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Bellevue, Bomb Girls, Coroner, Industry News

Cineflix Media partners with Adrienne Mitchell’s BentFrame Film & TV

From a media release:

Cineflix Media Inc. has announced it is partnering with celebrated showrunner, director, and producer Adrienne Mitchell and her newly launched production company BentFrame Film & TV.

The partnership gives Cineflix Media the first option to co-produce original content developed by Mitchell, while providing BentFrame with access to development support from Cineflix Studios. In addition, Cineflix Rights will retain exclusive first-look rights to distribute the shingle’s content internationally.

Based in Toronto, BentFrame will develop and produce ambitious, provocative, female-driven dramatic series and feature films for global audiences. The company already has several projects in development with broadcasters and international co-producers. Zach Marcovici, also previously of Back Alley Films, joins BentFrame as Director of Development and Production. The announcement follows Cineflix Media’s recent acquisition of Back Alley Film Productions Ltd.—co-founded by Adrienne Mitchell—along with its library of content IP.

“Adrienne has a powerful vision that aligns with Cineflix Media’s content strategy. We’re delighted to continue our support for Adrienne and Zach through a development and distribution agreement with Adrienne’s new company BentFrame,” said Peter Emerson, President, Cineflix Media.

“I’m thrilled to be working with Cineflix Media to tap into today’s exciting and thought-provoking story landscape. I’m inspired to tell stories with diverse and unique perspectives that shine a light on untold narratives. I look forward to a fruitful collaboration with Cineflix Media in creating landmark television and film that will resonate with Canadian and global audiences,” said Adrienne Mitchell, BentFrame Film &TV.

Adrienne Mitchell is an award-winning film and television director and showrunner who has been creating auteur-driven drama series, and helming them as lead director, for more than three decades. Mitchell’s many achievements include the critically acclaimed series Durham County; the mystery-thriller series Bellevue, starring Oscar®-winner Anna Paquin; and, the WWII-era series Bomb Girls, and the MOW Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy. Mitchell is currently the Executive Producer and a Director on the fourth season of global hit series Coroner. In 2017, she was honoured with the Nell Shipman Award for directorial achievement and for advancing gender equity in the entertainment industry. Mitchell is also the recipient of the prestigious Excellence in Production Award from WIFT Toronto.

BentFrame Film & TV joins Cineflix Media’s growing community of talented creative partners including a recently launched joint venture with Morwyn Brebner and Andrew Akman’s Husk Media.

BentFrame Film & TV is represented by Great North Artists Management Inc.

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Bellevue, Bomb Girls, Coroner, Industry News

Cineflix Media acquires Back Alley Films and its library of content IP

From a media release:

Cineflix Media Inc. has announced the acquisition of Back Alley Film Productions Ltd., along with the company’s award-winning library of content IP. After a three-decade collaboration creating and producing internationally-acclaimed TV series for Canadian and American networks, Back Alley Films co-founders Adrienne Mitchell and Janis Lundman have decided to explore new opportunities.

Cineflix will absorb Back Alley Films’ operations and acquire its programming assets, including the company’s ownership interest in celebrated series Bellevue starring Oscar® award-winner Anna Paquin, WWII drama Bomb Girls, and the international award-winning Durham County.

The acquisition also includes Back Alley Films’ stake in global hit series Coroner—the highly-rated crime procedural’s fourth season launched on CBC in January. Back Alley Films and Muse Entertainment have co-produced the series with Cineflix Studios since 2019, and Cineflix Rights is the exclusive global distribution partner. A huge international success, Coroner airs in more than 150 territories on networks and platforms including The CW Network (US), NBCUniversal International Networks, Sky Witness (UK), Globo (Brazil), and Nine Network (Australia).

“It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with Janis and Adrienne over the past 20 years as they grew Back Alley Films. I’m such a huge fan of their work that we jumped at the opportunity to acquire the company’s IP and also to continue to support them in any new projects or endeavors,” said Peter Emerson, President, Cineflix Media.

A visionary producer with a track record for delivering award-winning dramatic content, Lundman was the recipient of the prestigious Excellence in Production Award from WIFT Toronto and currently serves as Chair of the National Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC). Lundman will put her 30+ years of industry experience to work as she transitions to her new role as a consultant.

“I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with amazing creatives and network executives over the past three decades and I’m incredibly proud of all the shows Back Alley Films has produced. I can’t think of a better company than Cineflix to take the reins and shepherd in new possibilities for the Back Alley IP — there are plenty of exciting opportunities ahead for us all,” said Janis Lundman

Mitchell is an award-winning film and television producer and director/showrunner who has been creating auteur-driven drama series for over the last 30 years. She received the 2017 Nell Shipman Award for directorial achievement and for advancing gender equity in the entertainment industry as well as the prestigious Excellence in Production Award from WIFT Toronto. Mitchell has launched BentFrame Film & TV, a new production company that will develop and produce ambitious, provocative, and diverse female-driven dramatic series and feature films.

