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.
Awards, Industry News

Toronto Screenwriting Conference announces recipients of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award

From a media release:

The Toronto Screenwriting Conference (TSC) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award. The emerging screenwriters were selected from over 30 Canada-wide applicants. Those receiving the honours this year are Marie Dame,  Ana De Lara,  Rebecca Hales,  Kim Izzo and John Ward.

About the winners:

Marie Dame: From Alberta/Ontario, Marie, is an actress, producer and writer. She is the recipient of the Writer’s Trust of Canada grant a BravoFACT writing grant. Her short film, Bar None, which she wrote and produced, premiered at the 2013 Montreal World Film Festival.

Ana De Lara: A Filipina-Canadian filmmaker and stand-up comic based in BC, Ana has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning short films which have been screened at Canadian and international festivals. She has turned her one-woman play into a feature-film script.

Rebecca Hales: Rebecca grew up in BC and recently completed the exclusive Bell Media Prime Time Television program a the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She is currently working on developing both a dramatic and comedy series.

Kim Izzo: Kim is an Ontario-based journalist, author and screenwriter. She adapted her first novel The Jane Austen Manual into a screenplay which is being produced and her original feature-film project is being developed by Corus/Movie Central’s Script to Screen initiative. She is working on three original television pilot scripts and her third novel is being published in 2017.

John Ward: A Vancouver-based TV and comic-book writer, John is developing a on-hour episodic sci-fi pilot about a team of time-travelling mis-fits.

“The calibre of talent we are exposed to through this initiative every year is truly astounding,” said Kim Robinson, Toronto Screenwriting Conference producer. “It is an extraordinary challenge for us to single out just five individuals when the artistic breadth of these emerging writers is so strong.”

Carolle Brabant, Telefilm’s Executive Director, added: “We would like to congratulate the 2016 winners of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award. The development and promotion of emerging talent is one of the best means of ensuring the continued viability of our industry. We’re also proud to partner again with the Toronto Screenwriting Conference. Screenwriters have a vital role to play in ensuring that Canadian films connect with their audiences.”

Each winner receives a pass to the TSC and a meeting with representatives from Telefilm Canada. The seventh annual Toronto Screenwriting Conference takes place on April 30 & May 1, 2016 at its new location, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

To qualify for the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award, candidates must have written at least two short films of which one has been produced, and have written one feature length screenplay, TV pilot or series treatment. They must not have previously produced a feature or TV series/pilot, nor received Telefilm Canada funding.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Paranormal Survivor returns with new terrifying tales

When it comes to believing in ghosts and the supernatural, I lean towards the side of skeptic, though I’ve had experiences I can’t explain. Orbs captured in a photo floating between my stepsons, a general sense of unease during a week-long stay at a Pelee Island cottage. I love watching paranormal investigators obtain odd things with audio and video equipment as they dash around haunted locations. And while those blips and static-choked voices are certainly interesting, the stories told by those directly affected by the paranormal can be truly scary.

That’s certainly the case of Paranormal Survivor, returning for a second season Friday night on Travel + Escape. Broadcast during the channel’s free preview, Our House Media’s project sits down with the real people who have been at the wrong end of spooky experiences and re-enacts them for viewers.

“We’ve always be interested in the documentary with dramatization genre,” says OHM president Joe Houlihan. “You have people telling true stories that are dramatized. There is an audience that’s really interested in the paranormal, from true believers to skeptics. It’s a scenario where, if you find the right stories, the first-hand accounts are utterly compelling.” That’s certainly the case of the folks producers spoke to for Paranormal Survivor. In Friday’s return episode, hobby farm owner Al recounts how the feeling of dread he felt arriving home every night evolved into being bear-hugged by an unseen force; Karen of Fenelon Falls, Ont., describes a harrowing history of sexual abuse at the hands of an unseen assailant; and Kristen tearfully recalls her dead aunt chasing her.

