TV, eh?

From Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable (this is about the US broadcaster, but I’d guess the Canadian broadcaster will follow):

• Sci Fi Renews ‘Sanctuary’
  “Sanctuary, which started life as a series of independent webisodes before getting picked up to series by Sci Fi, will be returning for a second season, the network says.” Read more.

From Marsha Lederman of the Globe and Mail:

• Finding Sanctuary on TV
  “It has become second nature for television producers and networks to use the Internet as a marketing tool - a way to promote their schedules, offer after-broadcast downloads, create online fan communities. But a new Canadian science-fiction series is moving the other way: After originating on the Web, Sanctuary is making the leap from desktop to small screen, premiering on television with a two-hour episode (tonight).” Read more.

From Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun:

• She sells Sanctuary
  ” From a Canadian Sanctuary you can see the world. Literally. The new science-fiction series Sanctuary is so ground-breaking with its use of ‘red cameras’ and ‘green screens’ that the actors can be seen to be anywhere, without ever physically leaving the studio in British Columbia. The look is realistic, but ’spooky realistic,’ in a good way.” Read more.

From Matt Hurwitz of the Associated Press:

• ‘Sanctuary’ stars seeing green on set
  “In a former bicycle factory in suburban Vancouver, Amanda Tapping and Jim Byrnes play out a scene before the cameras. It’s a typical laboratory, except for one thing: There’s no lab, just green. But don’t tell Tapping.” Read more.

From Judith Klassen at Movie Entertainment:

• Finding Sanctuary
  “While she’s best known for her role as Major Samantha Carter on Stargate, actor / producer Amanda Tapping did not spend her youth playing cowgirls and aliens.” Read more.
• Sanctuary Podcasts
  “Jude chats with Sanctuary actor / producer Amanda Tapping, and Sanctuary director / producer Martin Wood about working together, their love of Sci-fi, turning a webisode series into TV, working with green screen, and the much vaunted and feared RED camera.” Listen here.

From a media release:

SANCTUARY

Sanctuary is a technical breakthrough: a 13-episode series shot almost entirely on green screen using cutting-edge visual effects and the latest in camera technology. The series follows Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping – Stargate SG-1), a 157-year old physician who studies evolutions mistakes and triumphs. She is aided in her work by her reluctant protégé, psychiatrist Will Zimmerman (Dawson’s Creek), and her fearless daughter Ashley (Battlestar Gallactica). Together they seek to find and help the strange and often frightening creatures that populate their world. Dr Magnus is on a mission to finish her father’s work and unlock the secrets behind human evolution using a unique combination of science, medicine and her own knowledge of the supernatural.

In the first episode, while investigating a double murder, forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman meets Dr. Helen Magnus. An insightful psychiatrist, Zimmerman displays his unique ability to connect with others when he is confronted by a boy with strange and monstrous gifts. Seeing his talents, Magnus urges him to be part of her team that investigates the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate their world.

Series premieres:

Movie Central: Friday, October 3 at 8 p.m. PT

The Movie Network: Friday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET

From a media release:

THE MOVIE NETWORK AND MOVIE CENTRAL’S NEW ORIGINAL SERIES SANCTUARY EXPLORES THE EXTRAORDINARY USING CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

• A series from some of the innovative talents behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis
• Sanctuary premieres Friday, October 3 on The Movie Network and Movie Central, day-and-date with SCI FI Channel in the U.S.

Astral Media’s The Movie Network (eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (western Canada) delve deep into an incredible and breathtaking new world in Sanctuary, a new original drama that is one of the first ever television series to be conceived from an Internet-based concept. Premiering day-and-date with SCI FI Channel, Sanctuary debuts with a two-hour premiere on Friday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET on The Movie Network and 8 p.m. PT on Movie Central. Subsequent episodes of the series will air at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

(more…)

From Rob Salem of the Toronto Star (see second item):

• Lady leads: Yay. More reality shows: Nay
  “I defy anyone to recognize Stargate star Amanda Tapping in her latest incarnation – a remarkably well-preserved 157-year-old mutant hunter – on Sanctuary, an innovative new Canadian-made fantasy adventure, debuting with an extended two-hour episode Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. on The Movie Network (then moving the following Friday to its regular hour slot at 8).” Read more.

From a media release:

SANCTUARY (NEW ORIGINAL SERIES)

• Premieres Friday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET* on The Movie Network (8 p.m. PT on Movie Central in Western Canada)
  * Two-hour premiere on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 9 p.m. ET with subsequent episodes premiering Fridays at 8 p.m. ET

Sanctuary is set in a mysterious and supernatural world and follows the adventures of Dr. Helen Magnus, her reluctant protégé Will Zimmerman and her fearless and somewhat reckless daughter Ashley, as they study and try to help the strange, terrifying and monstrous creatures that populate their world. Shot almost entirely on green screen using cutting-edge visual effects, Sanctuary is the first television series in North America to use the RED camera system, a digital medium that provides the latest in camera technology by capturing images at more than double the resolution of a high definition camera. Starring Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne and Emilie Ullerup.

From Travis Fickett of IGN:

• Inside Sci Fi’s Sanctuary
  “The panel featured (Amanda) Tapping and Robert Dunne who plays Zimmerman, producers Sam Egan, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler. Sanctuary is notable because of its production method. The show will shoot on a green screen stage and utilize digital sets much in the way Sin City and 300 were made. It’s a revolutionary step for television, and one the series employed when it began as a web series before making the move to Sci Fi as a TV series.” Read more.