This year’s Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award winners will be announced on April 22. We’ve been catching up with many of the writers nominated in the comedy and drama categories. Heartland‘s Leila Basen is nominated for her episode “Life is a Highway.”
Can you describe the episode “Life is a Highway” and how it fit into the Heartland season?
“Life as a Highway” marks the return of Chase Powers, a charismatic but incorrigible cowboy who makes an unexpected visit to Heartland and puts Amy and Ty’s relationship to the test.
What was the biggest triumph in this particular episode?
Showing the human side of a basically unredeemable character.
What does this recognition mean to you?
Heartland has been going strong for six years on the CBC, and it’s great that this year we got two WGC script nominations.
If there was one Canadian show that is no longer on the air that you could see honoured at this year’s awards, what would it be? (If you have a specific episode, even better).
My vote would be Mental Block, a tween comedy that ran two seasons, 2002 to 2004 on YTV. (Full disclosure – Mental Block was a show I co-created and wrote with David Preston.) It was a WGC Awards finalist twice in the Youth Category, but didn’t win either time because (according to one of the jurors) it was too funny for Youth and should have been in the Comedy Category. It would be great if it could win an award, even posthumously.
This year’s Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award winners will be announced on April 22. We’ve been catching up with many of the writers nominated in the comedy and drama categories. Denis McGrath was nominated for his episode of Less Than Kind, “Danger, Wrestling.”
Can you describe the episode “Danger, Wrestling” and how it fit into the Less Than Kind season?
It’s actually part of the “lost” 3rd season. As most people know, our beloved Sam Blecher, the great Maury Chaykin, passed away while we were writing Season 3. I wrote the first draft of “Danger, Wrestling” with a B-Plot featuring Sam. That had to be rewritten by the room eventually – and by that point I was on another show. I went with my draft, which had some elegiac stuff with Sam that obviously, we weren’t able to use.
Other than that there’s fun stuff of Josh auditioning talent for his acting school — and Sheldon discovers the joys of wrestling.
What was the biggest triumph in this particular episode?
Well there’s two answers to that. Obviously for the show, the fact that they rallied and got the whole season made as a tribute to Maury and wound up with a beautiful exploration of how a family moves through grief — that’s so much greater than any individual contribution, and a testimony to the talent of Mark McKinney, the creators Marvin (Kaye) & Chris (Sheasgreen), and the team they put together.
But personally? I don’t write a lot of comedy … I’m mostly a drama writer. When I was considering whether to enter the script — I have to thank Karen Hill for that — I reread it for the first time in two years and really laughed. There’s a wonderful subplot about Sam tracing the ups and downs of a piece of stock — and him coming to terms with selling it (for the same amount he bought it for 30 years ago) – but it’s really about him coming to terms with feeling his sons will be okay without him. I’d like to think that my strength as a drama writer is a light touch, and as a comedy writer, I go for the big cry. That’s a little messed up, isn’t it?
What does this recognition mean to you?
So much. I love LTK. It’s employed some of my best friends. Working on the show brought my fiancee and I together. I came from a family that yelled, with love … so I recognize those characters. I’ve had an incredibly lucky career and after winning a WGC Award for writing a drama show, it’s humbling and exciting to get nominated for comedy. And it’s a recognition by my writer peers, and that is incredibly important to me.
If there is one Canadian show that is no longer on the air that you could see honoured at this year’s awards, what would it be? (If you have a specific episode, even better).
For the love of God, why has CBC not done a Street Legal reunion/reboot movie? I miss Chuck and Olivia. I can’t be alone on that one. But the truth is — they ALL should be honoured. From Wojeck to DaVinci to Intelligence to the first 30 years of Citytv we have made, and continued to make, wonderful TV in Canada. I think it’s sad that we only note that when the New York Times or some American publication says so.
There are such strong nominees this year. So many great scripts. I am so jazzed to be among that talent. Maybe I can make a go of this writing thing.
Less Than Kind is entering into its fourth and final season on The Movie Network/Movie Central in 2013.
