Anthem Sports & Entertainment has reached an agreement to acquire Hollywood Suite, pending CRTC approval. Launched in 2011, its film-focused 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s channels are available in over 10 million homes. Anthem – which has offices and studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, and Cleveland – says Hollywood Suite’s ability to satisfy both traditional linear viewers and on-demand focused digital viewers is a shared strategy that aligns with its Game TV, Game+, Fight Network and AXS TV channels. Hollywood Suite joins Anthem’s other cinematic offerings, film distribution house Gravitas Ventures, and U.S. film cable channel HDNET MOVIES. Hollywood Suite President and Co-Founder David Kines will continue to manage the business. Read more here.
Netflix has confirmed it’s pulling back on its film and television training and development programs in Canada, citing mandated CRTC contributions under the Online Streaming Act. According to the streaming giant, it’s invested more than $25 million in training and development in Canada since 2017, including initiatives ranging from the Pacific Screenwriting Program, to a short documentary effort with Hot Docs, and a five-year partnership with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) aimed at supporting Canadian talent. A Netflix spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue that following the CRTC’s decision to require online streaming services to contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues to support the Canadian broadcasting system, it will now no longer be able to continue that investment. Read more here.
The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) has unveiled the 2024 DGC Awards nominees for Feature Film, Documentary and Short Film. Newfoundland-set drama Sweet Angel Baby – which premiered at TIFF and screened as the Atlantic gala at the Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) – heads into the awards with a leading three nominations in the film categories, including Best Sound Editing and Best Production Design, in addition to director Melanie Oates being among those up for the Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award. The Queen of My Dreams, Queen of Bones, Disco’s Revenge, Code 8 Part II, We Forgot to Break Up, and The Silent Planet also received multiple nominations. Winners will be announced and presented online on Monday, Oct. 28. Read more here.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey will receive the Visionary Award at The Black Academy’s Legacy Awards. Bailey joins previously announced recipients Kardinal Offishall and Weyni Mengesha. Hosted by Adrian Holmes, The Legacy Awards broadcast live on CBC and CBC Gem on Sunday, Sept. 29.
The Canadian Academy is now accepting entries for the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards in film, television and digital media. The Eligibility Period for Television & Digital Media categories (excluding News & Sports) is Sept. 1, 2023 to Nov. 15, 2024, with News & Sports entries broadcast from Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2024 eligible. The Eligibility Period for Film is Jan. 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.
Spindle Films Foundation has announced the results of their inaugural research report, highlighting the current state of the trans, non-binary, and gender diverse experiences in the Canadian film industry. The report found that 63% of respondents have taken actions to delay or conceal their gender identity due to the risk of adverse experiences at work. Supporting this, 53% of respondents reported having adverse experiences during their last on-set experience. Based on the research survey’s findings, conducted from mid-2023 through to 2024, the foundation is recommending best practices, including quality health insurance covering gender-affirming care in Canadian film unions, gender equity in hiring that acknowledges identities outside the binary, a pronoun policy for all cast and crew on call sheets, gender diversity education for production members, paperwork care when dealing with chosen vs. legal names, gender neutral bathrooms, and a policy for addressing harm.
TVO may face legal action from the producers of the documentary Russians at War for pulling support for the controversial documentary. A letter addressed to the Ontario public broadcaster’s board and management demands that the network immediately reinstate its commitment to air the doc or allow the filmmakers to license the film to another broadcaster or streamer. Directed by Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova, who embedded with Russian soldiers on their way to the front line in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is among the organizations who have accused the film of spreading Russian propaganda. TIFF, where the documentary had its North American premiere this month, paused screenings amid the controversy.
Prime Video has unveiled the roster of hosts, play-by-play announcers, analysts and reporters who will helm its inaugural season of Prime Monday Night Hockey and NHL Coast to Coast. Prime Monday Night Hockey will see the streaming service air regular season Monday night NHL games in English, beginning Monday, Oct. 14. For the 2024-25 NHL regular season, Prime Monday Night Hockey will feature 21 games hosted by Canadian teams and also include a 2024 Stanley Cup Final rematch between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 16. All games will be produced by Amazon and stream live as part of a Prime membership. Prime Monday Night Hockey will feature a rotating team of on-air talent led by veteran play-by-play announcer John Forslund, alongside analysts Jody Shelley, Thomas Hickey, and Shane Hnidy. Anchoring the Prime Monday Night sports desk from on-site will be Adnan Virk, Andi Petrillo, analyst Blake Bolden, and a mix of local guests throughout the season. Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier will be a contributor. Read more here.