“I am incredibly proud of the body of work that came from my partnership with Janis Lundman under the Back Alley Films banner. Our goals were to push creative boundaries and tell diverse and authentic stories, making for thought-provoking and compelling film and television. I am thrilled that Cineflix Media, an industry powerhouse, has acquired our library and I feel they are the perfect fit to represent our stories for the global marketplace,” said Adrienne Mitchell.

Back Alley Films and BentFrame Film & TV are represented by Great North Artists Management Inc.

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Bellevue

Link: How WGN America used new technologies to launch “Bellevue”

From Simon Applebaum of Media Village:

Link: How WGN America used new technologies to launch “Bellevue”
Before the debut of Bellevue, Dollenmayer and his team created a custom 60-second trailer of Bellevue for USeek, inviting users to hunt for clues and earn points for prizes, such as $250 Visa gift cards, which were awarded to users who correctly solved the mystery.  More than 33 percent of people watching the trailer stayed with it to the end; the level of repeat viewers, estimated by Dollenmayer at three times each, was also very strong. Continue reading. Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Bellevue

Links: Bellevue on WGN America

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Adrienne Mitchell and Jane Maggs talk Bellevue’s aesthetic and working in TV
“With this, it’s the black mountains, the abandoned mines, and how they strangely, through nature, looked like these incredible sculptures with dark purple and red rivets that were created by rain and snow but were looming behind the workers’ houses that were there for convenience from the heyday of the mine. That became the center and everything would bounce off of that.” Continue reading.

From Karen Butler of UPI:

Link: Anna Paquin: It was tough to be a ‘semi-perky mommy’ while working on ‘Bellevue’
“It’s really grisly. More than how did I get into the character was how did I then shake it off for the weekend to go be a semi-perky mommy for my kids. That was harder than going into the dark place. I find jumping into the creative abyss incredibly easy and comfortable. It’s where I feel that I’m at my strongest. Honestly, some of the stuff we shot was actually really upsetting because we are depicting real life.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Adrienne Mitchell and Jane Maggs Talk WGN America’s Bellevue
“I got a hold of the script and there was something really intriguing about the characters, and the mysterious presence of characters from their past and how there was a kind of an intimacy there that was very unique. And because it came from when [Annie] was a child, it had a fairy tale aspect to it that we were drawn to.” Continue reading. Continue reading.

From Mike Hale of The New York Times:

Link: Review: Anna Paquin Takes Her Turn as a Detective in ‘Bellevue’
“Bellevue” doesn’t do a bad job with chilly small-town menace, if that’s what you’re looking for. But unlike the better mysteries it evokes, it seems to have been run through a plot-generating machine — insert number of episodes, number of investigative breakthroughs per episode and extent of conspiracy, and voilà. The writers decided to spring for not one but two bonus credulity-stretching late twists. Continue reading.

From Jim Halterman of TV Insider:

Link: Anna Paquin Explores ‘Darkness’ in Her New WGN Drama ‘Bellevue’
“It’s one of those things where I’ve always loved cop shows and I’ve always loved horror shows. I think it is just something about the exploration of darkness that appeals to me on some level, which I can’t really explain. I’m almost an annoyingly law abiding person, I am the driver that puts my indicator on to turn into my own driveway on my back alley even though there will be no cars. ” Continue reading.

From Sonia Saraiya of Variety:

Link: TV Review: ‘Bellevue,’ Starring Anna Paquin
“Bellevue” isn’t trying to break the mold of a closed-ended mystery, but it does offer a riff on it that manages to be both cozily predictable and refreshingly contemporary. The show, created by director Adrienne Mitchell and writer Jane Maggs, is a fairly standard mystery that distinguishes itself by being conscious of the complications of gender presentation, whether that is the “dangerous” male, the “vulnerable” female, or the transitioning teen who tries and fails to be accepted by their peers. Continue reading.

From Sci-Fi Vision:

Link: Exclusive: Shawn Doyle Stars in Bellevue
“ I started to understand that really the character was going to be driven by this deep secret from his past, mixed with his sense of protectionism over Anna. And so for me, that was very interesting, and the idea of exploring that was compelling.” Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Bellevue

Link: How Actress Sadie O’Neil Is Transforming Trans Life on TV

From Chris Azzopardi of Into:

Link: How Actress Sadie O’Neil Is Transforming Trans Life on TV
Before her first-ever television or film role in Bellevue, actress Sadie O’Neil was fired from her job working in the children’s section of a Montreal library due to complaints from uppity moms uncomfortable with O’Neil’s transness. Soon after, she started a restaurant job. It was dreadful. Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail