CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION Prepared for Michael Hennessy, President & CEO Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) Curated by Bill Brioux CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 1 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION CANADIAN TV ENTERS A GOLDEN AGE For the last 30 years, in my time reporting on it, television in Canada has undergone many changes. The one constant, however, has been the nagging impression that Canadian television is somehow inferior to the US brand. This notion has only intensified in recent years, in what some call the new “Golden Age” of TV drama. So, as many have been asking, where is Canada’s Golden Age? Well, you’ll find it in the pages of this book. Not everything that comes out of Canada is the quality of The Sopranos or Mad Men or Breaking Bad. Then again, few shows from America can come close to Bill Brioux these classics. The fact is Fargo, the most-nominated TV series at the 2014 Emmy Awards, is produced in the province of Alberta. Yes, the producers and many of the stars are Americans, but you should hear them gush about Canadian crews. Billy Bob Thornton, for one, is a fan. “One night, it went down to 40 below and they wouldn’t allow us to work,” he told me of working near Calgary on Fargo. “You figure if a Canadian says it’s too dangerous to go out there, it probably is too dangerous to go out.” FX Networks, considered the top non-premium US cable brand and a rival to HBO overall, invested The fact is television $100 million in Canada during the past TV season. has become a Fargo, The Strain and Man Seeking Woman were borderless business. the result – three shows any jurisdiction would be proud to produce. Mexican-born director and executive producer Guillermo del Toro has shot five projects in Toronto, including The Strain. “The crews are so fantastic,” he says. “When we work together in anything I produce, I feel the crew happy and blooming.” What about our creators and showrunners? A sign of Canada’s maturity as a TV nation is that homegrown executive producers can now feel confident planting their production flags on foreign soil. Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, the team behind the Can-Am success story Flashpoint, took their latest project—the war drama X Company—to Hungary. CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 1 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION In Man Seeking Woman, you have a Canadian—Ottawa-native Jay Baruchel—as the main star of an American production shooting in Canada. Toronto subs for Chicago in the narrative but that’s okay, says Baruchel. “What makes a Canadian project Canadian is something we all have to figure out,” he says. “It doesn’t always have to be Laura Secord running through the forest. If someone is from Canada and they create in Canada, and the money and tax dollars go back into Canada, that’s Canadian art.” Bill Brioux (left) in Toronto in Nov., 2014, moderating a celebration of 100 episodes of Murdoch Mysteries with series star Yannick Bisson. The fact is television has become a borderless business. In the past few years, I’ve travelled to Dublin, Budapest, Dieppe and Buenos Aires to report on Canadian-made productions. It was an eye-opener for me to see the giant footprint Canada has in Cannes at the annual MIPCOM TV marketplace. Shows such as The Book of Negroes shuttle actors and crews from Nova Scotia to Johannesburg en route to producing memorable television. Within Canada, it’s not just Vancouver and Toronto competing against Hollywood, Atlanta, Wilmington, New York and New Orleans as television production hubs. I’ve chased TV stories from Dawson City to Winnipeg to Regina to St. John’s to Montreal to Ottawa to Halifax to Hamilton, all in the past two years. Canadian television production is booming, and the proof can be found in these pages. This book doesn’t even tell the full story. Great children’s shows, TV-movies and documentaries are also in production from coast to coast. What we have here is a window on the main comedies, dramas and reality shows produced either in Canada or by Canadians. Because it is a first attempt to cull and catalogue on behalf of the Canadian Media Production Association, one or two shows may fall through the cracks. Apologies in advance, but if your production is somehow not showcased here, take heart that you live in a land where the TV industry is so vibrant and abundant that we left even your show out! With your help, this will be a more complete listing next time. It has been my good fortune to travel to sets in local and far-flung locations to speak with producers, actors, writers and crews to bring this great TV success story together. Welcome to a Golden Age of television any nation would be proud to call its own. Bill Brioux CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 2 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . 1 RATINGS . 4 TELEVISION GENRES DRAMA . 5 COMEDY . 27 UNSCRIPTED . 37 FOREIGN LOCATION & SERVICE PRODUCTION . 