CMPA • INDIESCREEN WINTER 2017 YOUR DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE PHENOMENAL CONTENT CREATED BY CANADA’S INDEPENDENT MEDIA PRODUCERS MARGARET MÉLANIE JOLY ATWOOD THE MINISTER OF THE AWARD-WINNING CANADIAN HERITAGE AUTHOR ON HER CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON BRINGING ALIAS GRACE AND THE BRIGHT FUTURE SHE SEES Winter 2017 TO LIFE ON SCREEN FOR MADE-IN-CANADA CONTENT MARGARET MÉLANIE ATWOOD JOLY IS TAKING HER ART DOING THE TO A SCREEN HONOURABLE VERY NEAR YOU THING FOR 24 FEATURE CULTURE 6 THE CMPA LEADS negotiations with unions, broadcasters and funders 30 EXPLORES CANADIAN COMEDY new digital and international SERIES 56 business models 10 CANADIAN UNSCRIPTED BUILDS CANADIAN DRAMA SERIES opportunities for established and SERIES 40 emerging content creators DHX MEDIA MAKES BIG MOVES IN Through international delegations, 22 VANCOUVER New studio brings talent best-in-class professional THE MANY ROLES under one roof development, mentorship OF THE CREATIVE 68 programs and more, the CMPA ENTREPRENEUR CANADIAN advances the interests of What does an independent producer do? CHILDREN’S AND Canada’s indie producers. We 3 43 YOUTH SERIES see a bright future for Canadian CEO MESSAGE th CANADIAN production. This year marks Canada’s 150 anniversary, and all across the DOCUMENTARY country, people are gearing up 28 SERIES to celebrate A VISUAL HISTORY 86 Join us. Make it happen. SVOD AND CHILL cmpa.ca/membership OF CANADIAN TV Canadian video on demand The first 60 years for an intimate night in 4 53 HOME AND AWAY HERE’S LOOKING 89 Sometimes the stand-in, AT YOU, KIDS sometimes the star, Canada has A brief history of Canadian FOREIGN LOCATION an undeniable screen presence children’s programming SERVICE Pictured (top to bottom): The Other Side, Hi Opie!, Halcyon, Pictured (top to bottom): Bellevue, Anne, Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood Pictured (top to bottom): Property Brothers, Yukon Gold Kim’s Convenience FOR THE PLAID-CLAD HIPSTER IN HIS TWENTIES LOOKING TO SEAL THE DEAL WITH THE SPANDEX-ENCASED BEEFCAKE FROM THE GYM LETTERKENNY LEGEND GO-TO CONTENT TO SEAL THE DEAL NEXT STEPS DRINK Some fresh, local, Let him call you. Yer too FOOD NEXT STEPS: produce 10 good to be doin’ the chasin’. - Purple Passion FOR THE SNAPCHAT-ADDICTED TWENTYSOME Punch…Pitter Patter! THING LOOKING FOR A FACE-TO-FACE WITH THEIR LATEST TINDER MATCH 39 FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED DIVORCED DAD, WHO HAS THE KIDS EVERY OTHER WEEKEND, TRYING TO WOO 53 THE SINGLE MOM NEXT DOOR SCHITT’S Canada’s independent producers are Canada’s storymakers. CREEK THIS YEAR MARKS CANADA’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY, AND They play a crucial role in bringing our stories to life through the MR. D production of compelling content. Working in film and television, Add your special someone on Enchiladas…Don’t forget NEXT STEPS: to fold in the cheese! Snapchat, send some selfies and pretend to be ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, and across a host of new digital platforms, independent producers in love. That is until someone else comes along and Super Likes you. Then dump them like a … Shortbread preferably Call after three days and make stories that represent all Canadians and reflect the diverse NEXT STEPS: bed-bug-infested mattress. right from Africa! PEOPLE ARE GEARING UP Fruit smoothie suggest repeating the activity. Be a gentleman and varied voices that make up this great land. and offer to pay for89 her babysitter. TO CELEBRATE. IT’S AN Alcohol. Any alcohol at all. As part of the CMPA’s sesquicentennial celebration, this issue of FOR THE CAREER WOMAN WHO HAS IT EXCITING TIME, AND A GREAT ALL—EXCEPT FOR SOMETHING CASUAL WITH THE Indiescreen looks back at our country’s rich history in television. We THOUGHTFUL LAWYER-TYPE THAT SHE KEEPS FOR THE AMERICAN LOOKING TO SNAG A BUMPING INTO AT WHOLE FOODS CANADIAN—AND A PASS INTO THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT trace the impressive growth of Canadian children’s programming 86 COUNTRY IN THE WORLD ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE (“Here’s Looking at You, Kids,” page 53) and examine why our indie HOW TO producers have been so successful in exporting kids’ content to the SAVE THE TRAILER PARK BOYS: CANADIAN. SO WHAT COULD POSSIBLY UNITE world. The photo spread on page 28 highlights many of the definitive WORLD IF YOU DON’T SPEAK MILLENNIAL, THE MOVIE shows that make up our TV history and identifies where some of “NETFLIX AND CHILL?” IS HOW TODAY’S KIDS 36 MILLION CITIZENS, SPREAD ACROSS EXTEND AN INVITATION FOR AN INTIMATE NIGHT IN. today’s biggest stars got their start. Something grown within a None. It was fun. You just NEXT STEPS: Kraft Dinner and ketchup Pack your bags! 20-kilometre radius NEXT STEPS: But it’s not just for Millennials, anybody can give it a try. All you need is keep doing you. You’re too busy being the chips 10 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETRES? IN MY comfortable seating, food, drinks, and some sort of SVOD service. One change you want to see to be tied down. We also take a look at two of the most anticipated Canadian note of caution – using the term “SVOD” might kill the mood a bit. OPINION, IT’S THE STORIES WE TELL. WITHIN Fair-trade coffee …in a productions set to air later this year. Our exclusive interview with Rum and Coke Overwhelmed by the possibilities of what to watch, serve and do? 28 whisky glass that never Follow our simple steps below and you’ll be well on your way to leaves your hand. OUR BORDERS, YOU’LL FIND PEOPLE WITH Margaret Atwood (page 24) follows the fascinating process of next-level chillin’. And yes, we know what you’re er, that wondering: is, equivalent. you can adapting the novel Alias Grace into a story told on screen. We also make it work with Canadian equivalents… A STAGGERING VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS, Finally, be advised that the goal is to not finish whatever it is you start interview Screen Siren Pictures’ Trish Dolman about her project watching. If you do, you’ve done it wrong. EXPERIENCES AND HISTORIES. OUR ABILITY Canada In A Day, which captures life from Nunavut to Newfoundland, TO SHARE STORIES WITH ONE ANOTHER HELPS as filmed by Canadians over a single 24-hour period. WINTER 2017 US TO DEFINE OUR VALUES AND PROMOTE The country’s 150th birthday comes at a pivotal time for the production sector and our cultural industries. With the Canadian OURSELVES TO THE WORLD. Content in a Digital World consultations now complete, we sit down 40 with Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, to learn about her cultural influences and the bright future she envisions for PRESIDENT AND CEO: Reynolds Mastin made-in-Canada content (page 6). We also hear from the CMPA’s Chair of Mentorship, Bob Crowe (page 39), about nurturing diverse voices in film and television, and how indie producers have a hand in building a strong national identity. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Andrew Addison CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Kyle O’Byrne Proud past, shining future. With the digital shift currently underway, WITH there’s no doubt change is on the horizon, but there’s not much STAFF CONTRIBUTORS: Elizabeth Barr, Nadine CANADA’S Brito, Marcia Douglas, Claire Lucht we can’t overcome on the strength of our collective experience, creativity and grit. Here’s to the next 150 years of opportunities, TALENT CONTRIBUTOR AND COPY EDITOR: Lisa Svadjian challenges and production of unforgettable stories. EDITORIAL INTERN: Adelaide Sternberg DESIGN AND LAYOUT: FleishmanHillard 39 BOB CROWE 67 JENNIFER MCCARRON Sharing knowledge to The beats go on strengthen the future REYNOLDS MASTIN President and CEO, CMPA 88 TRISH DOLMAN 52 JEAN BUREAU Reflecting Canada’s Our man in Versailles diversity (in a day) QUEBEC With its sidewalk cafés and 18th-century architecture, NOVA SCOTIA Is there something in the water? This Maritime Montreal has the reputation of being the closest thing to a European province is a magnet for shows with a supernatural bent, but it city in Canada. But Montreal can also unveil its tougher side as the may be best known as the birthplace of trailer-park, er, charm. setting for a good old police procedural—or tuck away its bilingual charm to play a major American city. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND What Canada’s smallest province AND lacks in size, it makes up for in remarkable geography, with NEWFOUNDLAND Canada’s most easterly province may have unmistakable features like red-sand beaches and lush farmland. HOME AWAY been the last to the Confederation party, but as the site of one of So unmistakable, in fact, that L.M. Montgomery might hold the the earliest New World colonies, it possesses a certain historical monopoly on filming here. je ne sais quoi. SOMETIMES THE STAND-IN, HOME SOMETIMES THE STAR, CANADA HAS AN UNDENIABLE SCREEN AWAY PRESENCE. OUR COUNTRY’S ARCTIC AIR DIVERSE GEOGRAPHY ALLOWS IT Yellowknife = TO QUICKLY SLIP INTO COSTUME Yellowknife AS ANY NUMBER OF PLACES, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME BUT IT TRULY SHINES WHEN IT Baffin Island = Austria PLAYS ITSELF. FRONTIER Newfoundland = 18th-century REPUBLIC OF DOYLE North America St. John’s = St. John’s BREAKER HIGH Burnaby = Every exotic location the THE ARCTIC Just look at all that tundra! TIN STAR cruise ship/high school Calgary = Little Big Bear The great white north may seem inhospitable ever visited (a fictional town in the to many, but it always comes through with Canadian Rockies) HOME AND AWAY one-of-a-kind snowscapes. BRITISH COLUMBIA Mountain ranges, LESS THAN KIND cityscapes and ocean views? You’re not Winnipeg = Winnipeg INDIESCREEN / dreaming—British Columbia really does have it all.