TV & Film News – Schitt’s Creek adds two Golden Globes to accolades

Schitt’s Creek beat out fellow nominees Ted Lasso, The Great, The Flight Attendant and Emily in Paris to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Comedy on Sunday. Star Catherine O’Hara also claimed the award for Best Actress, Musical or Comedy Series. Accepting on behalf of the series, co-creator Dan Levy thanked the Canadian cast and crew for their work on Schitt’s Creek’s over its six seasons. Since its 2015 debut on CBC, Schitt’s Creek has garnered more than 190 award nominations and is the most Emmy-nominated series in Canadian television history with 19. The series made history at the 2020 Emmy Awards with nine wins, the most in a single season for a comedy and the first Canadian win for Outstanding Comedy Series.

CAFTCAD Awards nominations are out with round two voting open to all CAFTCAD Members in good standing, March 5-28. Among the series earning multiple nominations for costume arts and design are Snowpiercer, Altered Carbon and Star Trek: Discovery. Vancouver-based costume designer Glenne Campbell, who has worked on Battlestar Galatica, Colony, Chesapeake Shores, Da Vinci’s Inquest and Bordertown, among other series, will be honoured with this year’s Nobis Industry Icon Award.

Telefilm has announced more details around the Short-Term Compensation Fund for Canadian Audiovisual Productions, which has been extended to March 31, 2022. Producers who have already applied for a project that begins shooting before March 31, 2021 and extends beyond that date must reapply for the portion that takes place after March 31, 2021. The measure has been put in place to allow all eligible producers to apply on the new opening date. Applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis, incumbent on earliest date of start of principal photography. Updated STCF Guidelines and the Pre-Eligibility Attestation Form are available here.

Telefilm has also provided an update on Phase 1 and Phase 2 disbursement of the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. $29,654,492 in relief funding was provided to 549 companies in total, with 471 in Phase 1, and an additional 81 in Phase 2. Companies that self-identified as being majority owned by an underrepresented group (Racialized Persons, Indigenous, Women, LGBTQ2+, Persons with disabilities, and Persons from Official Language minority communities) comprised 53.1% of all funding recipients.

Reshmi Nair and Nick Dixon are helming CP24’s new primetime show, CP24 Tonight, which premiered March 1. The two-hour program promises to go “beyond the headlines” of news stories spanning the GTA, as well as national and global issues. Nair joined CP24 in December following a brief stint as one of the anchors of Bell Media’s Quibi news content. Prior to joining Bell last March, she’d been anchoring for CBC News Network for a decade. Dixon returned to CP24 in 2020 after two years as the weekend anchor at CTV Toronto. Prior to that, he produced and anchored evening and late-night news at CHCH Hamilton for a decade. Read more here.

Frankie Drake Mysteries won’t be returning for a fifth season. Star Lauren Lee Smith announced that CBC had not renewed the series on her Instagram account Sunday, saying the cast is “incredibly disappointed.” Set in 1920s Toronto and co-created by Carol Hay, Michelle Ricci and Cal Coons, the female detective series also starred Chantel Riley, Rebecca Liddiard and Sharron Matthews. The series airs in the UK, Spain, Brazil, Central and Eastern Europe, Finland, Portugal and New Zealand.

Stories From the Land, a podcast dedicated to Indigenous storytelling, has been adapted into a documentary series by Wanderer Entertainment for CBC Short Docs. The four-part series, narrated and hosted by Anishinaabe comedian Ryan McMahon, will premiere on CBC Gem on March 12. The television series picks up where the podcast stream ends with each themed episode a collection of documentary stories, interviews and landscapes woven together by a visual tapestry backed by a soundtrack from Mohawk musician DJ Shub.

CBC is bringing four acclaimed dramas to Canadian audiences on CBC-TV and CBC Gem this spring, including the Canadian network premiere of the BAFTA and Emmy-nominated historical series Victoria on March 22; the Canadian network premiere of new British detective series Miss Scarlet and The Duke on March 29; the exclusive Canadian premiere of BBC limited series US starring Tom Hollander on April 4; and the Canadian broadcast premiere of new Australian psychological thriller The Secret She Keeps, starring Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael on April 14.

CTV, in association with Project 10 Productions and SEVEN24 Films, have announced that production has begun in Calgary on Season 3 of JANN. With Jann Arden starring as a fictionalized version of herself, Season 3 consists of eight half-hour episodes. Joining the cast in leading roles this season are Canadian actors Tenaj Williams (Big Sky, Wyonna Earp) and Charlie Kerr (Supernatural, The Magicians). Michael Bublé is confirmed to guest star as himself.

CTV’s new original documentary series This Is Pop dives into some of the most pivotal moments in pop music history over the past seven decades. Produced by Banger Films, the eight-part docuseries features exclusive interviews with Shania Twain, Boyz II Men, and T-Pain, exploring their impact on the industry and pop culture. The series airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, starting March 6 on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app.

HGTV Canada’s Island of Bryan (10×60) returns for a third season as Bryan and Sarah Baeumler work to achieve their dream of opening a boutique hotel in the Bahamas. Premiering April 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Season 3 captures the rollercoaster ride of Caerula Mar’s first year of business amidst the global pandemic. The first five episodes will air this spring with the latter half of the season to air in summer 2021. Season 2 of the series ranks as the #1 program for HGTV Canada in the past 10 years, surpassing the record previously held by Season 1. 

