Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) staff, audience members and visitors entering TIFF festival venues, Sept. 9-18, will be required to either show proof they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or that they have tested negative for the virus within 48 hours prior to entering any TIFF venue. Masks will also be required. There will be no printed tickets or passes with access to all TIFF Festival venues requiring a mobile ticket. There will also be no rush ticketing or lineups at any TIFF venues and no concessions sold at indoor venues. Drive-ins are the exception.
Amazon Prime Video has announced Rupi Kaur Live as its fifth Canadian original. The Indian-Canadian poet will be featured in the one-hour special described as a “distinctive fusion of poetry, humor, spoken word, music and compelling visuals inspired by her poetry collections.” It will stream on Prime Video in North America, starting Friday, Aug. 27.
CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s Paralympic network, will air more than 120 original hours of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games coverage on television, plus almost 1,500 hours of live streaming coverage via the CBC Sports app, CBC Gem, and CBC.ca/tokyo2020; the Radio-Canada Sports app and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques; as well as paralympic.ca/tokyo-2020. Hosted by Scott Russell, CBC’s broadcast schedule features three live shows per day, Monday-Saturday: Paralympic Primetime, Paralympic Late Night and Paralympic Afternoon, with daytime and evening shows airing on Sundays. Four-time Paralympic medallist Summer Mortimer joins Russell in-studio as a special analyst for select events, with CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux is the reporter on the ground in Tokyo. Broadcast partners Sportsnet and AMI will also offer regular coverage of key competitions. Described video will be offered on all CBC Daytime and Prime Time television coverage, and on the simulcast digital live-streams of live broadcasts, provided by Descriptive Video Works.
Entertainment Tonight Canada is expanding with a newly greenlit hour-long weekend edition of the show, ET Canada Weekend hosted by Sangita Patel. Airing Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. on Global, ET Canada Weekend premieres Sept. 18. The show will also stream live and on demand on STACKTV and the Global TV App. Patel will also continue to serve as an entertainment reporter for ET Canada weeknights on Global. ET Canada premieres its 17th season Tuesday, Sept. 7, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raised more than CAD $183.27 million during its seventh biennial television fundraising special on Saturday, Aug. 21 in Canada and the U.S. Funding raised from the show as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors supports research and breakthrough cancer treatments, in addition to public awareness campaigns. The celebrity-fueled event has raised over CAD $955 million since it was established in 2008.
Abacus Media Rights, a member of the Amcomri Media Group, has secured sales for CBC/HBO MAX Original comedy series Sort Of (8 x 30), due to premiere in Canada on CBC Gem and CBC TV in November, and in the U.S. on HBO Max this fall. Produced by Sienna Films, the series, which has been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Series Mania, where it will have its world premiere as part of the International Panorama line-up, has sold to Sky (UK), Stan (Australia), M6-Téva (France) and the Nordic Entertainment Group (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the Baltic countries), with more deals in the pipeline. The series is created by Bilal Baig (Acha Bacha) and Fab Filippo (Save Me), who also serve as showrunners and executive producers. Baig stars as a fluid millennial who straddles various identities as the youngest child in a large Pakistani family. Sort Of’s cast also includes Amanda Cordner (Baroness Von Sketch Show), Gray Powell (Hudson & Rex), Ellora Patnaik (Schitt’s Creek), among others.
Hollywood Suite has acquired award-winning Go Button Media documentary, No Roses on a Sailor’s Grave. Slated for its broadcast premiere Nov. 11, the documentary tells the story of a lost WWII ship and how two strangers, a last remaining survivor of the wreck and a young archeologist, recovered the vessel from forgotten history more than 70 years after it disappeared. CBC & Radio-Canada Distribution have taken the worldwide rights for the documentary (excluding Canada) and will soon announce its launch into the global market.
Hollywood Suite premieres original docuseries Relentless: The Kevin Porter Story on Sept. 21. In the four-part series, filmmaker Ryan Mains follows Ontario-based paramedic and firefighter Kevin Porter for over five years as he pursues his lifelong dream of playing professional hockey in his 40s. Against the backdrop of a chorus of naysayers and COVID-19 limitations that restrict his ability to train, the series features interviews with former pro hockey players Jim Thomson, Frank Littlejohn and David Ling. It will air, starting with two back-to-back episodes, followed by the final two episodes Sept. 28. The entire series will be available on Hollywood Suite On Demand, starting Sept. 1.
