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.
Featured, Web series

A group of friends trade their way through life in Fare Trade

I first met Shawn Ahmed and Scott Leaver of Crazy Shirt Productions through their Bell Fibe project Touring T.O. The pair managed to create an engaging series on a shoestring budget and a little luck.

Now the pair is back with a new series that pushes the envelope of where a series can be broadcast via key partnerships.

Fare Trade—a new comedy series written and directed by Ahmed and Leaver and co-created and executive-produced by Jonathan Hirsh of Floating Island Entertainment—focuses on a group of friends who trade their way through life. With that as the backdrop, Fare Trade not only shows its episodes on Bell Fibe TV but on Bunz, the online trading platform.

The first episode is a riot of confusion. Landlord Jordi (Anand Rajaram) bursts into an apartment to find his tenants, Janet (Ana Golja), Cleo (Erin Carter) and Vic (Darrell Faria), have been robbed. Unable to pay the rent, the quartet agrees to a deal: if his tenants can get his car fixed, Jordi will waive rent for the month. The next several scenes focus on getting the car running smoothly but the road to success is a bumpy one and includes a Grease ripoff, rabies and a mechanic with his own money troubles: scoring a performer for his son’s birthday party. Surprise! The roomies have a plan for that, and it involves trading. Bigger surprise? The mechanic’s son is an adult and expects a certain kind of entertainment at his birthday party.

With 800,000 possible viewers for via the Bunz website alone, Fare Trade is the next step in television creation via partnerships with companies looking to invest in production. Will Bunz, like Amazon, score the next Red Oaks in Fare Trade? We’ll see.

Fare Trade is available now on Bell Fibe TV, Channel 1 and Bunz.

Image courtesy of Fare Trade.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Travelers

Link: Travelers: Enrico Colantoni on Vincent’s history and why the series is “brilliant”

From Kelly Townsend of The TV Junkies:

Link: Travelers: Enrico Colantoni on Vincent’s history and why the series is “brilliant”
“When I realized it was Vincent, it blew the whole world off key. Now we know who the first Traveler was, now we know when it all started, we have a bigger perspective of this world. Such a smart addition. He’s so creepy, so well-thought out, yet so justified in everything he does. If anybody put themselves in his shoes, they would have behaved in the same way.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Great Canadian Baking Show

Dan Levy and Julia Chan bake up fun on CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show

Never underestimate the power of social media. That’s what Schitt’s Creek co-creator, executive producer, writer and star Daniel Levy learned when he tweeted his love for The Great British Bake Off and announced he’d be honoured to host a Canadian version of the culinary competition if that was ever in the cards.

“I had tweeted, quite naively, that if it ever came to Canada that I’ve love to throw my hat in the ring,” Levy says with a smile. “Almost immediately I started getting these responses, ‘It is for sure coming to Canada.’ ‘It’s happening.’ And then I inevitably got the call asking me if I would actually be interested. I said yes.”

Levy fulfils his dream on Wednesday when The Great Canadian Baking Show debuts at 8 p.m. on CBC. As if helming the homegrown version of your favourite program wasn’t enough, Levy does it with one of his best friends in Julia Chan; the former Saving Hope actress (who went by Julia Taylor Ross) joins him as narrator and co-host.

“We are great friends and were watching The Great British Bake Off together and Dan got involved,” Chan recalls. “Dan threw my hat in the ring, I got a call, went through the process and, apparently, we have good chemistry.”

“Watching this show and kind of colour commentating through the whole process, I was like, ‘I have a friend, she’s never hosted before but I think she would be a great, fresh voice for the show,'” Levy explains.

The Great Canadian Baking Show is fresh on a couple of levels. First, unlike other culinary competitions such as Top Chef Canada and MasterChef Canada, this is all about the baking. That, for watchers of those other shows, is often the hardest challenge put towards competitors thanks to the unforgiving science behind baking. You can fly by the seat of your pants when searing a steak. Not so when baking a multi-tiered cake. Second, The Great Canadian Baking Show is light-hearted and fun. If Wednesday’s debut is accurate, we’re in for one heck of an enjoyable ride. Levy and Chan are natural hosts, walking amongst the 10 home bakers, tasting here, asking questions there and genuinely having a good time.

