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.

From a media release:

Blink49 Studios and Bell Media announced today they are partnering with world-renowned entertainer Lilly Singh and her company Unicorn Island Productions on a unique first-look global scripted and second-look unscripted deal.

Spearheaded by Singh and Polly Auritt, Head of Development at Unicorn Island Productions, Carolyn Newman, Executive Vice President, Global Scripted and Virginia Rankin, Executive Producer for Blink49 Studios, the deal will focus on creating and producing compelling television content that showcases underrepresented communities.

Projects developed under the pact will be executive produced by Singh, Auritt, Newman and Rankin with Blink49 Studios handling production and the worldwide distribution.

Named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list, Fast Company’s Most Creative People and as one of the most influential people on the internet by TIME, Lilly Singh is a multi-faceted entertainer, actress, producer, writer, creator and a New York Times bestselling author. She is a leading force in the digital world having amassed a global audience of more than 38 million followers across her social media channels. This year, Singh was a judge on CityTV’s Canada’s Got Talent, was part of the star-studded cast for the DreamWorks Animation action-comedy The Bad Guys and launched her book club Lilly’s Library that spotlights South Asian stories for everyone. Up next, she will headline the new Disney+ comedy series The Muppets Mayhem alongside several Muppet stars. Singh is also a co-owner of Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Blink49 Studios is a content venture with Endeavor Content as its anchor investor and lead strategic partner. Focusing heavily on a creative-first approach, Blink49 Studios is dedicated to partnering with best-in-class writers, creators and producers, as well as aggressively pursuing IP in Canada and throughout the world. The indie studio is committed to applying significant resources to support new and diverse Canadian voices.

ABOUT BLINK49 STUDIOS

Co-founded in 2021 by industry veterans CEO John Morayniss, Non-Executive Vice Chair Patrice Theroux, COO Jeff Lynas and CFO Nelson Kuo-Lee, Blink49 Studios is a full-service indie studio focused on the development, production, and monetization of premium scripted and unscripted content for a global market. Headquartered in Toronto with offices in Los Angeles, Blink49 Studios was formed in partnership with its anchor investor and lead strategic partner Endeavor Content. With a combined experience of innovative deal-making and strong relationships in the creative community, Blink49 Studios takes a content-first approach by partnering with best-in-class writers, creators, producers, and talent as well as supporting new and diverse voices.

Featured, Podcast, Shelved

TV, Eh? Podcast Episode 249: Bell Media’s Upfront Announcement

July 17, 2022 Greg David

This week, Greg and Amy go through debuts and returns on the Canadian TV calendar.

Then, we cover the latest Canadian TV news, including CTV announcing the cast of its new comedy, Shelved, and AMI announcing its Accessible Writers’ Lab.

We close out the podcast by looking at CTV’s upfront announcement, which includes, literally, almost 100 titles.

This episode is brought to you by tap water through a Brita filter and Minute Maid lemonade.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Industry News, Kim's Convenience

Ins Choi to lead story room for first-ever comedy cohort of CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program

July 13, 2022 Greg David

From a media release:

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to welcome award-winning playwright, actor and Kim’s Convenience co-creator, writer and executive producer Ins Choi as Executive Producer in Residence of the first-ever comedy cohort of The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program.

The comedy cohort, which will run from October 2022 to the end of March 2023, has been designed for writers specifically looking to gain experience in comedy writing and engage in a collaborative comedy series story room. The comedy cohort is an offering for Black, Indigenous and/or racialized creators in Canada, to celebrate and amplify a diversity of underrepresented voices and stories so they can ultimately be seen and heard on screens in Canada and around the world. Throughout the first half of the program, the writer residents will work as a team with Choi to develop an original new series. The selection process for the six writers who will be invited to participate in this cohort is currently underway; their names will be announced in early August.