Riceboy Sleeps, the latest film from director, writer and actor Anthony Shim has started production in and around Vancouver. The film stars Ethan Hwang (The Umbrella Academy), Hunter Dillon (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Deadpool 2), Shim (Star Trek Beyond, The Man in the High Castle) and newcomer Choi Seung Yoon. Inspired by Shim’s childhood, The Canada/Korea production follows the story of a Korean single mother and her adolescent son living as immigrants in North America in the ‘90s. Shim’s sophomore feature film, his award-winning debut feature, Daughter, premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2019 and travelled the festival circuit before being picked up by CBC Gem in Canada and Amazon Prime in the U.S.
Smithsonian Channel looks at the guts and bolts of the world’s most innovative, multi-million dollar machines to spotlight the everyday hardhat heroes who oversee their operation in new original series, Impossible Repairs (6×60’). Hosted by filmmaker, adventurer, and survivalist Mike Davidson, the six-part series introduces audiences to an elite team of mechanics, engineers and technicians. Impossible Repairs will debut in Canada and the U.S. on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Smithsonian Channel in Canada is also available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ where Impossible Repairs will stream simultaneously.
Global’s fall schedule adds four new scripted dramas to its schedule, including new Global Original series Family Law, premiering Sept. 17. Viewers will get a special preview of the premiere episode Sept. 16. On Sept. 21, executive producer Dick Wolf brings viewers a three-hour FBI franchise event, capping off the night with the series premiere of FBI: International. In a two-night premiere event, NCIS: Hawai’i, starring Vanessa Lachey as the first female lead in the long-running franchise, premieres Sunday, Sept. 26, with episode two airing Monday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT in the show’s regular time slot. Lastly, the sequel to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation begins a brand-new chapter with CSI: Vegas premiering Wednesday, Oct. 6. Global’s comedy slate welcomes the previously announced Ghosts, a new single-camera comedy based on the British comedy of the same name, premiering Thursday, Oct. 7, followed by the sophomore season of Chuck Lorre comedy United States of Al, also premiering Thursday, Oct. 7.
Showcase’s fall line-up begins with the series conclusion of Supergirl, with the final season returning as of Aug. 24. Peacock Original series, Dr. Death is set to premiere Sunday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET. Based on Wondery’s hit podcast, Dr. Death is inspired by the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Joshua Jackson), a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Following the show’s season finale on Sunday, Oct. 31, viewers can tune into Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story, the first docuseries about Duntsch, told by those who survived it. Drama thriller, Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, premieres Monday, Oct. 11, following the early adventures of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Ashley Zukerman, Succession). Also new is Chucky, premiering Tuesday, Oct. 19, which sees an idyllic American town thrown into chaos after a vintage “Good Guy” doll turns up at a suburban yard sale. Returning series include The Sinner (Season 4), Batwoman (Season 3), Legacies (Season 4), and All American (Season 4).
Food Network Canada premieres Peacock Original series Top Chef Family Style on Sept. 16 as part of its fall lineup. The new series sees 13 culinary prodigies sharpen their knives to compete with an adult family member. The series is hosted by Grammy-winner Meghan Trainor with best-selling cookbook author Marcus Samuelsson serving as head judge. Food Network Canada’s Halloween event kicks off with Halloween Baking Championship (3×120, 4×60), on Sept. 13. The following Sunday, Road to Halloween Wars (1×60) premieres Sept. 19 ahead of the new season of Halloween Wars (7×60) at 9 p.m. ET/PT with new host and paranormal investigator Zak Bagans at the helm. Beginning Sept. 27, Corus Studios’ baking competition series The Big Bake: Halloween (5×60) debuts. Rounding out the schedule is a new season of carving competition series Outrageous Pumpkins returning Oct. 3 with host Alyson Hannigan.
CTV Life Channel has announced new original culinary series Mary Makes It Easy, airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, beginning Sept. 6. Hosted by two-time Canadian Screen Award winner Mary Berg, the new series is filmed on location in Toronto in her home kitchen where Berg shares step-by-step recipes and other tips aimed at leaving viewers with confidence to overcome their own culinary challenges.
Mary Mammoliti’s latest project for Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) is Dish with Mary, which will see the partially-sighted food blogger and host paired in a home cook-along with Canadian chefs. While Mammoliti is based in Toronto, guest chefs will connect with her from across the country via video technology. Dish with Mary debuts Sept. 16 on AMI-tv with episodes available to stream on AMI.ca and the AMI-tv App.
The Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is looking for a Canadian student at the university or college level who shows talent and passion for creating innovative children’s content. One outstanding Canadian student planning to pursue a career in children’s television or digital media production will be selected to receive the YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship, which enables the recipient to attend the Kidscreen Summit in Miami, the Banff World Media Festival, and access mentorship resources. Find the application form here.
