All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Industry News, Web series

Detention Adventure and The Communist’s Daughter among web series selected for IPF funding

From a media release:

The Independent Production Fund and its 40-member Pre-Selection Committee have selected 30 projects which are now eligible to advance to Phase 2 of the application process and apply for Production financing. These include 20 projects in English and 10 in French. Four web series previously funded by the IPF are eligible to apply for funding for second or subsequent seasons.

The IPF received 170 proposals for web series funding from across Canada, in English and in French. Applications included 2-minute proof-of-concept trailers, creative material and audience engagement strategies. Development opportunities for new talent and mentorship by experienced creative and business web series professionals were evaluation factors. All of these criteria were reviewed, scored and discussed by the Pre-Selection Committee members, who are industry professionals and advanced media students.

Producers of the selected shortlisted projects are now invited to submit complete Production Applications by May 1, 2018.  An international Jury will evaluate these proposals and the Board of Directors of the IPF will make final funding decisions in June.

“The 2018 “IPF Trailer Season” as dubbed by the industry, has exposed online viewers to great Canadian talents and teased them with terrific stories that have been watched, liked and shared by hundreds of thousands of fans during the past month.  “Our Canadian production community is certainly not lacking in imagination and diversity” noted Andra Sheffer, CEO of the IPF. “ The efforts that have gone into creating the content and engaging audiences will ideally provide invaluable feedback to all those who have participated in this process.” Continue reading for a list of the projects receiving funding.

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Burden of Truth, Featured

Comments and queries for the week of April 6

Glad to hear [Burden of Truth] has been renewed. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I just heard it would return. What about Caught??? That was excellent! Please tell me it’s coming back too. —Sara

No word on Caught yet, but we’ll let you know if it does!

Hopefully, Season 2 won’t be a rehash of Season 1. Is Joanna going to stay in this small town? Can there be another big case to work on? Will she and Billy (hate that name!) partner in more ways than just the law? I just don’t know where this show can go from here. —Matthew

I love watching Murdoch Mysteries and I love the character George Crabtree because he is the smartest and the sexiest on the show and I reckon William Murdoch is the most boring person and the dumbest character on the show. From the No. 1 Murdoch Mysteries fan in Australia. —Suzanne

Leave Julia and William alone. They challenge each other which makes their relationship interesting. But I really do hope George and Nina find a way to be together for good. —Marianne

Every time the end of the season approaches, I find myself unable to breathe when I look for the news whether this show will be renewed. I’m thrilled that Season 12 will exist. I honestly wish this show lasts for as long as I live. It fills the hole left by Agatha Christie, A.C. Doyle, Castle, Murder She Wrote … It’s my favourite show. Congratulations to all the cast, crew, and everyone else responsible for this show. I love you all! —Mili

Just saw the premiere [of Corner Gas Animated] and enjoyed it very much. I was wary when I saw the designs, thinking it would go more Family Guy but the two cutaways of Mad Max and kissing the badger worked. Particularly liked how the plots started random but overlapped fairly well into Brent/Lacey/Oscar/Emma and Karen/Davis/Wanda/Hank pods that still had some general overlap too. Was this the first time we’ve seen the owner of the market? The soundtrack and everything still fit. I can tell it’s a new Emma but it still sounds close enough to the original. How many episodes are there going to be? Are Brent and Lacey still together following the movie? Little questions. —DanAmazing

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Schitt's Creek

Link: Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire on her rise to film and TV success

From Elizabeth Renzetti of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire on her rise to film and TV success
She worked up the courage to audition for CBC’s Schitt’s Creek, although Dan Levy would later tell her that she prefaced her appearance with, “This is going to be horrible,” and hid her face in her shirt. Continue reading.

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Industry News

Link: A message to new CBC president Catherine Tait: Commit to great TV, not the ordinary

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From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: A message to new CBC president Catherine Tait: Commit to great TV, not the ordinary
Far be it from me to join the lineup of pundits offering advice and analysis to Catherine Tait, the incoming CBC president. But, in the matter of CBC English-language TV, there’s an issue: Where’s the great stuff?

This week the legal drama Burden of Truth was renewed by CBC. Why? Seriously, why is this mediocre, generic drama going to go on and on, sucking up money resources and airtime on our public broadcaster? I’m all for fun and entertainment, but this workmanlike series is just that — bland, ordinary stuff. Continue reading.

 

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Frankie Drake Mysteries

More mystery to go around: Frankie Drake Mysteries greenlit for Season 2

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From a media release:

From the Shimmy to Art Deco, the Roaring Twenties return with Shaftesbury’s prohibition-era-set FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES renewed for a second season (10 x 60) by CBC, UKTV, and Kew Media Group. Season 1 of the series garnered an audience average of 782,000 on CBC, making FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES the public broadcaster’s second-most-watched drama of the current broadcast season after Murdoch Mysteries.

FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES stars Lauren Lee Smith (The Shape of Water, The Listener, The L Word) as the private eye with the mysterious past Frankie Drake, Chantel Riley (Race, The Lion King) as Frankie’s fearless and clever partner Trudy Clarke, Rebecca Liddiard (Alias Grace, Houdini & Doyle) as keen police morality officer Mary Shaw, and Sharron Matthews (Mean Girls, Odd Squad) as spirited morgue attendant Flo.

Season one saw secrets emerge from Frankie’s tightly hidden past, from discovering her mother alive and working as a con woman, to her friends uncovering her past as a spy. What other secrets will be discovered about the enigmatic Frankie Drake in season two?

Set in 1920s Toronto, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES follows the city’s only female private detectives as they take on the cases the police don’t want to touch. In a time of change and hopefulness, their gender is their biggest advantage as they defy expectations and rebel against convention. Their cases take them through every cross-section of Toronto, meeting people of all backgrounds and means, as well as historical characters, along the way. Frankie and Trudy’s fearless sense of adventure gets them into all kinds of trouble, but they always manage to find a way out. They are new detectives for a new world – but is the world ready for them?

Created by Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Carol Hay, and James Hurst, who also serves as showrunner, Ruba Nadda serves as lead director/co-executive producer, and Teresa Ho is producer. A CBC original series, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES is developed and produced by Shaftesbury in association with CBC and UKTV, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, and the Bell Fund. Kew Media Group is the global distributor of the series.

Source: Numeris TV Meter, Nov. 6, 2017 – Feb. 5, 2018, CBC, A2+, Mon. 9:01-10:00p, Total Canada, AMA, generated by InfoSys+TV

 

 

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