Sportsnet has announced the 2024-25 NHL broadcast schedules for the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, in addition to streaming and Sportsnet Radio Network coverage details. Find this year’s play-by-play and analyst roster here.
CBC has expanded its free ad-supported streaming portfolio with the launch of CBC Heartland and CBC Murdoch Mysteries FAST channels featuring 17 seasons each of the long-running series. Available now on CBC Gem and launching on connected TV platforms in the coming months, the channels join CBC Comedy, CBC News Explore, CBC News BC, and CBC News Toronto. As previously announced, the public broadcaster is planning to aggressively expand its FAST portfolio later this fall with the launch of 12 new local CBC News FAST channels focused on providing on-demand news for Calgary, Edmonton, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ottawa, P.E.I., Quebec, Saskatchewan, Windsor, and the North. Read more here.
Lark Productions and CBC have announced that Season 2 of police drama Allegiance (10×60) is currently shooting in B.C.’s Lower Mainland through early December. Premiering this winter, Allegiance was CBC’s most-watched new series of the 2023-24 season. The police drama, set in Surrey, B.C., is a CBC Original series from Lark Productions in association with Universal International Studios, starring Supinder Wraich (Sort Of) and Enrico Colantoni (English Teacher). Season 2 welcomes Samer Salem (The Expanse, The Boys) to the ensemble cast as a series regular. Showrunners Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern (Flashpoint, X Company) also return.
CTV original comedy Children Ruin Everything returns for its fourth season, airing Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Oct. 17. Season 4 consists of 16 half-hour episodes, with the first eight episodes airing this fall. Guest stars include Scott Thompson, Carolyn Taylor, Colin Mochrie, and David Cronenberg, with Bruce McCulloch and Anna Hopkins returning to reprise their guest roles
Hollywood Suite’s 2024 Shocktober line-up starts airing Oct. 1. The month-long ghoul fest includes the broadcast premiere of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town, featuring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Additional Shocktober premieres include new restorations of Canadian creepers like Richard Loncraine cult classic The Haunting of Julia (1973) starring Mia Farrow, William Fruet’s Funeral Home (1981), as well as Evil Dead fan documentary Hail to the Deadites. The second season of Hollywood Suite original series Cinema A to Z will also kick off with its premiere episode Serial Killers on Oct. 10, exploring 26 portrayals of murderers on film from American Psycho to Zodiac.
T+E’s Creep Week programming lineup, Oct. 4-14, includes the Canadian series premiere of Uncanny (Oct. 4) and a new season of Paranormal: Caught on Camera (Oct. 6), in addition to new episodes of Celebrity Help! My House is Haunted, My Haunted Hometown and The Proof is Out There, hosted by Tony Harris. T+E is currently in free preview until Nov. 3.
Go Button Media has announced a new slate deal with international factual distributor and producer Autentic and Super Channel. The collaboration includes delivery of six series, each six hours’ duration, over the next three years. Autentic will handle the titles’ global distribution outside of Canada. Go Button says the agreement, created within the current challenging climate, encourages cost efficiencies in production and operations while ensuring the budget stays on screen, guaranteeing an effective and creative pipeline to all three partners. The first greenlit title is Secrets of Ancient Structures (6 x 60’), which will take viewers across time to examine building achievements by ancient civilizations.
The Competition Tribunal has ruled in favour of the Competition Bureau, finding that Cineplex engaged in drip pricing by adding a mandatory $1.50 online booking fee. The Tribunal determined misleading representations on Cineplex’s website and mobile app constituted drip pricing and that consumers were deceived by incomplete information on Cineplex’s tickets page. As part of its ruling, the Tribunal ordered Cineplex to pay a financial penalty of over $38.9 million dollars and legal costs, equivalent to the amount it collected from consumers from the introduction of the online booking fee in June 2022 until December 2023. Cineplex says it plans to appeal the decision.