49 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 60 CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 3 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION RATINGS TOP CANADIAN SHOWS 2013 - 14 SEASON BROADCAST NUMERIS (BBM CANADA) AUG. 26, 2013 - AUG. 31, 2014, 2+ (,000) 1. AMAZING RACE CANADA 2 CTV TUES 2774 2. MASTERCHEF CANADA CTV MON 1819 3. ROOKIE BLUE GLO THURS 1597 4. SAVING HOPE CTV THURS 1582 5. MURDOCH MYSTERIES CBC MON 1335 6. MOTIVE CTV THURS 1282 7. THE LISTENER CTV MON 1114 8. DRAGON’S DEN CBC WED 1069 9. BATTLE OF THE BLADES CBC SUN 1054 10. RICK MERCER REPORT CBC TUES 1010 TOP CANADIAN SHOWS 2013 - 14 SEASON SPECIALTY NUMERIS (BBM CANADA) AUG. 26, 2013 - AUG. 31, 2014, 2+ (,000) 11. VIKINGS HIST THURS 904 12. BIG BROTHER CANADA SLICE THURS 702 13. BIG BROTHER CANADA SLICE WED 672 14. BIG BRIOTHER CANADA SLICE SUN 625 15. CANADA’S WORST DRIVER DISC MON 605 16. CONTINUUM SHO SUN 532 17. YUKON GOLD HIST WED 418 18. THE NEXT STEP FAM FRI 368 19. BITTEN SPACE SAT 347 20. ORPHAN BLACK SPACE SAT 337 CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 4 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION DRAMA CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 5 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION DRAMA ASCENSION CBC Premiere Feb. 9, 2015 • Originally commissioned by US cable net Syfy (Season 1) • Synopsis: In 1963, the US launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children Executive Philip Levens on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension Producers (Smallville), to populate a new world. Fifty-one years into their Jason Blum journey and approaching the point of no return, the (Stranded), ship’s population begins to question the true nature of Ivan Fecan, their mission after a young woman is murdered. Tim Gamble, • Shot in Montreal Brett Burlock • Six episodes Starring Brian Van Holt, Tricia Helfer, Jacqueline Byers, Brandon P. Bell, Tiffany Lonsdale, Wendy Crewson Production Lionsgate and Sea Companies to Sky Studios in association with Quebec-based Lift Off Productions and Blumhouse Productions RATINGS: Ascension opened to 869,000 overnight estimated viewers CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 6 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION DRAMA BITTEN SPACE Returning Feb. 7, 2015 • Bitten averaged 348,000 viewers in its timeslot, (Season 2 making it Space’s highest-rated original series of all time Created By Daegan Fryklind • On May 22, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes Executive Daegan Fryklind, • Based on the best-selling “Otherworld” books by Producers Grant Rosenberg, Canadian author Kelley Armstrong Patrick Banister, • Vandervoort says she was yakking about dogs and John Barbisan, PETA on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight when John Morayniss, the producers spotted her and called her in for this Margaret O’Brien, series Tecca Crosby, • Toronto plays Toronto in this series (as it does in the J.B. Sugar novels), nice for a change. It all takes place in the same studios where Flashpoint filmed, with Nikita Starring Laura Vandervoort, next door. Greyston Holt, • Vandervoort, who also was on V, is well acquainted Greg Bryk, with the sci-fi fan base. She’s worked a Comic-Con or Paul Greene, two and knows what she’s in for. She has a black belt Steve Lund, in real life, so that helps. Michael Xavier, Genelle Williams Production Hoodwink Company Entertainment, No Equal Entertainment One, Bell Media RATINGS: Bitten drew an average of 347,000 viewers a week in 2013-14, making it the 9th most-watched Canadian specialty program that season CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 7 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION DRAMA THE BOOK OF NEGROES CBC Premiere Jan. 7, 2015 • Opened to 1,941,000 CBC viewers, making it the highest-rated original drama for the network since Executive Damon D’Oliveira 1990 Producers Clement Virgo • Filming took place in Cape Town, South Africa as well Daniel Iron as various locations around Nova Scotia Bill Niven • Based on the novel of the same name by Canadian Margaret O’Brien author Lawrence Hill • The six-part miniseries premiered on BET in the United Starring Aunjanue Ellis States on February 16, 2015 Lyriq Bent • The miniseries drew raves from the critics: “Visually, Cuba Gooding Jr. the show is stunning, and Canadian director Clement Louis Gossett, Jr. Virgo’s painterly eye creates scenes of incredible Ben Chaplin beauty while telling an epic tale of inhumanity.” Allan Hawco – The Toronto Star Greg Bryk • “Aunjanue Ellis is astonishing throughout…” Jane Alexander – The Globe and Mail Production Conquering Lions Company Pictures, Entertainment One CANADIAN TELEVISION 2015 8 A GUIDE TO CURRENT PRODUCTION DRAMA CONTINUUM SHOWCASE Returning 2015 (Season 4) • The series premiered in the US on January 14, 2013 on Syfy • Reviewer Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times described Created by Simon Barry the series as “slick” and highlighted its attention to detail.