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Will Pascoe announced as showrunner in residence for the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s 2021 Scripted Series Lab

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From a media release:

The Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) is excited to announce that award-winning Writer/Producer/Director Will Pascoe will serve as Showrunner-in-Residence for the 2021 Scripted Series Lab. Pascoe will mentor six up-and-coming BC-based screenwriters selected to participate in the program. He will lead the Writer’s Room as they develop his original series in the PSP’s flagship training program starting in January.

Going into its third year, the lab will implement a hybrid-style Writer’s Room combining in-person and virtual meetings that reflect the current production protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will still get the full PSP experience including mentoring on their original pilot, additional workshops and information sessions with other industry leaders to equip them with the skills, experience and connections necessary to help establish a sustainable career in the province’s dynamic screen industry. The Pacific Screenwriting Program is a collaboration between Netflix, CMPA, the Writer’s Guild of Canada and Creative BC.

Will Pascoe most recently wrapped Showrunning the third season of Amazon’s hit series, Absentia. Previous to that, he wrote for Fox’s The Finder, Bell/SyFy Channel’s, Bitten; NBC’s drama series Chicago Med; BBC Worldwide/Starz’s Da Vinci’s Demons and Hulu’s Shut Eye starring Jeffrey Donovan and Isabella Rossellini. While working as writer and co-producer on Bell/BBC America’s Orphan Black, his episode “Variations Under Domestication” earned Pascoe a Canadian Writer’s Guild Award and nominations for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and a Hugo Award. A graduate of the Writer’s Guild of America’s prestigious Showrunner Training Program, Will has also developed television series for Twentieth-Century Fox, Playtone, and Universal Studios.

The Scripted Series Lab is a 15-week intensive training program providing support and career-advancement opportunities for active and aspiring screenwriters from across British Columbia, where they receive the necessary support to expand their portfolio and pursue opportunities in the evolving TV marketplace. Throughout the program, participants hone their craft, strengthen their collaboration and presentation skills, and obtain a deeper understanding of the global television industry and how to market themselves within it. As the Scripted Series Lab showrunner, Pascoe will mentor the six selected participants within a real-world story room over 10 weeks, breaking stories and writing scripts for the original project he brings to the room and will subsequently be pitching to streamers and networks around the world.

For more information, please visit the Pacific Screenwriting Program website.

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Industry News

New production company Big Time Decent Productions launches in Vancouver

From a media release:

Producer and director Matt Shewchuk has launched a new Vancouver-based production company, Big Time Decent Productions, which will focus on developing and producing unscripted and scripted series, feature films and digital content. The company is in development on a number of new projects with Corus Entertainment, has partnered with finance executive Pricilla Hui to run business affairs, and has brought industry veteran René Brar on board as Head of Development.

Big Time Decent Production’s first series, Backroad Truckers, produced in partnership with Mayhem Entertainment and distributed by Corus Studios, will premiere on HISTORY® in Winter 2021. The unscripted series follows the crazy world of “hot-shot truckers” as they tackle some of the most harrowing roads and dangerous off-road locations in northern British Columbia in their custom ‘monster’ trucks.

Rene Brar

The company has also secured strategic partnerships including post-production services with producer and editor Bridget Durnford (Chicago Med, Fargo), a development deal with showrunner Tommy Blacha (Metalocalypse) for a new half-hour animated comedy series, as well as a talent deal with social media sensation Larry Enticer. They are currently in development on a new series featuring the much-loved internet star.

Company founder, Matt Shewchuk, is Executive Producer for the hit factual series Rust Valley Restorers, which airs domestically on HISTORY and internationally on Netflix as one of the streaming service’s most viewed car shows. Shewchuk recently produced the OUTtv series Dog Dudes which is distributed internationally by Cineflix and directed the hit Discovery Channel series Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue: 401. He was also a producer on the romantic comedy feature film, Three Night Stand, starring Meaghan Rath and Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Larry Enticer

Bringing 20 years of scripted and unscripted experience to the team, Head of Development René Brar was formerly an independent producer with Soshefeigh Media, where he co-created and executive produced The Algorithm (TV3 Ireland) and Battle Cats (Blue Ant & Channel 4 UK), and was previously a development executive for director Ridley Scott on feature films such as Hannibal and Black Hawk Down. He also developed a range of unscripted docs and formats for Stone & Company Entertainment, including Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style (Bravo) and The Mole (ABC).

For more information on the company, visit bigtimedecent.com.

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Industry News

Pier 21 Films partners with Canadian YouTube personality Jus Reign on new comedy series for CBC

From a media release:

Acclaimed independent production company Pier 21 Films announced today it has partnered with one of Canada’s most popular comedic talents and YouTube personality, Jasmeet Singh Raina (aka Jus Reign) on a new half-hour series Late Bloomer (w/t), currently in development at the CBC.

Inspired by his own real-life experiences, Late Bloomer focuses on Raina’s journey navigating his newly found internet fame, dating, spirituality, culture, and his dysfunctional (yet loving) family. As a first generation Indo-Canadian, his identity is constantly questioned as he struggles to find the balance between Eastern customs centered around community and the Western ideal of individualism.

