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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

BNN shakes up business with The Disruptors

From a media release:

With a flood of innovative Canadian companies set to go public this year, the next vanguards of our economic growth are popping up everywhere. These are the companies that see and exploit inefficiencies, disrupt the large and lazy and can keep future generations competitive. But few of them will make it to the public markets or the “big exit” without a lot of luck and a lot of help. Airing Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET beginning April 16, BNN’s all-new, original series THE DISRUPTORS traces the most exciting international business news and trends from incubators and venture capitalists, to young entrepreneurs and CEOs of some of the most innovative companies in the world, offering expert analysis and advice to smaller Canadian companies looking to scale up fast. BNN anchor and reporter Amber Kanwar co-hosts the new weekly, half-hour series along with Bruce Croxon, one of the country’s indisputable disruptors, who co-founded the wildly successful online dating site, Lavalife.

Each week, the duo analyzes pitches from the hottest prospects, offering a frank assessment of whether they stand a chance of becoming the next Uber, Airbnb, or Facebook. Hard-nosed, scoop-loving business reporter Kanwar believes innovation has its place, but it better be profitable. Croxon mostly agrees, but the digital disciple also believes no profitable company is safe from the next disruption. THE DISRUPTORS also welcomes leading CEOs of Canadian and international companies who share their own success stories, along with their thoughts on the risks faced by start-ups fighting for traction.

Behind the story pitch that resulted in the creation of THE DISRUPTORS, BNN’s Kanwar specializes in equity markets and is constantly digging for stocks flying under the radar, trends that are about to emerge, and curating research to make it accessible to viewers. Kanwar has interviewed CEOs from across the C-Suite, and brings the day’s biggest business stories to viewers on BNN, CP24 and CTV News Channel.

THE DISRUPTORS is produced by BNN, with additional research provided by BetaKit, the nation’s foremost source for Canadian start-up news and tech innovation.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Timber Kings spinoff Carver Kings spotlights chainsaw artists

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I’m a fan of Timber Kings, HGTV’s hit docudrama about the guys and gals of Pioneer Homes who create fanciful masterpiece log homes for clients. I’m always amazed at how those folks not only see art in trees but turn their visions into a reality.

I’m just as impressed, and maybe even a little more so, with the dudes on Carver Kings. A companion piece to Timber Kings, each half-hour instalment spotlights the guys at Pioneer who create carved pieces to accompany the homes built. Sunday’s finale jumps right in with Mark Colp and Ryan Cook carving a 13-foot modern totem pole ordered by a couple who own a ski lodge built by Pioneer in Colorado. Mark and Ryan have just five days to create a stunning piece featuring animals native to the area: a wolf, owl, bear, fox and eagle.

And while Mark is a speedster with the saw, Ryan is a relative rookie and Mark is unsure of his partner’s chops. Reality shows like Carver Kings usually inject some kind of drama into the storytelling and this is no different. Will Ryan make mistakes? Yes. Does he battle back and fix them? Why, yes. And as long as you go into this knowing the thrills are a little contrived, you’ll enjoy yourself. Also on tap in Sunday’s debut: three junior carvers are given a big job by veteran Pete Ryan, who challenges them to create a Pioneer Homes logo to be placed on the Carver Corner building.

Visually, Carver Kings is stunning. You can almost smell the cedar as wood shavings cascade down as intricate artwork is teased out of the trees. The series is a worthy companion to Timber Kings and worth checking out.

Carver Kings airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Jade Fever strikes Discovery

Gold is a hot genre in TV right now, taking up primetime slots in the form of Bering Sea Gold, Gold Rush and Yukon Gold. Is jade mining the next big genre? Discovery sure hopes to strike gold … er, green … with Jade Fever.

Debuting Tuesday with two back-to-back episodes on the specialty channel, Omnifilm’s Jade Fever wastes no time getting to some pretty interesting facts. Just 30 people live in Jade City, B.C., an outpost 24 hours from Vancouver and an hour from the Alaska border. The town is near one of the largest deposits of jade in the world and China wants as much as the country can get. More prized than gold there, investors are itching to throw money at town boss Claudia Bunce and her husband Robin Bunce, who has a gift for finding the green stuff.

