Tag Archives: Super Channel

When Calls the Heart to return to Super Channel for fifth season

From a media release:

Super Channel is pleased to announce to the delight of Canadian ‘Hearties’ across the country, that it has acquired the fifth season of the heart-warming family drama, When Calls the Heart.

Season five of the sweeping frontier drama will return to Super Channel in February 2018, kicking off with a special 90-minute Christmas episode airing on Boxing Day. Season four is currently available on Super Channel and Super Channel On Demand.

The Super Channel original series is a Canadian production filmed on location in British Columbia and based on the bestselling book series by acclaimed Canadian author Janette Oke. The series stars Erin Krakow (Army Wives), Pascale Hutton (Sanctuary), Kavan Smith (Supernatural), Lori Loughlin (Fuller House, 90210), Daniel Lissing (The Last Resort) and Jack Wagner (The Bold and the Beautiful).

The enchanting series has captured the hearts of loyal viewers in both Canada and the US and boasts a passionate fan base known as the #Hearties, who have become a social media phenomenon, making When Calls the Heart one of Super Channel’s most social series. These devoted fans also gather every year for a Hearties Family Reunion where they visit the set of Hope Valley, meet the cast & crew, and interact with other Hearties from around the globe. The third annual Hearties Family Reunion took place this past weekend (Oct 20 – 22) in Langley, B.C.

When Calls the Heart is a WCTH Season 5 Production in association with Brad Krevoy Television and Believe Pictures. Vicki Sotheran and Greg Malcolm serve as producers. Brad Krevoy, Alfonso H. Moreno, Paul Jackson, Cynthia J. Cohen, Brian Bird, Michael Landon, Jr., Susie Belzberg, Michael Shepard, Eric Jarboe, Neill Fearnley and Jimmy Townsend are executive producers. Derek Thompson, Elizabeth Stewart, Richard Manning, Amanda Phillips Atkins and Lori Loughlin are co-executive producers. Peter DeLuise, Mike Rohl and Martin Wood serve as supervising producers. Doran S. Chandler, Shelley Matheson and Vince Balzano are associate producers.

 

 

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Super Channel to premiere new original drama series, Acceptable Risk

From a media release:

Super Channel is pleased to announce that Acceptable Risk, a six-part gripping conspiracy thriller, will make its Canadian broadcast premiere on Thursday, November 9 at 9 p.m. ET (SC1) as a new Super Channel Original Series. Each episode of the Canada/Ireland co-production, will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its weekly linear broadcast.

Shot in Dublin and Montreal, Acceptable Risk is written by Emmy® Award winner Ron Hutchinson (Traffic; The Ten Commandments, Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story) and directed by Kenny Glenaan (Charlie, Paranoid, Noah’s Ark, Wired).

Principal cast includes Elaine Cassidy (Harper’s Island, No Offence), Angeline Ball (Mr. Selfridge, The Commitments), Lisa Dwyer Hogg (Waking the Dead, The Fall) and Morten Suurballe (The Killing, Vikings), as well as Canadians Paul Popowich (Rogue, Saving Hope, Cracked) and Geordie Johnson (Copper, Murdoch Mysteries, Reign).

When her husband, Lee (Paul Popowich), is murdered while on a business trip to Montreal, Sarah Manning (Elaine Cassidy) comes to realize that she knows nothing about his past. While coping with her grief in her home in Dublin, Sarah questions who Lee actually was and what he did in his work for a powerful global pharmaceuticals organization. And why did Lee, a salesman, need to carry a gun?

The growing suspicion that Lee’s death may be connected to the death of her first husband, leads Sarah to confront a powerful conspiracy of corporate, police and political interests, extending from Dublin to Montreal, in which her own family may be complicit.

Acceptable Risk was produced for Irish broadcaster RTÉ by Siobhán Bourke and Kathryn Lennon of Saffron Pictures (Whistleblower) and James Mitchell of Soho Moon Pictures (Croupier) with funding from the Broadcast Authority of Ireland.  The series is being co-financed by international distributor DCD Rights and U.S. partner Acorn Media Enterprises.  Canadian Producer is Stephen Greenberg with Anna-Sue Greenberg and Jamie D. Greenberg as Executive Producers, all of Facet4 Media. Acceptable Risk is being distributed in Canada by Incendo Media Inc.