Ins Choi is best known for his debut play, Kim’s Convenience, which was a nominee for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, won the Best New Play Award and the Patron’s Pick at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, and toured across Canada with Soulpepper. Choi adapted Kim’s Convenience into a TV series of the same name with Thunderbird Entertainment, where he served as a writer, executive producer and co-creator. The fan-favourite series ran for five seasons on CBC, was picked up by Netflix, and won multiple awards, including the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series in 2018.

Choi’s select theatre acting credits include Banana Boys, lady in the red dress (fu-GEN); Hamlet, The Odyssey (Stratford Festival); and Death of a Salesman, Alligator Pie (Soulpepper). He is currently developing many other creative projects, including his play, Bad Parent, which is being produced for fall 2022 by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and Soulpepper.

The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program is recognized industry-wide for training emerging and mid-level TV writers and has played a vital role in the development of new and diverse television series. The program has attracted some of Canada’s most prolific and successful showrunners to lead the story room as Executive Producer in Residence, including Bruce Smith, Michael MacLennan, Brad Wright, Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen. Learn more about the program here.

About the CFC
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable cultural organization that drives the future of Canadian storytelling. Our intensive, hands-on programs in film, television, and entertainment technologies empower, shape and advance opportunities for Canadian creators and entrepreneurs working in screen-based industries. Learn more at cfccreates.com.

Uncategorized

Links: SkyMed, Season 1

July 10, 2022 Greg David

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Showrunner Julie Puckrin previews CBC’s SkyMed
“There was a lot of discussion because while it is a medical show, it’s really a first responder show, more than it is like a typical hospital show.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Aaron Ashmore talks CBC’s SkyMed
“When I was doing Killjoys, I was kind of playing the fun-loving guy, but that was into my late thirties, too. So this is sort of a natural transition, I think, and the direction that my career is going to start taking now is playing more experienced characters.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: SkyMed creator Julie Puckrin preview the ambitious new drama
The job performed by young nurses and pilots flying air ambulances in northern Manitoba makes it quite the dangerous profession set in an unforgiving setting, but that drama also makes for some pretty great television as well. Continue reading.

From Mia Jensen of The Sudbury Star:

Link: Sudbury-born actor takes to the sky
When actor Aason “Ace” Nadjiwan got the call that he’d been cast in a leading role for a new CBC original series, he was in the middle of insulating a ceiling. Continue reading.

From Eden Suh at Timmins Today:

Link: Northern Ontario-born actor takes on role in ‘steamy’ new series
“One of my favourite things (about the production process) was just honestly getting to know and spending time with my cast and crew. But as far as filming, there’s so many parts I loved about it.” Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: In CBC’s ‘SkyMed,’ young pilots and nurses save lives and pursue love in Canada’s North
“You have this really young group of people at the beginning of their career, and they’re in the middle of the North and there’s no safety net. And they’re often experiencing things for the first time on the job, these very, very intense situations where it’s literally just you and the patient in the back of a plane.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: SkyMed showrunner Julie Puckrin talks building the world of Season 1
“Hearing everything that they were doing on a daily basis and seeing their pictures, it always felt to me like something that should be a television show, because there are these incredibly high built-in stakes. It’s literally just you in the back of a plane with a patient and you have to keep them alive.” Continue reading.

From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Link: Calgary-raised actor Praneet Akilla flying high as heroic pilot in TV drama SkyMed
“For this character, from the audition process to the last day on set, there was never a doubt in my mind about who this character was. I understood him backwards and forwards. I like to say that the universe dropped this role in my lap. For the first time, I got to be myself. Not only is he an engineer, but it is also the first time I’m playing an Indian on-screen.” Continue reading.

From Randall King of The Winnipeg Free Press:

Link: Medical drama puts local actor in perilous position
Befitting the star of the new made-in-Manitoba drama series SkyMed, Winnipeg-born actress Morgan Holmstrom is taking flight. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: SkyMed creator Julie Puckrin on building out her writing team
For SkyMed creator Julie Puckrin, the idea for the big, ambitious new medical drama came from a very real and personal place. Continue reading.

