Look Mom! Productions, Blue Ant Media’s Toronto-based, animation studio has launched production on Gary & His Demons (16×11’), an animated comedy that centres around 45-year-old Gary. He’s tired. His hairline is receding, he wears horn-rimmed glasses and he’s just chased his final demon before his long-overdue retirement. But Gary soon discovers that his boss has again failed to find his replacement and Gary will be forced to keep fighting demons for eternity. But nothing can change Gary’s fate. He’s the chosen one, whether he likes it or not.
Based on a short form pilot from the Bite on Mondo Incubator, Gary & His Demons is produced in partnership with LA-based, MONDO. The series is set to premiere on MONDO’s’s channel on VRV in Spring 2018. As part of this announcement, Blue Ant International will add Gary & His Demons to its premium scripted offering to buyers worldwide in late 2018.
The series is created by Mark Little, known for his work on Picnicface, Space Riders and Mr. D., and has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Little also serves as Head Writer, Co-Director and the voice of Gary. Gary & His Demons is Executive Produced by Josh Bowen (Executive Producer and Creative Director, Look Mom! Productions) and Wendy Willis and Pia Chikiamco (MONDO’s Six Point Harness studio). The series is Co-directed by Lou Solis, known for his work on Ugly Americans, Moonbeam City and the Secret Path.
Look Mom! Productions announced its launch in late 2017, along with two new animated, action-comedy series for the kids 6-11 category Toy Hunters (26×11’) and Cloudface (26×11’).
That’s the idea behind “The Launch,” a new star search series premiering Wednesday on CTV. It’s also the feature that will distinguish it from other TV talent search shows, according to the producers. Continue reading.
Link: Kristin Kreuk hopes Smallville, Beauty & the Beast fans follow her to non-supernatural show
“I love this character Joanna, who is incredibly focused on herself and hasn’t developed personal skills for a bunch of family reasons, which come out over the course of the series. I think it’s a wonderful thing to explore. She has to face the way she’s been single-minded in her focus . . . because the law can be, I think it can be difficult especially when you’re defending massive corporations who do sometimes questionable things.” Continue reading.
The flag has been raised to honour the town of Millwood, the fictional locale in the new CBC series Burden of Truth, a legal drama filmed in Selkirk sporadically over the summer and fall of 2017. Continue reading.
From Victoria Nelli of The TV Junkies:
Link: Burden of Truth: Kristin Kreuk talks her strong and passionate character
“The show will run two main stories parallel: the case, which is what is going on with these girls, and what happened with Joanna’s past and what made her family leave so quickly when she was 14 years old. That mystery will unfold throughout the season and it will really affect Joanna on a deep personal level. It will force her to question everything she’s based her personality and her life on.” Continue reading.Â
From Melissa Girimonte of The Televixen:
Link: Kristin Kreuk, Peter Mooney and Star Slade preview Burden of Truth
“Joanna’s a shut down person, but she feels very deeply. She’s very affected by everything she experiences. Whatever her past is revealed to be, there have been effects on her personally based on that. And she feels oddly connected to these people [in Millwood], especially the girls who are being affected by whatever is affecting them.” Continue reading.
The 35-year-old Vancouver-native has spent half her life in the spotlight. She was still a teenager when “Smallville” launched in 2001, making her an instant Comic-Con crush as Clark Kent’s girlfriend Lana Lang. After a dozen years as a CW ingenue, she finally felt like the grown-up on the set while making CBC’s “Burden of Truth,” which premieres Wednesday. Continue reading.
From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:
Link: Small town TV returns with Burden of Truth
“It’s not as quirky as Northern Exposure,†says Kreuk. I loved Northern Exposure, although I feel like there might be a place for that kind of show again. This is more of a small town that is grounded with people who are struggling.†Continue reading.
From Jordan Mounteer of Vancouver Weekly:
Link: Burden Of Truth is a fresh take on Canadian legal dramas
For my part, it’s extremely gratifying to see Kreuk step out of the pigeonhole of sci-fi/supernatural shows which have tended to dominate her career (Smallville, Beauty and the Beast, and for you diehard cultists Space Milkshake), and to flourish in a more ‘serious’ role. Her portrayal of Joanna teeter-totters back and forth, balancing between Machiavellian ambition and reluctant compassion, but rather than feeling hackneyed, the effect feels reactive and humanizing. Continue reading.
I’m a big fan of Alex Paxton-Beesley. Not only did she portray kick-butt Mennonite housewife Anna Funk in CBC’s awesome Pure but she’s the spunky Freddie Pink on Murdoch Mysteries.