From a media release:
YTV Announces Carlos Bustamante as the New Host of The Next Star
- Six-city audition search begins Saturday, April 20 in Montreal
Today Tricon Films and Television and Corus Entertainment’s YTV announced that Canadian television personality Carlos Bustamante (YTV’s The Zone, Big Fun Movies) is taking on the role as host of The Next Star for the show’s sixth season set to air in July 2013. Carlos will be joining the cross-Canada audition tour with returning judges Keshia Chanté, Tara Oram, and Mark Spicoluk, to usher The Next Star’s new hopefuls from their first audition to finale.
As a long-time host of YTV’s The Zone, Big Fun Movies and the celebrity interview specials One 2 One, Carlos has interviewed A-list celebrities including One Direction, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. No stranger to the spotlight, Carlos is also a talented dancer and has trained and performed across North America since his professional career began at age eight. Carlos always makes the time to give back to the community and has been found working alongside Kids Help Phone, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Ontario Special Olympics, The Hospital for Sick Children and UNITY charity.
As with previous seasons, The Next Star auditions will be open to kids aged 15 and under and will focus on finding Canada’s next singing sensation. Open casting calls will be held in the following cities on these dates:
Saturday, April 20
Palais des congres de Montreal
1001 Place Jean Paul Riopelle, Montreal, QC H2Z 1M2
Wednesday, April 24
WTCC Halifax
1800 Argyle St., Halifax, NS B3J 3N8
Wednesday, May 8
MacEwan Conference & Event Centre
402 Collegiate Blvd NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
Saturday, May 11
Vancouver Convention Centre
1055 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC V5T 4V5
Tuesday, May 14
Winnipeg Convention Centre
375 York Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3C 3J3
Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19
Toronto Metro Convention Centre
255 Front St. W, Toronto, ON M5V 2W6
Additional information about open casting call locations will be announced Monday, March 25 on www.nextstar.ytv.com and via the show’s new cross-platform digital destination, Next Star Nation.
The Next Star’s sixth season will premiere July 2013 on YTV and will follow the young finalists on their once-in-a-lifetime journey as they master their sound, style and stage presence. R&B star Keshia Chanté, Canada’s country sweetheart Tara Oram, and music biz impresario Mark Spicoluk, will return to preside over the judges’ table, ready to guide the finalists to find their best sound, and give the performances of a lifetime.
(Screen capture by Jason Wagar)
Diane and Anthony talk Canadian TV news (and talk and talk):
Motive moves to Thursdays, Linda Hamilton guests on Lost Girl and Hugh Dillon on Continuum, Laura Vandervoort will star in Bitten, CTV orders Spun Out, Best Laid Plans is coming to CBC, YTV renews The Next Star, CBC plugs the wrong Jack, Canadian broadcasters want a piece of foreign distribution money, Bell wants a giant piece of the Canadian TV industry, and the Toronto Star makes an unarguable argument that Canadian TV is superior to Canadian movies.
Episode 126: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed.
Your hosts
- Anthony Marco can be found at anthonymarco.com, and on Twitter here and here.
- Diane Wild can be found here at TV, eh? and on Twitter here and here.
From a media release:
YTV greenlights Season 6 of hit series The Next Star
- Keshia Chanté, Tara Oram and Mark Spicoluk return as judges
- New host to be announced on March 20
Corus Entertainment’s YTV is pleased to announce that the network’s top-rated series The Next Star will be back for Season 6. Hot on the heels of Season 5 winner Brooklyn’s popular single “Lemon & Lime,” The Next Star is anticipating another year of pop-star talent discovery. The series will premiere July 2013 on YTV and will follow the young finalists on their once-in-a-lifetime journey as they master their sound, style and stage presence.
JUNO Award-winning R&B/pop recording-artist Keshia Chanté, country sweetheart and TV personality Tara Oram, and A&R pro and label executive Mark Spicoluk return as this year’s judges and mentors. A soon to be announced new host will join the trio and embark on a nationwide, six-city search for Canada’s most talented young performers, one of whom will be crowned Canada’s Next Star.
Later this month, the identity of the new host and audition date schedule will be revealed on the show’s new cross-platform destination Next Star Nation. The Next Star 6 supporting social media pages will all fall under this hub, where #TNS6 devotees can have the ultimate fan experience, discover, share and become more involved in the show than ever before. With a rapidly growing and loyal online fan base, Next Star Nation will be the place fans can find breaking news, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage – including special clues about the new host prior to the official reveal – and sneak peeks of upcoming episodes and more.