Far from being salacious, Paranormal Survivor simply presents the victims’ stories, corroborated by the investigators who took on their cases and observed something strange going on. Everyone believes something happened to these people, but exactly what is up for discussion. Houlihan explains victims told their tales, writers put together the scripts and actors were cast to re-create those terrible moments; the result is truly chilling footage you should watch with the lights on.

Where does Houlihan fall on the spirit scale? He’s a skeptic too, though he admits to an encounter of his own.

“I lived in a 100-year-old house in the U.K. and I saw an apparition of an old lady,” he recalls with a laugh. “It wasn’t anything scary or threatening, but it was something where you say, ‘OK, that was weird.’ In my heart of hearts, I know what I saw.”

Paranormal Survivor airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on T+E. The network is currently in a free preview.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Discovery’s Original Canadian Production MIGHTY SHIPS Shoves Off for Ninth Season, May 1

From a media release:

Discovery’s original Canadian series MIGHTY SHIPS returns for a dramatic ninth season, airing Sundays at 7 p.m. ET beginning May 1. Produced by Discovery’s in-house production unit, Exploration Production Inc. (EPI), and seen in more than 150 countries around the world, the long-running Canadian series sets sail on a new high-stakes voyage, taking viewers on the journey and below the surface to explore places and technologies that are usually off-limits to land lovers.

From the largest hospital ship on the planet to a longline fishing vessel to an expedition cruise ship, the six-episode season gives unprecedented see-all, hear-all access to everything above and below deck, following the captains, engineers, and able seamen into the heart of the most sophisticated ships ever built.

Discovery also announced today that MIGHTY SHIPS’ sister series, MIGHTY CRUISE SHIPS, has embarked on the production of its second season, taking viewers to exotic ports in the Mediterranean, old world cities like Rome, Athens, Istanbul, and Barcelona; cruising the rugged coastlines of Norway and Scotland; and visiting the Caribbean. Featuring the largest cruise ships at sea, MIGHTY CRUISE SHIPS will debut in Spring 2017.

Episode highlights from MIGHTY SHIPS – Season 9 include:

“North Sea Giant”
Sunday, May 1 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
With a specialized crane system and five propellers to counter heavy seas, North Sea Giant can perform powerful and precise lifts in seas as high as 4.5 metres – four times the capability of other such vessels. On this voyage, she’s out to lift and install the final massive module of the world’s first subsea gas compression station nearly 300 metres underwater. But when strong winds and currents threaten the delicate operation, her team of underwater robots must come to the rescue before the module crashes the entire project!

“Tonsberg”
Sunday, May 8 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Tonsberg carries anything that can be rolled up her ramp: not just automobiles and bulldozers, but also heavy, awkward-sized cargo such as cranes, subway trains, or yachts. In some of the busiest ro-ro ports in Europe, Tonsberg’s crew rushes to overcome the obstacles that could delay her. Sailing across the Atlantic, two storms threaten to cross her path as the crew keeps a sharp eye on the lashings that hold the cargo in place.

“USNS Comfort”
Sunday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Almost three football fields long, the USNS Comfort is second in size only to U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. She is the largest hospital ship on the planet, with up to 1,200 crew, 12 operating rooms, 1,000 beds, and an impressive array of medical equipment. MIGHTY SHIPS joins the USNS Comfort midway through “Operation Continuing Promise” – a six-month mission to provide humanitarian aid to 11 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. Sailing to the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica, Comfort’s crew sets out to aid 10,000 patients in just nine days.

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Wynonna Earp

Link: Wynonna Earp Preview: Wynonna goes to work

From Megan Haas of The TV Junkies:

Wynonna Earp Preview: Wynonna goes to work
Wynonna Earp‘s fantastic pilot set up the rest of the story, as it should. However, this week takes us a little further with these characters. In “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” written once again by showrunner Emily Andras and directed by Ron Murphy, Wynonna faces off against a shadow demon, and she learns the truth about her sister’s captors. Continue reading.

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