Tag Archives: Saloon Media

Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Saloon Media starts production on History By The Numbers

From a media release:

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, has started production on a new 20-part docu-series, History By The Numbers, to be produced in association with US-based Jupiter Entertainment. This upbeat and fast-paced series looks at the world’s collective global history by revealing surprising and unimaginable numerical facts about major historical events. Episodes explore iconic moments in history through a unique context of scale, volume and percentages, offering fresh perspectives of how the world adds up today. History By The Numbers is an original commission for global factual streaming service, CuriosityStream, where it will roll out across the U.S. and select territories internationally, while in Canada, the series will premiere on Blue Ant Media’s Smithsonian Channel Canada. Blue Ant International oversees international licensing for the series outside of the commissioned territories.

History by The Numbers is an energetic, fast-paced series taking an exploratory global dive into the extraordinary and often overlooked numbers that have created our world’s history. Each episode will delve into the numbers and over the top stats behind a different subject – from the massive growth of the global fast food empire to the wealth and bloodshed of the world’s top crime bosses, the herculean numbers behind Mount Everest, the lives of the richest people on earth and so much more.

History By The Numbers is produced by Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, in association with Jupiter Entertainment. From Saloon Media, Michael Kot serves as Executive Producer and Steve Gamester as Series Producer. Also serving as Executive Producers are Julie Chang, EVP of International Co-Productions, Blue Ant Media and Patrick Reardon and Ben Pagel for Jupiter Entertainment.

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Ghost Walk, Industry News

Saloon Media announces collaboration with UK-based StoryFirst on scripted drama, Ghost Walk

From a media release:

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, announced today its collaboration with UK-based StoryFirst on its first scripted drama, Ghost Walk (8×60’). Created by Brendan Foley (Cold Courage), who also serves as showrunner on the project, the one-hour series will follow a vivacious, aspiring Canadian actress and prickly British scientist who together become the unlikely ‘Mulder and Scully’ of the world of ghosts. The series kicks off Saloon Media’s exciting new scripted slate and is the first of many Canadian/UK partnerships that the production company will reveal in the coming months. Ghost Walk was developed with the support of Canadian specialty TV channel T+E and will be produced in Ontario, Canada and York, UK.

Ghost Walk will introduce audiences to Melissa Roth, an aspiring Canadian actress who takes a temporary position as a ghost walk tour guide in York, UK. After a fall down a flight of stairs, Melissa begins to see spirits. She soon teams up with a cynical, charismatic British scientist, Charles Conroy, in hopes that he will cure her in exchange for the fame and fortune he would earn proving whether or not ghosts exist. The duo develops a bond; partners investigating hauntings from historic York to rural Canada, while tumbling through the minefield of friendship and – just maybe – something more.

Saloon Media’s Melissa Williamson (top left) and Michael Kot serve as Executive Producers on Ghost Walk. Dominic Barlow (top right) will Executive Produce on behalf of StoryFirst. Sam Linton, Head of Original Content (Canada), Blue Ant Media is Executive Producer on behalf of T+E.

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, is a creative hub for compelling new television and digital productions. The founding partners have a wealth of experience in broadcasting and factual and scripted production, and a track record for delivering successful and award-winning programs to international clients. Saloon’s productions have broadcast on History, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Investigation Discovery, CMT, SBS, ZDF, Yesterday, Four, More4, and Netflix. Saloon is a specialist in international co-production, working with like-minded production partners around the world to produce top quality returning series and high-impact specials. Saloon Media is based in Toronto. Saloonmedia.com

StoryFirst’s focus is on the development, production, and financing of high-quality television series for the global marketplace. Alongside developing ambitious drama with new and established writing talent, StoryFirst is a co-producing partner for producers of drama projects around the world.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Saloon Media announces start of production on Hotel Paranormal Season 2

From a media release:

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, announced today ahead of the Realscreen Summit 2021 that it has started production on Season 2 of Hotel Paranormal (10×60’). As part of this announcement, Saloon Media also confirms that Emmy® Award winner and Oscar®-nominated actor, Dan Aykroyd, will return as narrator, joining production efforts in Toronto, Canada this spring. The 10-part documentary series provides dramatic recreations and paranormal expert insights during its bone-chilling tales of paranormal encounters at 4-star hotels, highway motels and inns around the world. Originally commissioned by T+E in Canada, the second installment of this series is available for licensing, in the U.S. and globally, by Blue Ant International.

