Peter Mansbridge and former CHUM president Jay Switzer will be among the special award honourees at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. The retired CBC anchor will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Switzer and author Margaret Atwood will be honoured with the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute. Late screenwriter Denis McGrath will receive the Margaret Collier Award “for his exceptional body of written work”; performer and director Clark Johnson the Earle Grey Award “for his exceptional impact on the strength of the industry at home and around the world”; retired TVO children’s programming head Pat Ellingson the Outstanding Media Innovation Award, while Karyn Pugliese, APTN’s executive director of news and current affairs, will be honoured with the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism. CBC’s Rick Mercer Report will be presented the Academy Icon Award, while Bell Media’s annual Bell Let’s Talk initiative will receive the Humanitarian Award. CBC will broadcast the CSA gala live from Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on March 11.
OMNI Regional has greenlit new seasons of original series Blood & Water, Mangoes, and Second Jen. Currently in various stages of development, the series are slated to air in 2018, with additional broadcast details to come.
The Reporters has been cancelled, just one month after its September relaunch to a half-hour radio and TV format. A press release says host Dave Hodge and TSN have decided to conclude the series after 15 years. Launched in 2002, the live roundtable sports show, which debated topics from the sports world from a Canadian perspective, featured Steve Simmons and Bruce Arthur as its remaining panelists. Hodge remains under contract with TSN.
The Disappearance, CTV’s original six-part mystery series, is averaging 883,000 viewers per episode, ranking it the most-watched new Canadian series among total viewers and across key demos for the 2017/18 TV season. Bell Media says the series is also trending as the most-watched Canadian drama on its CraveTV streaming service.
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network(APTN) will present the world premiere of the docu-drama series 1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus, starting Nov. 8. The series is also slated to air on ZDFE in Germany and SBS Australia. The eight-hour miniseries, produced by Animiki See Digital Production of Winnipeg and Aarrow Productions of Victoria, takes its audience on a journey dating as far back as 20,000 years ago, focusing on the origins and history of ancient civilizations. Award-winning filmmakers Barbara Hager (Cree/Métis) and Lisa Jackson (Anishinaabe) directed the series.
imagineNATIVE has announced the launch of the imagineNATIVE Institute, a new year-round professional development hub offering support and opportunities for Indigenous content creators. Among its initiatives is an imagineNATIVE/Harold Greenberg FundIndigenous Story Editing Mentorship, a nine-month program pairing an Indigenous recipient living in Canada with script reader mentor. The Institute will also focus on growing mentorship programs for emerging filmmakers across Canada.
The CRTC has granted Cogeco an extension until Mar. 31 to change its customer service agreement for TV services. Cogeco Connexion cited delays in the implementation of its internal structuring project and “unexpected problems” for not being able to meet the Sept. 1 deadline when the Television Service Provider Code took effect.
Hopeless Romantic has started filming in Halifax. Margaret Atwood is serving as creative consultant on the anthology romantic comedy, which is helmed by six female directors including Megan Wennberg, Stephanie Clattenburg, Deanne Foley, Ruth Lawrence, Martine Blue, Latonia Hartery. Jay Dahl and Bill Niven of Northeast Films are producing.
Netflix has released the list of TV shows that Canadians binge-watch the most with Trailer Park Boys topping the list. The streaming service says Canada clocks in with the highest percentage of “Binge Racers” defined as members who completed a season of a TV show within 24 hours of its release on Netflix. Worldwide Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life is the most binge-watched series.
Creative Artists Agency has launched Vancouver-based startup studio Creative Labswhich will focus on developing new businesses with and for CAA clients. CAA has partnered with a group of Canadian investors including eOne and Boat Rocker Ventures, raising $12.5 million. Previous CAA business development ventures have included the incubation and launch of Funny or Die with Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions.
The 2017 DGC Awards were presented in Toronto on Oct. 28. CTV original series Cardinaland History channel series Vikings took home multiple honours, including Outstanding Directorial Achievement for Drama Series for Vikings director Helen Shaver. View the full list of winners here.
Super Channel is debuting original series Acceptable Risk, a six-part conspiracy thriller, on Nov. 9. Each episode of the Canada/Ireland co-production will be available on Super Channel On Demand the day after its initial television 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).
Much is launching ICONS, a new weekly anthology series of artist-focused documentaries and performance specials. ICONS will headline Friday nights in the 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT time slot beginning Nov. 17, with the broadcast of Tragically Hip doc Long Time Running. Bell Media says since the launch of the fall schedule in September, Much’s full-day audience has grown by 18 per cent among Adults 18-49, while primetime has grown by 50 per cent with total viewers.