For a show like Jade Fever, the storytelling is all in the edit. Robin fails to hit pay dirt—and chafes—under the orders Raymond, a Chinese geologist brought in by Robin and Claudia’s Chinese-Canadian business partner Alan Qiao. Close to 100 holes are drilled in the earth under Raymond’s command, and Robin—used to giving orders rather than take them—gets hot under the collar. There are plenty of arguments, expletives and oversized egos exposed in the debut episode’s first 20 minutes … but no jade.

This being a show about the gemstone, I knew they were going to find it by the end of Tuesday’s instalment, otherwise there was no point in having a show. But even I was shocked by how beautiful the rock was coming straight out of the ground. Hard and gleaming in the sun, it’s easy to see why jade is so prized. It is literally the colour of money, something the Bunces—and Discovery and Omnifilm—hope to collect with Season 1 of Jade Fever.

Jade Fever airs Tuesdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET on Discovery.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Slice’s Emergency goes behind the scenes in Vancouver’s ERs

From a media release:

A visit to the emergency department can be an emotional experience for the patient and for the loved ones that accompany them.  The new documentary series Emergency (14 x 30) gives viewers an intimate look at the lives of patients in some of Canada’s busiest emergency departments. Narrated by award-winning musician and author Jann Arden and produced by award-winning producers Force Four Entertainment, Emergency airs Thursdays at 9 & 9:30 p.m. ET/11 & 11:30 p.m. PT with back-to-back episodes beginning April 16 on Slice.

Each episode of Emergency interweaves the personal stories of three to four patients, each facing their own medical emergency, ranging from heart and respiratory ailments to broken bones and work-related accidents. With a heart-felt focus on relationships, the series focuses on the patients and their loved ones, their hopes and their fears, and just how their trip to the emergency department could impact their future. Emergency also showcases the relationships between patients and the medical staff who work tirelessly and urgently to unravel the mysterious illness or injury that brought the patient to the emergency department.

EPISODE 1
Thurs., April 16 at 9 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT
A father and son fishing trip is reeled in by excruciating back pain. A mom convinces her young construction worker son to get treatment for a boil under his arm. A grandmother forgets to take her medication and requires a jolt to slow her racing heart.

EPISODE 2
Thurs., April 16 at 9:30 p.m. ET/11:30 p.m. PT
Doctors assist a patient with two life threatening conditions at the same time. A captivating couple seeks a solution to their ring problem. An anxious woman fears the worst when her heart rate suddenly accelerates.

Emergency departments featured in the series are all part of the Fraser Health network of hospitals.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Brojects returns with out-there outdoor projects

I’ve never owned a cottage, but I can certainly understand the allure of going to one to relax. Of course, after a few days of that, I can imagine getting a little antsy. But where I’d go for a walk, hike, swim or read a book, guys like Kevin and Andrew Buckles quaff some suds and come up with outlandish things to build.

Like a dock that can be turned into a bowling alley, for instance. Yup, that’s the first project tackled by the boys in Thursday’s Season 2 return of Brojects on Cottage Life. A warning before each new segment of Brojects warns viewers that the siblings aren’t professional builders and the program is purely for entertainment and it is certainly that, especially when the pair are taking verbal and physical swipes at each other on the road to project completion.

With just three days to replace their rotting, rusting, too-short old deck with a sweet, bowl-worthy new one is a tall task and thing start off shakily for what they dub The Browling Alley. A trip to the local alley gives the pair the measurements, information and inspiration to start, but initial trials aren’t that promising, especially when it comes to an effective ball return system. Several soaks in the hot tub, even more Solo cups full of beer and a call to Andrew’s buddy leads the pair on the path to success and—I have to say it—a pretty darned cool dock/bowling alley.

They may not be experts but Andrew and Kevin are able to get the job done. And it’s definitely a fun trip along the way.

Brojects airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life.

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