Filming for Season 2 will take place across Ontario, Canada, under strict, new COVID-19 provincial guidelines, with a delivery date of summer 2021. No stranger to keeping production going during a pandemic, Saloon Media had completed one in-person narration with Dan Aykroyd for Hotel Paranormal, Season 1, when Canada went into lockdown last March. Saloon Media moved forward by recording the remaining narration virtually. Aykroyd recorded in a remote studio in Ontario, Canada, with Executive Producer Michael Kot and Series Producer Sarah Zammit directing via video call.

Hotel Paranormal is produced by Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company. Michael Kot and Betty Orr serve as Executive Producers. Sarah Zammit is the Series Producer. Dave Tebby and Simone Stock are Directors and Josh Pelham is the Director of Photography.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Cottage Life revisits extreme storms with The Weather Files: Total Impact

January 2020 marked a historic day in Newfoundland weather history. A blizzard event with 140km/hr winds was quickly dubbed “Snowmaggendon,” when it dropped 76 inches of snow on the province. That, and more, are revisited in Season 2 of The Weather Files: Total Impact.

Returning Monday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life, the events highlighted in The Weather Files: Total Impact are truly fascinating and terrifying. Told through the eyes of survivors, scientific experts and first responders, it brings harrowing true human stories to wild weather.

Monday’s first instalment of eight episodes digs deep into the blizzard that pummeled Newfoundland early last year. What began as a southern winter storm tracking northward from the U.S. slammed into the colder North Atlantic air, triggering a true monster. Original footage shot on cellphones shows the devastation, as wind and snow paralyzed the region with feet of the white stuff. Though snow is a way of life in this part of the country, they weren’t prepared for this much.

Not just a recap accented by shaky cell footage, The Weather Files: Total Impact focuses on the human stories on Monday, like a young mother-to-be who went into labour as the blizzard was kicking in, and the Wall family, whose son, Josh, ventured out into the gloom. Pair that with experts describing the hows and whys of blizzards—and an analysis of snow, its benefits as well as dangers—and this Saloon Media project is compelling stuff.

The Weather Files: Total Impact, airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life.

Image courtesy of Blue Ant Media.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Saloon Media signs on to co-produce World’s Most Scenic River Journeys with Argonon’s BriteSpark East

From a media release:

Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company, announces today that it is joining BriteSpark East, part of the Argonon Group, to produce a stunning new documentary series, World’s Most Scenic River Journeys (6 x 60’; HD), taking audiences on explorations of some of the world’s most important and beautiful rivers across Europe and North America. The series will be narrated by Golden Globe-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). As part of the partnership, Saloon Media will produce episodes featuring rivers in North America while BriteSpark East will cover the rivers in Europe, allowing completion of the series during travel restrictions due to COVID-19. The series is an original commission for Channel 5 in the UK and will also air on Blue Ant Media’s Smithsonian Channel Canada. Global distributor, Blue Ant International will oversee all international licensing outside of the UK and Canada.

World’s Most Scenic River Journeys embarks on a series of unique journeys across spectacular waterways into hidden worlds of landscapes, local characters and surprising stories. Each episode explores one river, travelling from source to finish. Some are iconic, others lesser known, but all the rivers feature spectacular scenery and reveal surprising details about the countries they run through. Audiences meet people who live and work along the riverbank and share inside stories about its history, culture, wildlife and folklore.

World’s Most Scenic River Journeys is executive produced by Tom Porter at BriteSpark, with Series Producer, Helen White. Steve Gamester is Executive Producer and Producer at Saloon Media. Overseeing the series for Channel 5 is Commissioning Editor, Daniel Pearl, and overseeing the series for Smithsonian Channel Canada is Sam Linton, Head of Original Content, Blue Ant Media.

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