the unscripted series, Merchants of the Wild. Cameras rolled for the unique docu-series in the Constance Lake region of Northwestern Ontario.

Merchants of the Wild is a documentary series reconnecting six First Nations, Métis and Inuit adventurers with traditional skills and knowledge of the land. Mixing survival, culture, use of environment and adventure, Merchants of the Wild takes us back in time as the adventurers are pitted against the perils of the land, learning what it took to survive as they travel 16th-century fur trade routes used by Oji-Cree ancestors.

“I’m thrilled at the completion of the production. Everyone on the team feels a great honour and responsibility in sharing the beauty of the land and the cultural teachings taught by Oji-Cree Elders and Knowledge Keepers,” said director and producer Daniel Fortin. “This has truly been a unique and exciting journey that has deeply impacted all of those involved. On the production end, I couldn’t be happier to have a mentor in place like Sean Buckley. The experience Buck Productions brings has been irreplaceable.”

“Merchants of the Wild is about bravery, determination and understanding the beauty and importance of our environment,” said Sean Buckley, CEO, Buck Productions. “At Buck, we aim for involvement with engaging content that has a purpose, which is exactly what Daniel has brought with Merchants of the Wild. This was a special shoot for the team in Northern Canada, and we’re thrilled to help guide them forward and share it with the world.”

This announcement marks the inaugural series for Little Bear Big Wolf Pictures. For Buck Productions, this is the latest involvement in bringing to life over 30 originally created unscripted shows, including the five it created in-house in 2017.

Sean Buckley of Buck Productions is an executive producer and mentor for the docu-series. Merchants of the Wild was developed and produced by Little Bear Big Wolf Pictures for APTN, in partnership with the Canada Media Fund and Rogers Cable Network Fund. UK and Australian-based Beyond Distribution will handle international distribution.

Synopsis
Merchants of the Wild is a vivid reconnection to the land as six Indigenous women and men relive what survival was like on a fur trade expedition across the length and breadth of Northern Cree and Ojibway territories. Travelling in birch bark canoes, the brave group are taught by Elders and Knowledge Keepers, learning to make tools and use skills passed on orally through generations. These teachings are essential to their survival, as they take to the land with no modern technology on a 25-day voyage that will leave them forever changed. The series lets audiences experience what it took to endure perilous journeys, and gain not only cultural knowledge and appreciation, but discover ways in which they can better live harmoniously within their environment. The diverse group must use their collective knowledge and courage, alongside teachings from Oji-Cree Elders, to find food, make shelter, endure freezing nights, and overcome the entire emotional journey reconnecting them with the land.

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Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: Sorcha Vasey

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: Sorcha Vasey
“I am a little bit lucky in that I’ve been fortunate enough to choose jobs based on content. I did work with Stephanie Morgenstern on Flashpoint, but she and Mark [Ellis] are a real partnership and that’s a great thing about working with them. It’s so genderfluid on their sets, and you’re not forced to think about the gender because they are both represented. I love Michelle [Lovretta] and Karen [Troubetzkoy] on Killjoys and working with them.” Continue reading.

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