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CANADIAN CANADA $7 SUMMER 2017 VOL.19, NO.3 SCREENWRITER FILM | TELEVISION | RADIO | DIGITAL MEDIA WGC Screenwriting Awards 2017 Cardinal: An Atmospheric International Hit Emily Andras And Her Wynonna Earp Posse The Legacy of PM40011669 Denis McGrath BM_WGC2017_flpg_ad.pdf 1 2017-04-28 3:18 PM CANADIAN SCREENWRITER The journal of the Writers Guild of Canada Vol. 19 No. 3 Summer 2017 Contents ISSN 1481-6253 Cover Publication Mail Agreement Number Our Denis McGrath Tribute 6 400-11669 The Writers Guild of Canada, the Canadian television Publisher Maureen Parker industry, and Toronto Blue Jays fans lost a giant when Editor Tom Villemaire longstanding Guild councillor Denis McGrath passed [email protected] away, and at such a young age. Some of his friends and Director of Communications Li Robbins colleagues share their thoughts on Denis’s legacy. By Diane Wild Editorial Advisory Board Michael MacLennan Susin Nielsen Features Simon Racioppa WGC Awards 14 Rachel Langer A night celebrating the best Canadian screenwriters President Jill Golick (Central) and their creations, with the winners and Councillors party photo coverage! Michael Amo (Atlantic) Mark Ellis (Central) Cardinal Killing It As International Hit 30 Dennis Heaton (Pacific) A series that has had three seasons purchased, two as a Anne-Marie Perrotta (Quebec) package, is selling in Europe and inspiring Andrew Wreggitt (Western) praise among critics. But is it all good news? Design Studio Ours The WGC also weighs in on implications Printing Ironstone Media of six episode seasons. Canadian Screenwriter is By Matthew Hays published three times a year by the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC). Spooky Canadian Western 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 401 Embraced by LGBTQ Community Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R9 & Fantasy Fans 34 TEL: (416) 979-7907 FAX: (416) 979-9273 Revenants and the descendents of a western WEBSITE: www.wgc.ca legend battle in western Canada in an adaptation by Emily Andras of the comic Wynonna Earp Subscriptions: WGC members receive a subscription as part of their membership. and becomes a surprise hit. Non-member subscriptions: $20 for By Katherine Brodsky three issues. Advertising policy: Readers should not W-Files assume that any products or services Alexandra Zarowny — By Mark Dillon 39 advertised in Canadian Screenwriter are endorsed by the WGC. Tamara Moulin — By Kendra Wong 41 Editorial Policy: The WGC neither implicitly nor explicitly endorses opinions or attitudes Columns expressed in Canadian Screenwriter. From the Editor/Contributors 2 Submissions are subject to editing for Inside/Out — Jill Golick 3 length, style and content. First Break — Dennis Heaton 44 Advertising Sales: Visit www.wgc.ca or contact Li Robbins at [email protected] News Letters to the editor are subject to editing Beat Sheet 4 for length. Not all letters are published. Spotlight 43 Money for Missing Writers 38 New Members 42 FROM THE EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Meeting the challenges Summer 2017 Katherine Brodsky is a Vancouver- based writer who has written for The Washington Post, The Guardian, Variety, Esquire, Entertainment Brothers and sisters in ink, we face them every day: challenges, Weekly, and even Playboy Magazine. challenges, challenges. She has interviewed a diverse range As if it weren’t enough to finally have a show greenlit, life, industry of intriguing personalities including and chance can throw crowbars, wrenches, lamprey eels, pianos, safes Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer, and — you get the idea — in your way. (OK, the whole lamprey eel thing was Nobel prize winners. Sometimes probably gratuitous.) It’s like living in a cartoon. she writes scripts, too. Take Wynonna Earp — just one of the recent Canadian television Find her on Twitter @mysteriouskat success stories that has seen more than its share of challenges. The Beau Smith classic comic had been out of print for almost a decade. First Mark Dillon is a Toronto-based published in 2003, it had bounced around before popping up on Emily freelance journalist and former editor Andras’ radar. of Playback magazine. He is author of It attracted interest from SyFy in the U.S. but needed a Canadian the award-winning Fifty Sides of The broadcaster to get access to Canadian funding. CHCH, the Hamilton, Beach Boys. Ontario-based independent, obtained the broadcast rights to Andras’ demonic western in the fall of 2015. The CHCH operation had some Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based problems and one arm declared bankruptcy just as shooting for season writer, author, and university and one was taking place. Perhaps most ominous was the cancellation of the college instructor. His articles have station’s 6 p.m. newscast on December 11, 2015. appeared in the Globe and Mail, When the news is cancelled on a local television station, usually The New York Times, Maclean’s, there’s some sort of coup going on. But shooting for Wynonna Earp The Toronto Star and many others. continued and it was slotted for debut on Canadian airwaves via CHCH His book, The View from Here: the following April 4, three days after its American premiere. And it was Conversations with Gay and Lesbian a hit. Andras and her fellow screenwriters tapped into not only the fans Filmmakers (Arsenal Pulp), won a of the comic, but also of their own previous work. And word of mouth. 2008 Lambda Literary Award. The show was signed for season two. Great! And it was picked up by Bell Media and Netflix. But the success was due to hard work, craft and talent Dennis Heaton is an award-winning — nothing mysterious about it. writer and producer, currently serving Same with Cardinal. While this series doesn’t have the challenges as co-showrunner and executive of an embattled independent backing it, it faced challenges just the producer on the SYFY/Netlfix series same. And I’m not talking about shooting in Sudbury. I live in what is Ghost Wars. Other credits include considered Northern Ontario and I love it. Motive, Call Me Fitz, and Fido. No, I’m talking about the interesting challenge of trying to write the second and third season almost at the same time. That requires a Diane Wild is a Vancouver-based special brand of creativity and organizational genius on the part of the writer, editor and health care com- showrunners and screenwriters. municator who founded the TV, eh? Adapt or die, as they say. It’s often easier said than done. And even website and gallivants to work on the if it’s done, it is not often done with the same incredible success that Olympics every couple of years. Cardinal has enjoyed. And then there’s Dennis Heaton. We brought back an old favorite Kendra Wong is a journalist in Victoria, called My First Break. It requires a working screenwriter with an B.C. She has a bachelor of arts from Si- interesting story to tell how they broke into the business. mon Fraser University and a certificate Heaton’s experience is, um, no doubt unique. But we can all learn in journalism from Langara College. from it. After all, as we learned from Heaton and the screenwriters who She has worked at newspapers in have given us shows like Cardinal and Wynonna Earp, our success is in the Lower Mainland including Metro our hands — despite all the challenges. Hallelujah, brothers and sisters. Vancouver, the Tri-Cities NOW and the Or something like that. Smithers Interior News in northern B.C. She currently works as a reporter with — Tom Villemaire the Victoria News. 2 INSIDE/OUT — FROM THE PRESIDENT Reimagining Development It may be time to rethink how we develop the television series. The mechanism that gets us from that initial flash of inspiration to production green light — is important. Especially when Canadian creations are fighting for attention in a global market. The startup phenomena of the tech world has some great ideas that might apply. For as long as I can remember door number two: Do it yourself. Applying this model to film, there have been two routes for Spend months or years building television, and digital content developing original ideas: shop it your world and writing and would mean providing writers with early or shop it late. rewriting bibles, scripts etc. Don’t the resources they need to move Many experienced writers shop it until your full vision is on from concept to market ready. The don’t want to spend months or the page. Taking this route, you can incubator would fund the writer years developing a property for move at your own pace. You still get during his or her residency and which there is no market interest. feedback from trusted friends but provide whatever resources were They develop a pitch and take it out you’ll probably have to do without needed for the particular project. to broadcasters. If development market intelligence producers and Experienced creators and show- dollars are forthcoming, the writer broadcasters bring to the table. And runners would serve as mentors. continues working, creating bibles, you won’t get paid. Early in the process, Cana- crafting outlines, writing scripts The tech community has an dian and international broadcast- or whatever the deal requires. alternate approach that offers the ers, distributors and other buyers There are advantages to this route: best of both of these worlds. It starts would be invited to talk to creators you get paid, broadcaster and with the understanding that all about what’s trending and what’s in producing partners provide market revenue is driven from intellectual demand. We could even adapt the insight and there is a constant property. IP — whether a concept rapid iteration model by bringing feedback loop — the partners read for a new app or a new TV series — is each development stage to a panel of every stage and respond.