TV & Film News – Schitt’s Creek finale season earns 15 Emmy nominations

Schitt’s Creek is going out with 15 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Eugene Levy; an Outstanding Lead Actress nod for Catherine O’Hara; and Supporting nominations for Annie Murphy and Daniel Levy. Dan Levy also earned a nomination for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the series finale episode “Happy Ending,” while David West Read was nominated for a Writing award for “The Presidential Suite” episode in the same category. Editors Paul Winestock and Trevor Ambrose are both nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For a Comedy Series. The show also picked up nominations for Outstanding Sound Mixing; Outstanding Casting; Contemporary Costumes; Hairstyling; and Makeup. Other Canadian nominations include: Sandra Oh for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Killing Eve; Stephan James for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for Quibi’s #FreeRayshawn; Martin Short earned a nod for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dick Lundy on The Morning Show, while Hamilton’s Luke Kirby looks to go two-for-two in the comedy category for his guest appearance on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel after his win last year. Read more here.

Telefilm Canada has released the results of its gender-parity initiatives for projects funded during the 2019-20 fiscal year. The statistics show continued growth in Telefilm funding for productions directed or written by women with all three key creative roles (director/producer/screenwriter) reaching the parity zone (40%+) in terms of number of films. 47% of Telefilm-supported projects had at least two women in a key role, surpassing the previous year’s result of 41%. The largest increase was seen in support for directors, rising from 29% to 42% of total funding, while there was a loss of women producers. Female producers on French-language Telefilm projects dropped from 57% to 34%, while on English projects, the percentage of women producers fell to 32%, compared to 43% in 2018-19. Improvement was seen in women-helmed projects with budgets exceeding $2.5 million, in terms of both project volume (41%) and funds invested (42%).

outACTRAto, the LGBTQ+ committee of ACTRA Toronto, has introduced the Working with Queer Performers guideline. Written by Merlin Simard, Kiley May, and Joanne Vannicola, it aims to encourage a change in the way screenwriters, agents, casting directors, directors, producers and productions treat queer performers and break down existing barriers for queer performers in the industry. The guideline follows up on the launch of the committee’s PSA, Queer Your Stories, last year. It includes concrete suggestions to expand the way queer performers are portrayed, managed, auditioned, cast and directed, as well as a useful glossary.

The CRTC has approved an application by TELUS for a broadcasting licence to operate a national on demand programming undertaking. The application was previously approved in 2014, but due to difficulty negotiating programming agreements, TELUS was unable to launch the service prior to the July 2018 deadline, even with an extension. TELUS, which plans to launch within the next 24 months, says the English-language service will offer live and tape-delayed professional and amateur sports events, as well as live and tape-delayed special events including comedy sketches, improv, stand-up, music and dance, variety, general entertainment and human interest.

The CRTC has approved Rogers’ plan to convert Citytv Edmonton’s Red Deer transmitter to digital, which will increase its average effective radiated power (ERP) from 3,480 to 19,000 watts (maximum ERP from 7,000 to 35,000 watts), and increase the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 229.70 to 225.60 metres. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.

AMI is set to broadcast a series of documentaries on how COVID-19 has affected the health and well-being of Canadians in the arts and disability community. Airing from Aug. 24-27, the documentaries – hosted by AMI This Week’s bureau reporters – are the latest to be produced by AMI’s award-nominated in-house production arm. They range from Arts, Culture & COVID-19 (Aug. 25), a look at the arts and culture community in Ottawa during the pandemic, to Powered Up: Empowered by Assistive Technology (Aug. 26), Grant Hardy’s look at a range of accessible technology for these unprecedented times. Alex Smith also hosts Paralympics Postponed: The Long Road to Tokyo (Aug. 27), which checks in with Canadian Paralympic athletes and trainers following the postponement of the Tokyo Paralympics. AMI’s original programming can be streamed post-broadcast on AMI.ca or using the AMI-tv App.

Showcase and W Network have announced the premiere dates for their primetime 2020 fall schedules. Following the recent announcement that Corus will air marquee Peacock Original programming in Canada, Showcase premieres Aldous Huxley adaptation Brave New World on Sept.13, starring Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Ceasar!), Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones). That’s followed by David Schwimmer (Friends) UK sitcom, Intelligence, and then British comedy, Hitmen. American true crime series Interrogation joins the lineup Sept. 24, starring Peter Sarsgaard, Kyle Gallner, David Strathairn and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Bulletproof, the story of two childhood best friends from different backgrounds who grow up to become undercover cops in London’s East End, premieres Sept. 30, along with Tell Me A Story, which puts a dark twist on classic fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Hansel and Gretel. Joining the W Network schedule is Why Women Kill, premiering Sept. 6, a dark comedy following Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love) and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place), as they each deal with infidelity in their marriages in three separate decades. New Patrick Dempsey series Devils premieres Sept. 16, while Hallmark Channel’s Fall Harvest starts airing on W, starting Sept. 12. Showcase is available on nationwide free preview from Aug. 28 to Sept. 30 and W Network from Nov. 1 to Dec. 13.