Sportsnet will be simulcasting Toronto Blue Jays’ TV broadcasts on the Sportsnet Radio Network this season. The network says the move is part of an effort to minimize travel and closely adhere to team, league, and government protocols related to the pandemic. The voices of Buck Martinez, Dan Shulman, and Pat Tabler will now be heard on both TV and radio. Ben Wagner remains part of the Blue Jays on Sportsnet broadcast team, joining Jamie Campbell, Joe Siddall, Hazel Mae, and Arash Madani. Coverage of all regular season games begins with Opening Day on April 1 on Sportsnet, SN NOW, and the Sportsnet Radio Network, while Blue Jays Spring Training broadcasts are being carried through March 29.

Sid Seixeiro signed off from Sportsnet on Friday as the Tim & Sid era comes to an end with Seixeiro’s move to join Breakfast Television in Toronto. Seixeiro and Tim Micallef have had a 20-year broadcast partnership, with the show starting as a podcast before becoming an afternoon show on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 The Fan (CJCL-AM) in 2011.

Blue Ant Media and New Zealand-based unscripted producer Dame Julie Christie have announced a new partnership that will see Christie acquire a majority stake and assume the role of CEO in New Zealand-based, factual production company, NHNZ. To be rebranded as NHNZ Worldwide, the production company will continue to be based in Dunedin. Blue Ant Media will continue to own NHNZ’s existing catalogue and a significant minority stake in NHNZ Worldwide. Sam Sniderman, Co-President, Global Content Production, Blue Ant Media has joined NHNZ Worldwide’s Board of Directors. Christie was the founder and creative force behind New Zealand’s Touchdown Productions, which was sold to Eyeworks in 2006 after which she became CEO of Eyeworks New Zealand & Australia. The acquisition of a majority stake in NHNZ Worldwide marks her return to television production.

Blue Ant Media has expanded its partnership with BBC Studios to launch BBC First in Canada. Featuring premium scripted and factual entertainment programming, BBC First joins existing Blue Ant Media and BBC Studios channel BBC Earth as part of Blue Ant Media’s Canadian cable television portfolio. Set to debut March 16, the ad-supported channel will give Canadians access to BBC First’s original British programming slate, including series like Top Gear, Death in Paradise, The Office, and The Graham Norton Show. BBC First will broadcast in Canada in HD and will replace Blue Ant Media’s existing HIFI channel. 

Wapanatahk Media has chosen to partner with Thunderbird Factual to launch a brand-new studio focused on Indigenous storytelling. Wapanatahk Media is co-founded by Indigenous producers Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley McLean, both of whom have lived knowledge of Indigenous creative communities. The studio’s very first series, Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet, has already been sold to APTN and Blue Ant. 

The Last Walrus by award-winning filmmaker Nathalie Bibeau premieres March 12 on CBC’s The Nature of Things. The documentary sheds light on the debate around marine mammal captivity, putting the world’s most well-known walrus, Smooshi, at the heart of it. The doc features the Vancouver Aquarium and the work of Dr. David Rosen (UBC/Marine Mammal scientist) as well as Dr. Shawn Noren from UC Santa Cruz.

CKPG-TV and the Prince George Community Foundation hosted the first Prince George Live! Variety Show and Fundraiser on Feb. 28. The event featured in-studio host Kyle Sampson and remote entertainment features including comedian Mike McGuire, a performance by the Judy Russell Dance Academy, and musical performances by Studio 720 and Rick Stavely. Over the course of the evening, more than $55,000 was raised for the foundation via online, telephone and auction donations. 

Hollywood Suite has announced an agreement with Mongrel Media to bring over 20 premium titles to the service over the next year. The deal includes Iranian animated feature Persepolis (2007), which kicked off Hollywood Suite’s recurring World Cinema Wednesdays initiative this week, designed to highlight great films from around the globe. It will also bring Sun Children (2020) to Hollywood Suite, which has been shortlisted for Best International Feature at the 2021 Academy Awards. Other films included in the partnership are Bandar Band (2020), RBG (2018), A Fantastic Woman (2017), The Lobster (2014), The Lunchbox (2013), A Royal Affair (2012) and Let the Right One In (2008). 

Hollywood Suite will feature a month of films featuring women behind and in front of the camera in honour of International Women’s Day on March 8. One of the key films featured in the collection is Colette (2018), starring Keira Knightley in the role of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, forced to ghostwrite under her husband’s name. Other titles include Ossie Davis-directed Black Girl (1972) on March 9; Nora Ephron’s Mixed Nuts (1994) on March 19; and 1986 feature Seven Minutes In Heaven, directed by Linda Feferman and starring Jennifer Connelly and Maddie Corman. 

TELUS is marking International Women’s Day by donating the cost of a curated list of movie rentals – up to $10,000 – from the Breaking the Glass Ceiling collection in the TELUS Video on Demand library to Dress for Success Canada. From now until March 14, the full cost of rentals ($5 to $7) from the category will go to support the not-for-profit organization offering career development tools for at-risk and underemployed women. 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), produced by Canadian female filmmakers.