Marilyn Denis hits 1,000 episodes, once again
When you’ve been in front of the cameras as long as Marilyn Denis has, it’s easy to lose count of the episodes you have made. She didn’t know the 1,000th episode of The Marilyn Denis Show was approaching until her producers told her. It airs Tuesday at 10 a.m. on CTV.
Denis was surprised despite having already passed that milestone as the face of City TV’s Cityline morning show for 19 seasons. Continue reading.
This Life’s Rick Roberts on Matthew’s big secret
“When someone close to you is dying you start to reflect on your life and what you’ve done and how you can make things better. He’s really put himself in a horrible, horrible spot with this thing where he’s been lying. But I love what they’ve done with the structuring of that story is that I can really understand that it’s some bad thing you did many years ago, but perpetuating it through these lies makes it so much worse.” Continue reading.
Discovery Canada announced today that Jason Momoa (GAME OF THRONES, Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice) will lead the international cast for its ambitious new original Canadian scripted series, FRONTIER. Commissioned by Discovery Canada earlier this year and shooting in beautifully vivid 4K UHD, production is now underway in Canada and the U.K. on the thrilling and richly layered premium drama, the first original scriped series in Discovery Canada history. Created by Rob Blackie and Peter Blackie, the six-episode, one-hour drama is produced by leading Canadian independent producers Take the Shot Productions, and Factory Backwards, and will be seen around the world via international broadcast partner Netflix.
Alun Armstrong (NEW TRICKS, Braveheart), Landon Liboiron (HEMLOCK GROVE, DEGRASSI), Zoe Boyle (DOWNTON ABBEY, SONS OF ANARCHY), and Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE), round out the international cast. The series also introduces Canadian newcomer, Jessica Matten.
Cinematic in scope, FRONTIER will be guided by celebrated filmmaker Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Incarnate, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island), who will direct the first two one-hour episodes of the series. FRONTIER will debut in 2016 exclusively in Canada on Bell Media platforms including Discovery, Discovery GO, and CraveTV, and on Netflix in other markets around the world.
Production is now underway in St. John’s, N.L., Morrisburg, Ont., Louisbourg, N.S., and Cornwall, U.K., and will see the original world of FRONTIER begin to take shape. With seeds rooted in Canadian history, and explored for the first time on television, the action-packed and authentic fiction series follows the chaotic and violent struggle to control wealth and power in the North American fur trade of the late 18th century. Told from multiple perspectives, FRONTIER takes place in a world where business negotiations might be resolved with close-quarter hatchet fights, and where delicate relations between Aboriginal tribes and Europeans can spark bloody conflicts.
FRONTIER was officially greenlit for production by Discovery Canada in April 2015, following a 14-month development process between the network and producers. The series is produced by Take The Shot Productions and Factory Backwards, in association with Discovery, the exclusive Canadian broadcaster. Netflix is the international broadcast partner. Edwina Follows is Executive Producer for Discovery, and Ken MacDonald is Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery. Tracey Pearce is Senior Vice-President, Specialty and Pay, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting, Bell Media. For Take The Shot Productions, Alex Patrick, John Vatcher, Rob Blackie, and Peter Blackie, Allan Hawco, Perry Chafe and Michael Levine are Executive Producers. For Factory Backwards, Brad Peyton and Jeff Fierson are Executive Producers.
I understand you’re waiting to be picked up for a ride to your next gig. Can you tell me about the role?
I’m shooting a film now called Brown Girl in the Ring that’s based on the book by Nalo Hopkinson. It’s a dystopian, sci-fi film about a girl living in 2049 Toronto and how she’s battling with herself and her grandmother over whether or not she should step into these superpowers that she has that are connected through their spirituality.
That couldn’t be any different from the role we’re seeing now with you playing a character in 1903.
Yeah, I’m going from the past to the future. It’s been a really interesting year.
How did you end up being involved in Murdoch Mysteries?
What’s funny is I’ve auditioned for the show multiple times over the years and I never got the parts. I was always really bummed out. One of the last auditions that I had was for the Ragtime episode and my friend Tenika Davis ended up getting the role; she was great in it. I auditioned for this role and didn’t really expect it to be as big as it became. I only imagined it being a one or two episode thing. I love to audition for shows in other time periods and had a lot of fun in this one and I got the part.
Murdoch Mysteries is an established show. Was there any kind of nervousness on your part on that first day?
Oh my gosh, I was nervous for the first three months! It’s really intimidating to walk onto the set where some people have been working together the entire time. I’m really the new kid on the block. I always put a lot of pressure on myself not only with the work but in fitting in and wondering where to sit in the cafeteria. Do I sit with the grips, or the extras or the cast? It’s so silly, but I guess I’m still a bit young and new to the game.
So, where did you sit?
I feel like I sat with the sound guys!
Photography by Christos Kalohoridis, courtesy of Shaftesbury
You have several episodes under your belt. Have you gotten used to having your hair up and wearing layers of clothing?
No! I’m always wondering if there will be an episode where I don’t have to have my hair up. I have a lot of hair and would love to let it loose, but I know that’s not what was going on during the time period. Wearing the costumes has been fun, but the corset makes me cry sometimes. Not because I’m sad, but because I can’t breathe. But, actually, wearing something restrictive like that brings you into character.
We’ve gotten a little bit of background on Rebecca. We know she’s from the U.S. and had a wealthy patron who was helping her gain medical knowledge. What else can you say?
She is really, really curious about medicine and, of course, she wishes she could complete her schooling and practice medicine, but maybe she feels there are too many obstacles in the way and it’s more important to take care of herself than get back to medical school.
What kind a research did you do into ladies of this time period?
I specifically looked at black Victorians and people of colour in that time period because I think we see media jump from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. There is all of this great stuff in between and a wide variance of the black experience in Canada and the U.S., and how long black people have been in Canada. We had black people in Toronto at this time and they were all over Ontario and upstate New York. Even though this single character can’t carry all of that, it gives a glimpse into that part of history and, hopefully, interested viewers will do their own research.
Does Rebecca experience racism?
Yes, of course. She’ll face her own challenges in the next few episodes and even though Dr. Ogden and Det. Murdoch are really kind to her, not everybody in the community shares their sentiment. We will see, as the season progresses, not only how Rebecca deals with racism, but the other characters as well.
What’s been your experience with the fans so far?
I haven’t heard too much so far. I know the show has a huge fan base and I’m looking forward to hearing what they have to say. I’m also doubly intimidated by that. I also feel very grateful that everyone is so open to a character like Rebecca James.
CTV is getting into the serialized drama game, beginning with Giles Blunt’s award-winning John Cardinal mysteries.
Bell Media announced the ordering of the six-part Cardinal (working title) from Toronto-based Sienna Films and Entertainment One. Adapted from Forty Words for Sorrow, the upcoming project—set to bow as part of CTV’s 2016-17 broadcast schedule—follows detective John Cardinal and his new partner, Lise Delorme, as they investigate the death of Katie Pine, a 13-year-old discovered in an abandoned mine. Production on Cardinal is scheduled to begin in February 2016 in Northern Ontario; casting has not been announced.
Cardinal is being developed for CTV by showrunner and executive producer Aubrey Nealon (Orphan Black); Daniel Grou (19-2) will direct.
A six-part limited-run series makes total sense. The success of serialized dramas like Fargo and Broadchurch signals a North American audience pumped for compressed projects like Cardinal.
Will you tune in to Cardinal when it hits the small screen? Comment below.