With more than 167 Million YouTube views, 970,000+ subscribers and 1M+ fans on Facebook, Jus Reign is a viral sensation known for his irreverent humor incorporating his ethnic background and upbringing into his comedic work. Referred to as “a social media superstar” by Huffington Post, he’s hosted the iHeartRadio MMVAs red carpet show and was also featured in Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Mean Tweets’ for YouTube Creators. In 2019, Raina suddenly stopped posting content to his social platforms which has sparked fan conspiracies and a massive international audience craving his return to their screens.

Renowned stand-up comedian, actor, producer Russell Peters is also attached to executive produce the project. Peabody Award, International Emmy, Gemini Award and Canadian Screen Award winner, Peters was the first stand-up special for Netflix and has been broadcast on HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, CBC, CTV, BBC and Amazon Prime.

Co-produced by Pier 21 Films and Reign Productions, Late Bloomer is written, executive produced, created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina and executive produced by Pier 21 Films, Baljinder Dhawan, Russell Peters and Clayton Peters.

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Humour Resources, Industry News

Just for Laughs wraps production on Humour Resources for CBC

From a media release:

Just For Laughs today announced that production has wrapped on HUMOUR RESOURCES (6X30), an irreverent new comedy series starring Canadian comedian, Jon Dore (Inside Amy Schumer, The Stand Up Show with Jon Dore). Produced remotely from August – October, the series features Dore as a human resources manager providing virtual coaching to some of the world’s top comics. Co-created by Dore, Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany, HUMOUR RESOURCES is slated to premiere on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service in winter 2021.

A hilarious, cutting and timely social commentary on a comedian’s place in our current high-alert environment of political correctness and cancel culture, HUMOUR RESOURCES follows Jon Dore as a retired comedian turned Human Resources manager. Filmed during the COVID-19 outbreak while under quarantine, Jon, living with his girlfriend Christina and her six-year-old daughter Emma, meets with comedians via webcam from his home office to evaluate and consult on the appropriateness of their material and overall “workplace” behaviour.

HUMOUR RESOURCES features many special guests including A-list comedians: Sarah Silverman; Tom Green; Eric Andre; Scott Thompson; Reggie Watts; Nikki Glaser; The Lucas Bros; Ronny Chieng; Dave Merheje; DeAnne Smith; Rory Scovel; Debra DiGiovanni; Sophie Buddle; Courtney Gilmour; Arthur Simeon; Casey Corbin; Aisha Brown; and Kyle Brownrigg.

HUMOUR RESOURCES was developed and executive produced by Jon Dore, and developed, directed and executive produced by Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany. Produced by Just For Laughs, the series is also executive produced by Bruce Hills and Marina Di Pancrazio. Zoe Rabnett and Nick Brazao are talent producers, and Anton Leo serves as the supervising producer.

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Industry News

David Oulton’s talk show, Face to Face with David, returns for a second season

From a media release:

David Oulton’s talk show, Face to Face with David, is set to return this fall for a second season. The show premiered in July 2020 in the United States and the United Kingdom on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV and was an instant success, currently rated higher than The Ellen Degeneres Show on both IMDb and Amazon Prime. The series features 27-year-old Oulton in his signature Versace bathrobe sipping red wine, while he interviews guests from the worlds of entertainment, business, fashion and more via remote link.

While the second season has increased from six to thirteen episodes, the format remains the same – casual and informative discussions focusing on a more “timeless” conversation, rather than current events, allowing the audience to watch whenever they want. With the guests often being in their homes or even on set, it provides a more intimate atmosphere and greater insight into the personal lives for the viewers. The host, Canadian actor David Oulton (Guns of Purgatory, Hannah Montana), said this was intentional as it allows the viewer to feel like they are listening in on a casual conversation between two people, rather than a formal interview.

The guest line up for season two includes Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Melissa Rivers (Fashion Police), Ali Landry (Miss USA, Eve), Corbin Bernsen (Psych, L.A. Law), Pamela Rabe (Wentworth), Manjit Minhas (CBC’s Dragons’ Den), Natasha Henstridge (Species, Commander in Chief), Caroline Stanbury (Ladies of London), Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1), comedian Debra DiGiovanni, viral singing sensation Charlotte Awbery and many other recognizable names. Some notable moments from the season include Rivers explaining how she was turned down by several major networks for her own show because she is “not famous enough”, and Henstridge revealing she would consider joining a Real Housewives franchise. Bernsen’s interview is deeply personal, as he removed Oulton from an abusive home situation over a decade ago and introduced him to the woman who would later legally adopt him.

David created the show during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was initially intended to be a very simple social media project as a means to save himself from boredom. Within one week of presenting the idea to his agent, Kelsea Forzani-Mannix and some industry friends, he had signed a distribution deal with Amazon and was developing a full-fledged talk show with Carson Kressley and Perez Hilton as his first major guests. The first season was filmed in Oulton’s home in Calgary, with the second season moving production to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel. Oulton serves as executive producer, along with Lisa McGillivray, Candace Schmidt and Luis Gonzalez of LnC Style, and Rae Farrer.

Season two is expected later this fall.

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