Now Paxton-Beesley is featured in Cardinal: Blackfly Season in another memorable role as Red. At least, that’s what she’s called on account of her red hair. In truth, we don’t know her real name yet because Red was discovered in an Algonquin Bay bar suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Det. John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and Det. Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) spent last week’s first episode of Blackfly Season investigating who Red is, who shot her and what ties she has to a headless body found hanging in a cave.
We spoke to Paxton-Beesley about the role and Red’s journey as we head into Thursday’s new episode.
It’s been fascinating to see how Giles Blunt’s books have been translated to the screen.
Alex Paxton-Beelsey: Yes. I’ve read the first three books and the adaptations have been so interesting. They’ve done such a good job of visualizing what those stories are.
How did you get the role of Red? Did you audition in the traditional way or did the producers have you in mind?
It was mostly traditional in that I only auditioned for it once because I think their original interpretation for the character was different. I had worked with [director] Jeff [Renfroe] and almost worked with the producers before on another project that didn’t end up going forward. We all knew each other in the way that everyone does in the Canadian television industry. I went in and auditioned and it was really fun. I didn’t get a full script and the audition came so quickly that I didn’t get to read the whole book so I had to fill in a lot of those gaps myself. Sometimes that’s frustrating but because this was so well-written it was fun to put my imagination in there.
It was pretty fascinating, and creepy, to see your portrayal of Red when she’s discovered. She’s been lobotomized by the bullet and has this childlike innocence about her. Then, during the surgery to remove the bullet, she starts to sing. That was a little disturbing.
The Internet can be a terrible place, but also a font of information. There are some pretty incredible videos on YouTube of awake brain surgery that are just stunning. The is one in particular of this opera singer—you stay awake during some of these surgeries because they need to know if they are affecting something—and he starts singing … and then forgets all of the words. [We think we found the video she’s talking about.] It’s devastating and fascinating. Those scenes, in particular, were really interesting because those were my benchmarks. I got to assign meaning to all of these things that were randomly coming out of her brain. I talked to [showrunner] Sarah [Dodd] and Jeff about it and had conversations about what that could be.
It reminded me of that Heritage Minute…
Yes! ‘Dr. Penfield, I smell burnt toast!’
Yes! I wondered if perhaps you ad-libbed that line during a take or two.
That was definitely a reference. I’m pretty sure I said that between takes but that nobody got it. It’s like, ‘Come on guys, it’s Canadian history!’
There is a reference in this week’s episode that I want to ask about. A nurse walks into Red’s room and Red is looking out the window, recalling something. Can you comment on that scene?
I think that’s something that I would rather leave ambiguous. It’s something left open to interpretation and will be a part of how you read Red as a character.
What was it like working with Billy Campbell?
I love him so much. He and Karine are the most delightful people to work with. Billy is just fantastic. This was a real dream. The first season of Cardinal is one of my favourite TV shows of all time and one of the best things Canada has ever made and I never dreamed I’d get to be a part of it. So, to not only be a part of Season 2 but to show up and have Billy be the most ridiculous, hilarious person and Karine also be the most ridiculous person … they are both so funny and so strange.
This world of Algonquin Bay is a twisted one. We have biker gangs and strange voodoo and an interesting fellow named Ray Northwind, played by Bruce Ramsay.
Bruce plays him so gentle it makes him even more horrifying. The lightest touch of power has the deepest weight.
What can fans expect from this season of Cardinal?
I think Red kind of mirrors the fan experience this season. What she knows and doesn’t know and that feeling of being lost and really trying to be found. I hope people like it. I’m really proud of what we made. It’s beautiful and I’m so glad it’s a Canadian show.
With a shriek and a giggle, the toddler sends his tablet crashing through a shower stall, where the naked, harried mother is rinsing her armpits and crotch. The mother, now out of the shower and wearing only a housecoat, eyes the clock and a bottle of wine as The Wiggles’ classic “Romp Bomp A Stomp” blares in the background. Continue reading.Â
From Melissa Girimonte of The Televixen:
Link: Catherine Reitman on Kate’s Identity Crisis in Workin’ Moms Season 2
“In Season 1, we really ventured into the identity crisis of returning to work. In Season 2, it’s now you’re back at work, let’s go deeper into that relationship. Let’s see what happens when push comes to shove. In the prequel episode [that aired on December 19th], we tried to set up some kernels that our main characters are going to be dealing with throughout the season. So I think there’s a lot of fun to be had for the audience.” Continue reading.
