From Nellie Andreeva of Deadline.com:
‘Whatever, Linda’ Web Series To Get TV Adaptation By ‘Orphan Black’ Co-Creator & Mark Gordon Co.
Critically praised Canadian web series Whatever, Linda, is being adapted as a half-hour TV series by The Mark Gordon Company, with Orphan Black co-creator Graeme Manson executive producing. Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
Showcase announced today the start of production on the new Canadian original sci-fi seriesTravelers. Shooting on location in Vancouver, the time-traveling sci-fi drama is produced by Peacock Alley Entertainment Inc., in association with Showcase and Netflix. The series will air exclusively on Showcase in Canada and stream on Netflix internationally later this year. Broadcast and streaming details will be announced at a later date.
Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These “travelers” assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible future. The travelers are: FBI Special Agent Grant MacLaren (Eric McCormack), the team’s leader; Marcy (Mackenzie Porter), a young, intellectually disabled woman in the care of her social worker, David (Patrick Gilmore); Trevor (Jared Paul Abrahamson), a high school quarterback; Carly (Nesta Marlee Cooper), a single mom in an abusive relationship; and Philip (Reilly Dolman), a heroin-addicted college student. Armed only with their knowledge of history and an archive of social media profiles, the travelers discover that 21stcentury lives and relationships are as much a challenge as their high-stakes missions.
The series is written, created and produced by WGC and Gemini Award winner Brad Wright, co-creator of the Emmy Award-nominated Stargate SG-1 and its related franchises Stargate: Atlantis and SGU, and features a heavily Canadian cast led by Emmy Award winner Eric McCormack (Will and Grace). Other confirmed cast members include: Jared Abrahamson, J. Alex Brinson, Nesta Cooper, Reilly Dolman, Patrick Gilmore, Arnold Pinnock, Dylan Playfair, MacKenzie Porter, and Ian Tracey. The pilot is being directed by Nick Hurran (Sherlock), with Canadians Andy Mikita (Lost Girl), Helen Shaver (Vikings), Martin Wood (Killjoys), Will Waring (Continuum), and Amanda Tapping (Continuum) all tapped to direct episodes in the inaugural season.
Travelers is produced by Peacock Alley Entertainment Inc., in association with Showcase and Netflix, and is distributed by Sky Vision.
From a media release:
The WGC Screenwriting Awards recognize the talented Canadian writers whose scripts spark an entire television and film industry.
On May 2, 2016 the screenwriter is in the spotlight at the awards gala, held at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s beautiful Koerner Hall. Host Ryan Belleville brings his sharp wit to the stage in a fast-paced show co-written with This Hour Has 22 Minutes writer Jeremy Woodcock.
Writers from Orphan Black, 19-2, and X Company compete for the best TV Drama Award, to name just one category. Awards will also be handed out for the winning children’s, documentary, feature film, MOW and miniseries, shorts and webseries, TV comedy, and teens and tweens scripts. Close to 150 scripts were nominated, with 24 scripts chosen as finalists, and 32 screenwriters up for awards.
Awards presenters include The F Word screenwriter Elan Mastai, What Would Sal Do? showrunner Andrew De Angelis with star Dylan Taylor, powerhouse couple Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness (Shoot the Messenger), Mohawk Girls showrunner Cynthia Knight, documentary writer Michael McNamara (The Cholesterol Question), and Jessie Gabe, writer of Cas & Dylan.
A full slate of special awards, including the WGC Showrunner Award, the Alex Barris Mentorship Award, and the Sondra Kelly Award will also be presented.
The 2016 WGC Screenwriting Awards mark the 25th anniversary of the Writers Guild of Canada. Join us Monday, May 2, 2016, at the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning’s Koerner Hall.
