TV & Film News – Schitt’s Creek earns five Golden Globes nominations

Schitt’s Creek has been nominated for a total of five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Television Series (Music or Comedy). Catherine O’Hara is up for Best Actress and co-star Eugene Levy nominated for Best Actor, while Dan Levy and Annie Murphy both earned nods for their supporting roles. The series aired its sixth and final season last year, with the CBC comedy coming off last year’s Emmy sweep that saw the series win all seven major awards in the comedy category. The show’s competition includes Amazon Prime’s The Great, Apple+ series Ted Lasso, HBO Max comedy-drama The Flight Attendant, and Darren Star Netflix series Emily in Paris. 

The Black Academy founders Shamier Anderson and Stephan James have announced a partnership with Insight Productions that will see a live awards show produced honouring established and emerging Black talent across film, television, music, sports and culture. Anderson and James will executive produce, alongside John Brunton, Shannon Farr, and Lindsay Cox. The Black Academy and Insight have announced a search for a Black showrunner and production crew, with interested applicants invited to apply at BlackAwardShowResumes@insighttv.com. 

The Fabienne Colas Foundation’s Being Black in Canada program – Canada’s largest incubator dedicated to Black Filmmakers – has opened a call for applications for its 2021 edition. Supported by Netflix, the National Bank, Telefilm Canada, and Canada Media Fund, the program will support 35 young, promising Black filmmakers in Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Open to those aged 18 to 30, participants gain experience producing 10-minute documentary shorts from screenwriting to post-production. The deadline to apply is March 30.

The Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP) has announced a new broadcast partnership with APTN that will see the AIP awards ceremony broadcast on TV and online Feb. 19. The virtual ceremony will feature artists from across the North including Nunavut’s Silla and Rise, Yukon’s Dakhká Khwáan Dancers, the Northwest Territories’ Wesley Hardisty and The Pan Lab Alumni Choir from Nunatsiavut. Animiki See Digital Production is producing this year’s awards ceremony in partnership with the Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference and Yukon Arts Centre, honouring Whitehorse as the host city. Following its initial air date, the broadcast will be available to stream on APTN lumi. 

CBC has confirmed it won’t be moving forward with a second season of Trickster, the critically-acclaimed Indigenous sci-fi series formerly helmed by Michelle Latimer. Based on Eden Robinson’s 2017 novel Son of a Trickster, the series was filmed in Kitimat, BC and renewed for a second season even prior to its premiere on CBC Television last October. Following controversy over the legitimacy of Latimer’s claims of Indigenous ancestry, she resigned as director and co-writer in December. In a statement, CBC said it’s “as committed as ever to telling other important Indigenous stories, of which there are many,” indicating that it has eight such scripted projects in development. Read more here. Latimer has served the CBC with a notice of libel, claiming “grave concerns about the fairness and accuracy” of the public broadcaster’s reporting on her ancestry.

AMC Networks and Shaftesbury have entered into a new strategic partnership that will see AMC Networks gain access to Shaftesbury’s production slate and expand its content and development capabilities in Canada. Shaftesbury CEO and Chairman Christina Jennings will continue to spearhead the creative focus of the company and lead day-to-day operations, alongside EVP Scott Garvie. Jennings, Garvie and Shaftesbury board member Michael Levine will remain on Shaftesbury’s Board of Directors, joined by two new AMC Networks directors, Harold Gronenthal, EVP of Programming and Marketing for AMC Networks International, and Matt Graham, GM of the AMC-owned Acorn TV. The partnership builds on AMC Networks and Shaftesbury’s existing production relationship with Shaftesbury behind some of Acorn TV’s bigger titles, including Murdoch Mysteries. In addition to Acorn TV, AMC Networks operates AMC, SundanceTV, BBC America and the AMC+, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK streaming services.

Bell Media’s French-language Noovo has announced its news show Le Fil will premiere March 29.  Bell says Noovo’s news division, Noovo Info, will feature a strong team of journalists with the network’s news reports “aligned with the Noovo brand and its DNA: engaging, genuine and contemporary.” To date, nearly 60 people have been hired, including anchors Noémi Mercier, Lisa-Marie Blais, Michel Bherer and Meeker Guerrier. Le Fil will air daily in various time slots, featuring a half hour national segment, followed by either a Québec City, Mauricie, Estrie and Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean or Montreal edition. Noovo will have a newsroom in Montréal at 1755 René-Lévesque Boulevard East and in Québec City at 900 d’Youville Street, along with bureaus in Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and Saguenay.

TSN’s Black History Month content features Sportscentre anchor Kayla Grey in conversation with Toronto Raptors guard, Fred VanVleet, on getting comfortable using his platform to speak out and fight for change. Every Friday in February, Sportscentre will also feature a Black athlete, including running back Rueben Mayes, the first Canadian NFL player to be awarded Rookie of the Year; NASCAR’s only Black driver, Bubba Wallace; and Angela James, one of the first superstars of women’s hockey. Additionally, CTV and TSN present a number of documentaries throughout the month, including Stone Thrower: The Chuck Ealey Story (Feb. 6); Family First: Meet The Nurses (Feb. 13); and WILLIE, a feature documentary on the NHL’s first Black player (Feb. 20).

TELUS is marking Black History Month by donating the full cost of the rental of 50 curated films featuring Black artists or Black history in the TELUS Video on Demand library. TELUS says it will donate the proceeds (up to $10,000) to The Black Health Alliance. TELUS’ Celebrating Black History collection is available now through March 1 to all Optik and Pik TV customers, and features biographical and historical films like 12 Years A Slave, Harriet, Hidden Figures, and Selma. Optik and Pik TV customers can also access a curated selection of free titles from TELUS Originals, STORYHIVE, and YouTube playlists available on the Community Connections channel (345), including Canadian films such as Who am I produced by Adhel Arop and Justin MacGrego, and The Walk On produced by Marshall Lee.

Bell Media and Bodacious Wines have partnered on three-part, short-form, unscripted series, The Stranger Experiment. Produced by Bell Media Studios and available for streaming on Crave, the series explores what happens when complete strangers meet for the first time in the midst of a global pandemic. Each episode features three pairs of strangers with polar opposite personalities as they answer revealing questions to discover if they can see past their differences and find common ground over a glass of wine. 

Blue Ant Media specialty channel Makeful TV brings the Australian competitive pet grooming series, Pooch Perfect (8×60), to Canadian audiences, starting Feb. 9. Hosted by actress and former dog handler, Rebel Wilson, alongside fluffy co-host, Russell the Brussel, the series features 10 professional stylists as they battle it out to be crowned Top Dog and win a top prize of $100,000. Makeful TV is currently in the midst of an eight-week nationwide free preview until April 4.