TV/FILM/VIDEO:
Broken Social Scene, Wintersleep, Reuben and the Dark, DARCYS, and Lou Phelps are among the artists who’ll share in $445,251 from Bell Media’s MuchFACT (A Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) Apr. 12 funding round supporting the production of music video/projects and digital tools. The next deadline for MuchFACT applications is May 4.
Arlene Dickinson is returning to CBC’s Dragon’s Den after a two-year break. Her return brings the number of dragons for Season 12 to six, the show’s biggest panel of investors ever. Until Dickinson’s return, Jim Treliving remained the only original dragon. They join Joe Mimran, Manjit Minhas, Michael Wekerle and Michele Romanow. Dragons’ Den has seen a dip in viewership, with Season 11 averaging 597,000 per episode. That’s down from average viewership of 1.755 million per episode in Season Four.
Bell Media-commissioned series Hip-Hop Evolution has won a Peabody Award in the Documentary category. Produced in partnership with Banger Films, the four-episode, one-hour series explores the birth and far-reaching influences of hip-hop. From Canadian filmmaker Darby Wheeler, the series premiered on HBO Canada last September and won two Canadian Screen Awards. It’s available to watch on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand.
Documentary Mostly Sunny makes its television debut on HBO Canada Apr. 24. Commissioned by Bell Media’s The Movie Network, it charts the unconventional journey of Sunny Leone from small-town Ontario to fame and fortune as an adult film star, and then to success as a Bollywood star.