2016 WGC Screenwriting Awards Finalists
CHILDREN
Numb Chucks, Season 2 “Witless to the Prosecutionâ€
Written by Evan Thaler Hickey
Odd Squad, Season 1 “Puppet Showâ€
Written by Charles Johnston
Pirate Express, Season 1 “Fountain of Misspent Youthâ€
Written by David Elver
DOCUMENTARY
Deluged by Data
Written by Josh Freed
Ninth Floor
Written by Mina Shum
FEATURE FILMS
A Christmas Horror Story
Written by James Kee and Sarah Larsen and Doug Taylor and Pascal Trottier
End of Days, Inc.
Written by Christina Ray
The Saver
Written by Wiebke von Carolsfeld
MOW & MINISERIES
The Book of Negroes: Episode 1
Story by Lawrence Hill, Teleplay by Clement Virgo
The Gourmet Detective
Written by Becky Southwell & Dylan Neal
Kept Woman
Written by Doug Barber & James Phillips
SHORTS & WEBSERIES
Bob! The Slob
Written by James Nadler
Goldfish
Written by Michael Konyves
TV COMEDY
Mr. D, Season 4 “President Jimmyâ€
Written by Anita Kapila
Mr. D, Season 4 “Short Stockedâ€
Written by Marvin Kaye
Schitt’s Creek, Season 1 “The Cabinâ€
Written by Amanda Walsh
TV DRAMA
19-2, Season 2 “Orphansâ€
Written by Jesse McKeown
19-2, Season 2 “Property Lineâ€
Written by Nikolijne Troubetzkoy
19-2, Season 2 “Schoolâ€
Adapted by Bruce M. Smith
Orphan Black, Season 3 “Newer Elements of Our Defenseâ€
Written by Russ Cochrane
X Company, Season 1 “Into the Fireâ€
Written by Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern
TWEENS & TEENS
Some Assembly Required, Season 2 “Rocket with a Pocketâ€
Written by Jennica Harper
Some Assembly Required, Season 2 “Snappoâ€
Written by Cole Bastedo & Jennifer Siddle
The Stanley Dynamic, Season 1 “The Stanley Grandpaâ€
Written by Alice Prodanou
From a media release:
Charles Randolph is an American screenwriter and producer for film and television. Randolph has written screenplays for several films and TV movies including THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE (2003), THE INTERPRETER (2005), and LOVE & OTHER DRUGS (2010). Randolph received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and won an the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing THE BIG SHORT in 2015.
Moira Walley-Beckett is a multiple award winning playwright, television writer and screenwriter. She is the Series Creator and Executive Producer of ANNE.
Recently, Moira created FLESH AND BONE, a critically acclaimed Limited Series for STARZ. The drama received multiple nominations and won a SATELLITE AWARD and a GRACIE AWARD in 2016. Before creating FLESH AND BONE, Moira spent six years as a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the critically acclaimed AMC series BREAKING BAD. For her work on that show, Moira has won a total of three EMMY AWARDS, three WRITERS’ GUILD AWARDS, three AFI AWARDS, three SATURN AWARDS, two PGA AWARDS, a GOLDEN GLOBE, a PEABODY, and received a PEN LITERARY AWARD nomination.
Kevin Shortt is lead writer at Ubisoft Montreal and has spent over 10 years in video game development. His credits include FAR CRY PRIMAL, WATCH DOGS, JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR: THE GAME and LOST: THE VIDEO GAME.
The full Toronto Screenwriting Conference schedule is now online.
From a media release:
In just five weeks, more than 66,000 Canadians have already signed up for the new basic television package, according to data collected by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). In addition, more than 1 out of 3 of these Canadians have also taken advantage of the new packaging options by subscribing to individual channels, small packages or both.
On March 1, 2016, Canada’s licensed television service providers began offering a new basic package that costs no more than $25 per month. The companies also began offering either the option to pay for individual channels (“pick-and-pay”) or small packages of no more than 10 channels.
The CRTC recently asked Access Communications, Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers Communications SaskTel, Shaw Communications, TELUS and Vidéotron to provide data on the number of subscribers that have subscribed to the new basic television package.
The CRTC reminds Canadians that television service providers will be required to offer full pick-and-pay starting on December 1, 2016.
