TV & Film News – Networks announce Coronation Week coverage

Global News will have extensive coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III, beginning May 1. The Morning Show will celebrate Coronation Week with Royal expert Bonnie Brownlee, among other guests. Road to the Coronation: A Global News special (airing on Global News’ streams, starting April 29) sees Europe Bureau Chief Crystal Goomansingh look at the storied history of the Stone of Destiny, or Stone of Scone, a block of red sandstone contained within the Coronation Chair that Charles will sit upon. Global National coverage leading up to the Coronation will include analysis and feature interviews by Dawna Friesen in London, as well as episodes of Global National overlooking Westminster Abbey, anchored by Friesen, May 4-6. The Coronation of King Charles III – A LIVE Global News Special will air May 6, starting at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT, anchored by Friesen with special guests Brownlee, military historian Brian MacDonald, along with Goomansingh who’ll be among the crowds on the streets of London.   

Lisa LaFlamme will be returning to CityNews as a special correspondent for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. LaFlamme will lead the network’s coverage from London, alongside reporter Cynthia Mulligan. Starting May 3, they’ll be reporting daily for CityNews, Breakfast Television, CityNews 680 and 98.1 CHFI. LaFlamme will also appear on the Big Story Podcast to discuss the coronation. The former CTV National News Senior Anchor first joined CityNews as a special correspondent for coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September. Coverage will begin May 3, prior to the Coronation, which will be covered live in a special May 6 event, starting at 5 a.m. ET and 2 a.m. PT on Citytv and CityNews 24/7.

The 27th annual Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) Screenwriting Awards were handed out Monday night at Koerner Hall in Toronto, the first in-person WGC Awards ceremony since 2019. Kurt Smeaton was recognized for Best Comedy Series for Children Ruin Everything, while in the Feature Film category, Clement Virgo won for Brother. Marsha Green was recognized for her work on The Porter with the award for Best Drama Series. Special awards were presented to Laura Good, winner of the Sondra Kelly Award (which provides $5,000 to a woman screenwriter in mid-career for research/development on a self-initiated project), and Adrian Morphy, who was awarded the Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize for his script, The 300 Year Old Man. Susin Nielsen, creator and showrunner of Family Law, received the Showrunner Award. Find the full list of winners here.

Angelica Lisk-Hann was presented with ACTRA Toronto’s 2023 Award of Excellence at the 21st ACTRA Awards on Wednesday. Lisk-Hann, who has over 250 film and television credits, got her start in stunts in the 1998 film, Half-Baked, with recent stunt coordinator credits including Accused, the 2023 Canadian Screen Award-winning film Brother, CBC series Little Dog and upcoming TV series Cross (based on James Paterson’s Alex Cross novels) on which she is also 2nd unit director. She has also taken on the role of mentor through her company The Collective Action Group, which mentors established stunt performers through her assistant stunt coordinator initiative and helps guide new stunt talent breaking into the entertainment business. 

Pixomondo (PXO) and Seneca Polytechnic have partnered to offer a specially-designed training program starting this fall. Developed by PXO’s Virtual Production Academy, the 12-week program in Virtual Production: Virtual Art Department Content Creation will be taught by industry professionals using PXO’s proprietary techniques. The program is designed for professionals and graduates of programs in visual effects, 3D modelling, game animation and similar specialties. It will be delivered online, giving students the flexibility to take part from their homes. Graduates will receive a microcredential completion badge from Seneca and have direct access to employment opportunities at PXO. The partnership is the first announced by the new Seneca Film Institute.

Titan1Studios is spinning off their animation projects into separate division, Missing Socks Entertainment. The new Calgary-based studio will develop and produce high quality projects for a global audience, overseen by Titan1Studios Founder & CEO Rathan Moorthy, and recently named VP, Content Wes Ambrecht. The first three projects under the Missing Socks banner include Modern Rogues: Call To Action, an animated fish out of water action-comedy following real-life YouTubers Brian Brushwood and Jason Murphy as they venture into the world of international espionage at the behest of a secret government agency. With 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube, Brushwood and Murphy will executive produce and lend their voice talent to the new series. Dragons & Warts, written by Daniel Callaghan & Luke Watson, a half-hour adult animated workplace comedy set in a medieval fantasy world; and WTF! Wrestling the Federation, created by puppeteer & writer Kanja Chen (Fraggle Rock), an animated half-hour comedy set against Calgary’s middling 1980s wrestling promotion round out the studio’s initial slate.

The Province of British Columbia is investing $42 million in the motion picture, music, publishing and interactive digital media industries in the province. The new funding includes $22.5 million over three years for Amplify BC to build the province’s music talent and help launch careers; $15.9 million over three years to support B.C.’s domestic motion picture productions, workforce and creators, which includes $900,000 for programs that focus on developing workers’ skills, recruiting more workers from under-represented groups, and supporting environmentally friendly practices; $3 million over three years for a new program to support innovation and growth for independent B.C.-owned interactive digital media companies; and $600,000 over three years for the publishing industry.

The Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA) is facilitating a new training program for aspiring media workers in the province, fueled by $900,000 in funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada. The one-year program, which started a pilot phase on April 1, will provide successful applicants with training workshops and on-set mentoring with media productions in the province. Intended to help boost film and television production in Saskatchewan, the program aims to help 50 Saskatchewan residents learn the film and television business. A second pilot program is expected to get underway in June.

Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is launching the Steven DeNure Children’s Content Internship to encourage YMA members to offer students or emerging producers an immersive paid work experience, in English or French, with a production company or broadcaster working in children’s content. YMA will provide $4,500 for a 12-week internship, to be matched by the mentor company (interns receive $9,000 over 12 weeks @ 40 hours per week, at a rate of $750/week). At its discretion, YMA may also provide financial assistance to the mentor company to cover travel and/or registration expenses for the intern. Applications are now open until May 15 on the YMA portal.

Corus Studios and McGillivray Entertainment Media (MEM), the production company founded by Scott McGillivray, have announced a four-year production commitment and exclusivity deal, including producing new series and seasons starring the HGTV Canada host, including Scott’s Vacation House Rules, which starts production on Season 5 this month. The content will be exclusively distributed by Corus Studios and produced for HGTV Canada. Corus has also renewed its exclusive licensing of all eight seasons of Income Property for Canadian broadcast across linear, STACKTV and PlutoTV. Season 4 of Scott’s Vacation House Rules premiered April 23. 

Crave, in association with Pier 21 Films, has announced that production is underway in Toronto and Hamilton on new comedy series, Late Bloomer. Created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina (Jus Reign), the eight-part series, inspired by Raina’s life as a Punjabi Sikh millennial and online celebrity, follows a burgeoning content creator as he tries to balance his ambitions for success with his commitment to his family, community, and culture. Raina is joined onscreen by an ensemble cast including Baljinder Singh Atwal (Des Pardes) and Sandeep Bali as Jasmeet’s parents; Ashley Ganger (Grand Army) as his sister, in addition to Sugenja Sri (The Handmaid’s Tale), Sachin Mahashi, and Ahamed Weinberg (Insecure). Under the moniker Jus Reign, Raina was one of Much Digital Studios’ first content creators in 2015 and became known for his deadpan comedic style and commentary on race and pop culture.

Super Channel has announced that three-part true-crime docuseries, Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti, is set to premiere May 14 on Super Channel Fuse, with all episodes available to stream via Super Channel On Demand as of May 1. The Super Channel Original docuseries is produced by Edmonton’s Adam Scorgie and Shane Fennessey of ScoreG Productions, along with co-creator, Alex Orlando. 

TSN will broadcast complete coverage of the 2023 NFL DRAFT from Kansas City, April 27–29, beginning with the Carolina Panthers’ first overall pick of the First Round, airing Thursday, April 27 at 8 p.m. ET, while Rounds 2 and 3 are live on Friday, April 28, with TSN+ delivering complete coverage of Rounds 4 – 7 on Saturday, April 29. TSN Sportscentre presents profiles of the top prospects on the draft board, with additional insight provided by TSN’s Jesse Palmer. Farhan Lalji, Dave Naylor, Davis Sanchez, and Kara Wagland preview and break down the major picks throughout the First Round, with Lalji reporting on-site in Kansas City. Additionally, BarDown’s Luca Celebre, Chris Hein, Matthew Hempstead, Eric Kirk, Thomas Pocrnic, and Jesse Pollock will host a livestream on TSN’s YouTube channel to evaluate each team’s picks throughout the First Round.

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has confirmed Jennifer Mullin, CEO of Fremantle, as a keynote speaker as part of its renowned Summit Series lineup. In addition, BANFF has announced two exclusive ‘In Conversation With’ sessions featuring actress, producer, writer and author Lilly Singh as well as the World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Sharon Horgan, the award-winning actress, writer, producer and director behind AppleTV+ comedy thriller Bad Sisters, is also confirmed as a keynote speaker. She’ll be presented with the Award of Excellence at the Rockies Gala. The 44th edition of the Festival will take place in-person June 11–14 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced early details around its 48th edition, Sept. 7–17. Among other changes, TIFF is renaming its Contemporary World Cinema, or CWC film program as “Centrepiece.” The festival says the new title better reflects and amplifies its full spectrum of programming as “a showcase for acclaimed titles from festivals around the globe, highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents, and the latest work of influential filmmaking luminaries.” 

The CFC Gala: Take 35, the Canadian Film Centre’s annual fundraising event, presented by Netflix, is set to take place May 11 at Rebel Nightclub in Toronto. This year’s gala celebrates CFC’s 35th anniversary and is inspired by the decade the CFC was “born” – the ‘80s – from the entertainment straight through to the decor, atmosphere and fashion. Featuring entertainment from Canadian New Wave band Spoons; The Collective, featuring Cleopatra Williams, and more, dinner will be followed by after party, CFC After Dark, presented by Eggplant Music & Sound, an ‘80s dance party with DJ Jade Elektra.