From Lora Lynn Fanning of The List:

Link: Natasha Calis is born for adventure in SkyMed
“I had the privilege of working with Vanessa Piazza and Julie Puckrin again from “Nurses.” Vanessa was an executive producer on Season 1. They’re two of my favourite people in the world. They’re the best boss ladies, incredible humans. It was such an honour to be on another one of their shows.” Continue reading.

Industry News

AMI announces the Accessible Writers’ Lab

July 8, 2022 Greg David

From a media release:

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), in partnership with ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto and the Miles Nadal JCC, and sponsored by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), is pleased to announce that submissions are now being accepted for the Accessible Writers’ Lab.

Designed and led by Ophira Calof, the Accessible Writers’ Lab is an innovative, national lab for writers with disabilities and established showrunners/senior writers to experiment with what an accessible TV writers’ room might look like, breaking down barriers and creating pathways for creatives in the disability community to thrive in the Canadian television industry.

Right now, writers’ rooms, both in-person and virtual, are largely inaccessible for creatives with disabilities. There are barriers in communication modalities, sensory needs, structure, process and stigma. These barriers become glaringly evident in the recent Writer’s Guild of Canada Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report which showed that only 0.3% of Guild membership identified as a person with a disability, and writers with disabilities only accounted for 1% of TV writers across Canada in 2019, despite people with disabilities making up approximately 22% of the population.

The initiative is designed to address those barriers by focusing on collective accessibility, fostering relationships and knowledge sharing and culminates in a case study report that will be distributed industry-wide.

The Accessible Writers’ Lab is open to applicants who:

Are Canadian citizens or permanent residents
Are 18 years of age or older
Identify as Disabled, d/Deaf, chronically ill, neurodiverse, Mad or sick*
Have storytelling experience (this may or may not be screenwriting)
Are interested in writing for the Canadian television industry
Are excited about collective accessibility and experimenting with unique writing methods

The Accessible Writers’ Lab will be shaped, in part, by the needs and interests of selected writers.

Location: Virtual, with the possibility of hybrid meet-ups, depending on interest, geography and availability

Timeline: September-November, with approximately 20 hours of scheduled programming, along with discretionary time spent developing a scene or script individually or with a partner

Payment: This program is free of charge, and each participant will receive a $1,350 honorarium

Deadline for submissions: August 4, 2022

More information: Check out the program webpage

Apply now: Fill out the Google document

Questions about the lab and application support: accessiblewriterslab@gmail.com

About Ophira Calof
Ophira Calof (pronouns: she/they) is a multi-award-winning disabled writer, performer and consultant who works to “crip the script,” centring disability knowledge and experience throughout process, production and presentation. Their credits include TallBoyz (CBC), Kids In The Hall (Amazon Prime), Generally Hospital (Canadian Comedy Award Nominee) and their solo show Literally Titanium (Next Stage Theatre Festival). Ophira has also created a number of disability arts projects, including Making Space: Stories of Disabled Youth Past and Present (Myseum Toronto/RAFFTO) and Dis/Play (MNJCC/RAFFTO/ArtWorxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022).

Additionally, Ophira was the accessibility process lead for AccessCBC, the curatorial committee lead for the 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto, and has taught workshops internationally on storytelling, writing, music, accessibility and disability narratives. They have created the courses Sketch Comedy with Ophira Calof and Crip Storytelling, a series in partnership with Centre of Independent Living Toronto and the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

*The program’s understanding of disability embraces The Accessible Canada Act definition, which is inclusive of visible and invisible disabilities, permanent, temporary or episodic in nature. We will honour the language writers use to self-identify, acknowledging that ablesim, audism and sanism can be experienced regardless of your relationship with the word “Disability.”

Presenting Sponsor: Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Please visit cmf-fmc.ca.

Industry Partner: Accessible Media Inc.
AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through accessible media, reflection and portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Presenting Partner: ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto
Presented by the Wagner Green Centre for Access & Inclusion at the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto, the ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto is dedicated to showcasing the work and stories of Deaf and/or disabled communities and filmmakers from around the world.

For questions about the program and application support, please contact: accessiblewriterslab@gmail.com