From Simon Houpt of The Globe and Mail:
Link: CBC and Vice Media seek different kinds of Canada
We live in tribal times, when even television networks are declaring allegiances and taking sides.
Every spring, the commercial broadcasters unveil their fall programming, making their annual promises to ad buyers – they’re going to deliver buzzy hits! massive audiences! – at the industry’s so-called Upfront presentations. Continue reading.
From Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail:
Link: CRTC leaves Canadian television to fend for itself in Netflix age
As the chair of Canada’s broadcast regulator rides off into the sunset, he has been tossing a few last coins at the many supplicants who follow him wherever he goes. Cantonese and Punjabi newscasts; measures to slow the loss of local TV; more opportunities for female directors, writers and producers; more flexibility for broadcasters – the benevolent Jean-Pierre Blais, outgoing chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), seems to have a little something for most. Continue reading.
Chopped Canada has been chopped. After four seasons, a first-ever teen tournament and handful of specials, Food Network Canada’s spinoff of the Chopped franchise is no more.
“After four extraordinary seasons, Chopped Canada has been cancelled,” the show’s producers, EOne, announced via Facebook on Wednesday night. “To all of our competitors and the culinary community across Canada, THANK YOU for supporting us through 96 episodes of nail-biting culinary competition.
“We loved sharing your stories, helping you realize your dreams, and most of all we loved watching you cook!” the post continued. “To our viewers, THANKS for watching, sharing, and caring each and every week. Your loyalty and passion for the show was heartfelt. We had a great run and as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Keep on cookin’ Canada! Love + Respect from the Chopped Canada Team!”
Launched in 2014 with Dean McDermott as its host, Chopped Canada featured four homegrown chefs opening baskets of mystery items they had to use while making appetizers, mains and desserts. After being judged by celebrity chefs, the competitors were pared down until one winner per episode was named and given $10,000. McDermott left Chopped Canada after two seasons and was replaced by Brad Smith. The program boasted a whos-who of culinary experts as judges, including Susur Lee, Michael Smith, Massimo Capra, Lynn Crawford, Eden Grinshpan, Mark McEwan, Anne Yarymowich, Vikram Vij, Antonio Park, Roger Mooking, Chuck Hughes and John Higgins.
A teen tournament and specials pitting junior cooks, grandmothers, firefighters and the program’s own judges against one another were the focus of recent specials.
Chopped Canada received a 2015 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Picture Editing in a Reality/Competition Program or Series.
Are you upset that Chopped Canada has been cancelled? Let me know in the comments below.
Related: Which Canadian TV shows have been renewed or cancelled for the 2017-18 broadcast season?
Image courtesy of Corus.
From a media release:
VICE Studio Canada and Rogers Media today announced the start of production on Mister Tachyon, an original, 10-part documentary series for VICELAND, created by renowned Toronto-born director, Director X. The series is currently filming across Canada, with additional broadcast details to be announced at a later date.
The series follows fictional character Mister Tachyon, born invisible due to his scientist father’s experiments. In a quest to reverse his invisibility, Mister Tachyon studies the fringes of science searching for a cure. From examining whether the earth’s magnetic field is secretly shaping our lives, to explorations around the power of thoughts to change the biology of people, Mister Tachyon tackles a range of questions by conducting real experiments with real people to determine if there’s any truth to the strangest and most controversial topics in science today.
One of the most prolific music video directors working today, Director X has created innovative, career-defining videos for such artists as Drake (including the massive “Hotline Bling,” “Started from the Bottom,” and the award-winning “Worst Behavior”), Rihanna (namely her 2016 smash-hit “Work†), Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Alicia Keys, Aaliyah, Nelly Furtado, and Sean Paul. Last year marked Director X’s feature directorial debut with Across the Line, a drama about a young black hockey player navigating racial divides in small-town Nova Scotia. Mister Tachyon will be Director X’s first original television series.
From a media release:
Yesterday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) dealt a major blow to Canadian screenwriters — and Canadian audiences. In its decision on licence renewals for Bell, Corus, and Rogers, the Commission rolled back the broadcasters’ minimum financial contributions to Canadian drama and other programing.
This despite the fact that the WGC’s modest proposal to the CRTC, reflecting well-researched data, asked only for the maintenance of the status quo in terms of broadcasters’ financial contributions towards “programs of national interest†(PNI). PNI includes drama, documentary, and some children’s programming, programing that is at the heart of Canadian on-screen entertainment. But the CRTC set PNI spending minimums for broadcasters at 5%, basically cutting them by up to 44% for certain groups.
“This could mean the devastation of Canadian domestic production,†says Maureen Parker, Executive Director of the WGC. “These cuts potentially amount to over a $200 million loss for PNI over a five-year licence term. Canadian screenwriters only work on domestic productions, not on American shows filming in Canada, and if there is not enough work for them they will simply leave. Once our talent pool is gone you can’t get it back.â€
CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais, a Harper appointee who has allowed the CRTC to become greatly diminished, has also set us on a course that will make it more and more difficult for Canadians to view stories about ourselves. This, despite the fact that it is only our Canadianness that distinguishes us: Our compassion, our humour, our concern about issues such as cultural diversity, healthcare, and the environment. A Canadian culture that cannot speak to Canadianness through its own storytelling is not Canada. We should not accept it. Nor should the Liberal government.
The headline of the CRTC’s own press release announcing the decision is, “The CRTC supports the production of original content.†This can only be viewed as fake news. There is nothing meaningful about specifically original production in these decisions. The release goes on to claim that the CRTC “ensures on stable funding for Canadian production in all program categories, by focusing especially on dramas, documentaries, and musical and variety shows.†This is patently untrue, given the reduction of PNI requirements. And, since broadcaster spending on PNI also typically attracts investment from other sources like the Canada Media Fund, the potential total impact could be double or triple the $200 million drop in PNI investments themselves.
“If Canadian programming is expendable,†says Maureen Parker, “Why protect the big private broadcasters? What is the CRTC’s purpose if not to ensure that spending on the creation of Canadian drama, documentary, and children’s programming is at the very least maintained? It’s almost as though the very body intended to promote Canadian programming — the CRTC — is actively working to erode it.â€