 

 

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An interview with Alethea Arnaquq-Baril: The Angry Inuk

On Monday, I spoke with filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril of Iqaluit, Nunavut, about her documentary Angry Inuk that was just released on Super Channel. She shared some insights on her experiences both during and after creating this film.

What motivated you to tackle a documentary about the anti-seal hunt campaigns and their effect on your community?
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril: As a doc filmmaker, I guess the sealing issue has always been an issue for Inuit; growing up in this environment and knowing how much we were affected by anti-seal hunt campaigns. At some point, I just felt it was my responsibility to cover this issue.

In retrospect, what do you wish you had included or said that was not in the film?
Editing is always painful as a documentary filmmaker. There are always scenes that you wish you did not have to cut or shots that you wish you could have done but could not afford to do so. There was a scene with some elderly ladies processing some seal skins and a young woman learning from them. I wish I could have included more with the young woman learning from them.

There was also a beautiful scene where one of the elderly women was playing a game with the young woman and a young boy. She was teaching them this game that they play with seal bones. It is kind of like Pick up Sticks or Jenga. You try to move pieces without moving other pieces and if you move one the other person can attack you. It is a fun little traditional game for Inuit to learn that most of us have heard of but few have played in detail. This elder knew all of the names for the pieces and how the game is played. It was such a neat thing to see her teaching this and how attentive the young ones were to her. I would have loved to keep that in there but it was kind of a long scene and the film is already kind of long for a feature.

Since Angry Inuk has already aired at various film festivals, have you noticed any changes with respect to attitudes about sealing?
Well, there are definitely immediate changes for individuals who have seen the film at festivals. I have had people come up to me and say, ‘I am a vegan and I have been supporting these anti-seal hunt campaigns my whole life,’ or saying, “I am a vegan and I will always be a vegan but I totally support Inuit commercial seal hunters.’ It has been really amazing that people at the other end of the spectrum from me in terms of eating meat and wearing fur, to see them come to our side even if those choices don’t make sense for them, their lives, and where they live has been totally amazing.

But now that it is being broadcast on TV, I think a lot more people will see it. Festivals are wonderful for getting media attention but the audience is small. With the broadcast it will be interesting to see how having the film on TV will change public opinion. However, I think it will take time to see change on a larger scale.

Often when you travel to other parts of Canada or outside of Canada if you just say the words ‘seal skin,’ the immediate reaction from people is that it is bad. I am really curious to see how this plays out over the next couple of years after the film has had a wider audience. To see if public opinions change. That is the long term goal. I wish it could turn on a dime but it will take time.

mohawk

What advice do you have for other Indigenous artists out there who are working to oppose these types of racist fiscal policies?
I don’t know that I am in a position to give advice. I am just trying. I don’t know if [Angry Inuk] will work. I guess I would say: when it feels like such a big fight, when it feels like such a David and Goliath situation, have hope. A lot of people have asked me and asked Aaju Peters, one of the main people in my film, ‘Why don’t you just give up?’ Aaju said something once when someone asked, ‘Are you hopeful?’ and she said, ‘Well of course I am hopeful. You might as well lay down and die if you are not going to be hopeful.’ I think of that a lot. No matter how bad a situation may feel, you have to be hopeful and plug away at it. Trust that if you just keep speaking your truth and giving your perspective that people have to hear you. So I hope.

Do you have any other messages that you want to get out there to people who live in the south?
I really hope people take away from the film or even if they just hear about the film is that the Inuit, against all odds, are the environmentalists and the animal welfare activists. They are out there on the grounds protecting the animals in the Arctic. We are on that side of things. I want people to see us as the guardians of the Arctic. I think it has been the opposite for a long time. I think the anti-seal hunt campaigns and the climate change campaigns have put us in a position of defense and it is so ironic because Inuit are  the ones, and it is the Inuit hunters actually who are the ones out there defending it all. I just hope that that is what my film will accomplish. That people will have that shift in their brain and see us as the guardians and to trust what we say when it comes to the environment and the animals in the Arctic.

And do you have any last thoughts for young people who over the Christmas holidays will be channel surfing and stumble on Angry Inuk as they click on by?
I think when you see an unfair situation, no matter how little you are, or how insignificant you feel, or how unimportant the world seems to think you are or treat you, I think it is possible to have your voice heard and to make a difference. The Inuit are a tiny and remote population and are the poorest in North America and the most disenfranchised in North America and the fact that we are able to get this film  made and seen and are responding to it, if we can do that, anyone can. I think that when you see unfair situations, it is worth trying to do something about it.