Of course, the program isn’t all crumpets, tea and giggles. Each of the eight episodes contains three rounds—the Signature Bake, Technical Bake and Show Stopper—judged by baking legends Rochelle Adonis and Bruno Feldeisen. At the end of each episode, one home cook will be eliminated. This season’s 10 competitors represent a thick slice of Canada, from Regina CFO Vandana Jain to Victoria animator Jude Somers, from Toronto human rights lawyer Corey Shefman to Montreal graphic designer Sabrina Degni. All have a passion for baking and a flair for drama on a platter. Wednesday’s challenges force the 10 competitors to up the ante with regard to cakes and the results are stunning.

And while Levy is a longtime fan of The Great British Bake Off, he’s not so great in the kitchen, admitting to just one item in his culinary repertoire: frittata.

“I don’t have any culinary experience, but I do have a lot of opinions,” he says with a laugh. “That’s something that I can bring to this. I can’t bake a thing, but I can eat.”

The Great Canadian Baking Show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Awards, Industry News

2017 Directors Guild of Canada awards winners announced

1 Comment

From a media release:

The DGC is delighted to announce the winners of the 2017 DGC Awards. There were over 300 submissions this year in both film and television from across the country. 

The Awards were presented at the annual event on Saturday, October 28, 2017 at the historic Carlu in Toronto. Hosted by Mary Walsh, the evening was punctuated by special presentations to director Don Shebib and Quebec DGC Member Anne Sirois. The presenters for the evening were all female directors working in the industry today and represent the diverse voices at work in Canada. 

The 2017 DGC Discovery Award was presented to emerging filmmaker Wayne Mapeemukwa for his film Luk’Luk’ I. His film was selected by a jury of filmmakers:   Stephen Dunn, Chloé Leriche, Kevan Funk, Johnny Ma and Ashley McKenzie.  

DGC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Don Shebib

DON HALDANE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Anne Sirois

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM
Presented by Technicolor
Bruce McDonald – Weirdos

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Presented by deluxe
Holly Dale – Mary Kills People

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES
Presented by Panavision
Helen Shaver – Vikings

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES
Presented by SIM Group
Aleysa Young – Baroness Von Sketch Show 

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FAMILY SERIES
Presented by William F. White
Dean Bennett – Heartland

ALLAN KING AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DOCUMENTARY
Presented by Rogers Group of Funds
All Governments Lie:  Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I.F. Stone – Fred Peabody 

BEST PICTURE EDITING – DOCUMENTARY
Jim Munro – All Governments Lie:  Truth, Deception and The Spirit of I.F. Stone 

BEST SHORT FILM (tie)
Gatekeeper
Tuesday 10:08 A.M.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE FILM
Presented by Pinewood Toronto Studios
Awakening the Zodiac – Lisa Soper

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Presented by Vanguarde Artists Management
Rob Gray – Cardinal

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TELEVISION SERIES
John Dondertman – Orphan Black, Human Raw Material

BEST PICTURE EDITING – FEATURE FILM
Ron Sanders/Sandy Pereira – Mean Dreams

BEST PICTURE EDITING – MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Teresa De Luca – Cardinal

BEST PICTURE EDITING – TELEVISION SERIES
Donald Cassidy – Vikings – In the Uncertain Hour Before the Morning

BEST SOUND EDITING – FEATURE FILM
Ratchet & Clank – Nelson Ferreira, J.R. Fountain, Dashen Naidoo, John D. Smith

BEST SOUND EDITING – MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Cardinal – Claire Dobson, Nelson Ferreira, Paul Germann, David McCallum, Jane Tattersall

BEST SOUND EDITING – TELEVISION SERIES
Vikings, The Last Ship – Claire Dobson, Andrew Jablonski, David McCallum, Steve Medeiros, Brennan Mercer, Dale Sheldrake, Jane Tattersall

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Slasher

Link: Paula Brancati Talks Slasher: Guilty Party

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Paula Brancati Talks Slasher: Guilty Party
“I really like that bit of writing. I like a lot of the writing. Each of these characters have the opportunity to show another side. It’s a different outlook on a story that we’ve seen before. At the beginning, [Dawn is] leading the charge into the campground. She’s got a plan. And she’s aggressive.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail