Canadian Television 2015 a Guide to Current Production
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.
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