Angry Inuk is available on Super Channel On Demand until Dec. 28.

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Angry Inuk — The Truth about Seal Hunting in Canada

Last month I had the opportunity to see Angry Inuk at the South Western International Film Festival, and during the follow-up Q&A, filmmaker/narrator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril informed the audience that Super Channel would begin airing her film in the next month. I knew at that moment I had to cover this documentary.

Airing Monday, Angry Inuk explores how the the ads promoting International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Greenpeace—the image of a crying harp seal pup (we learn that all seals cry; it is a natural defense against the cold that prevents their eyes from freezing)—is deliberately used to tug at our heart strings and make us open our pocketbooks. But what we don’t realize is that sealing is a way of life for the Inuit, without which the people would starve.

Environmentalists encourage us to reduce our carbon footprint by buying locally produced food items. Without the seal hunt, the Inuit must fly in food from the south. Additionally, anti-fur advocates are marketing a non-sustainable byproduct from the petrochemical industry; an industry that is contributing to air and water pollution globally. Conversely, seal skin is a natural, waterproof byproduct of a sustainable and local food source that does not require drilling, pipelines or industrial manufacturing plants to produce.

Ms. Arnaquq-Baril’s documentary takes the viewer on a journey to her land, the Arctic. We go seal hunting. We see how her community is tied culturally and economically to the seal hunt. We also learn how the anti-sealing ban by the European Economic Community (EEC) has and continues to hurt those who live in Canada’s northern regions.

So, why should anyone tune in and watch? Well, in light of the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s  Calls to Action, the Canadian government’s announcement for an national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the #NoDAPL standoff at Standing Rock, North Dakota, now is clearly the time when the public will no longer tolerate racist fiscal policies. Angry Inuk brings to light how the anti-sealing movement and the seal product ban by the EU fashion industry continue to plague the Inuit residing in Canada and elsewhere around the globe. When the film finished, I turned to my friend and simply said, “I am buying something seal skin,” because I was so motivated by this story. She heartily agreed with me. She too is currently shopping for seal skin.

Angry Inuk premieres Monday at 8 p.m. ET on SC4 and will be available on Super Channel On Demand as well, beginning tomorrow until Dec. 28. You can view a trailer here.

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Super Channel Original feature documentary, Ice Guardians, makes world broadcast premiere on Saturday, October 8 at 9 p.m. ET

From a media release:

Super Channel is pleased to announce the world broadcast premiere of the Super Channel Original feature documentary, Ice Guardians, an in depth look at the misunderstood role of the NHL hockey enforcer, on Saturday, October 8 at 9 p.m. ET (SC3). It will also be available to subscribers on Super Channel On Demand the following day.

Exploring one of the most controversial and provocative positions in the history of sport, Ice Guardians journeys into the lives of those who perform what is undoubtedly the toughest job within the National Hockey League today, the enforcer. Very few understand this position and even fewer appreciate what is involved in becoming one. It’s a punishing profession unlike any other, holding little mercy for its candidates on or off the ice. Born out of self-policing a game where 200-pound men fly towards each other on metal blades with sticks, the role now finds itself facing the scrutiny of national newspapers, on-line blogs and TV newscasts. Due to its violent nature, it has drawn opinions from both fans and critics alike. But what do we really know? What led to its spectacular rise? What purpose does it serve in the eyes of its beholders and what drives them forward in the face of adversity? Ice Guardians steps beyond the hype and heads directly to the source of the debate… the players themselves. Through their eyes, tough exteriors are shed to reveal the humanity behind a role that struggles to maintain its existence.

Written and directed by Brett Harvey (The Culture High), Ice Guardians features interviews with NHL enforcers Dave Semenko, Clark Gillies, Eric Godard, Nick Fotiu, Dave Brown, Gino Odjick, Zenon Konopka, Kelly Chase, Scott Parker, Todd Fedoruk, Riley Cote, Derek Boogaard, Mitch Fritz, Sasha Lakovic, Wendel Clark, Brian McGrattan, Kevin Westgarth, Luke Gazdic and many more.  Producers are Adam Scorgie, David Singer, Kelly Chase, Chris Tavlarides, Jimmy Lynn and Rocky Mudaliar.

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