From Luaine Lee of the Toronto Star:
How Yannick Bisson arrived at his starring role on Murdoch Mysteries
“It was getting to the point where you sort of have to cut your losses a little bit. You have to be responsible and I had opportunities. I was starting to do well at building homes and things like that. That interested me a lot as well. So I was debating whether to go do that full time or not. And I was looking for a sign, really.†Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
Family Channel opens the doors to Keaton School of the Arts on Friday, March 18 at 7 p.m. ET/PT with the series premiere of its new drama Backstage from Fresh TV. Musical mashups and dramatic dance-offs are among the creative collaborations that fill the hallways of this prestigious arts school, and Backstage showcases an entirely Canadian cast of talented newcomers. The series features an original musical score and episodes are directed by notable music video directors including Director X (Drake, Iggy Azalea) and RT! (Snoop Dogg, Sean Paul) among others. The show marks the debut of Family’s fourth original series rolling out new episodes on the channel in 2016 and highlights the network’s vibrant original production slate filled with compelling series with exceptionally talented casts.
Backstage follows a group of outstandingly talented teenagers as they live through the highs and lows that come with attending the elite Keaton School of the Arts. New friendships, unparalleled competition and defining moments await them as being a Keaton student is meant to set them on the path to stardom. The dramatic heartbreak and blazing triumphs these artists experience send ripples through the school, capturing the intensity of every audition, rehearsal and performance that could make or break their careers. Following the series premiere, new episodes of Backstage will air regularly Fridays at 7 p.m. ET/PT ahead of The Next Step. Episodes will also be offered on Family OnDemand as they become available weekly beginning March 19.
The stage is set for March 18 as Backstage is followed by a new episode of Family’s #1 drama, The Next Step, at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT. West receives a mysterious package from London, England and Noah collaborates on a song with Amanda.
Fans can go behind the scenes at Family.ca and learn more about Backstage’s characters through exclusive photo galleries and videos. Launching the week of March 14 is TooMuchKeaton.com, socialite Sasha’s epic blog where weekly posts, video tutorials and character confessions keep everyone in the know of what’s happening in the halls at Keaton.
Backstage stars the immensely talented: Josh Bogert as Miles; Aviva Mongillo as Alya; Mckenzie Small as Scarlett; Devyn Nekoda (Degrassi) as Vanessa; Alyssa Trask as Carly; Julia Tomasone as Bianca; Matthew Isen as Jax; Colin Petierre as Sasha; Romy Weltman as Kit; Kyal Legend as Julie; Adrianna Di Liello as Jenna; and Isiah Hall as Denzel.
Commissioned by DHX Television, and with international distribution handled by DHX Media, Backstage was created and developed by Fresh TV. Executive Producers are Brian Irving, who also serves as producer; Jennifer Pertsch, also the co-creator and a writer; Lara Azzopardi, the series’ co-creator, show runner, writer and director; Tom McGillis and George Elliott. Directors for the series include top music video directors RT! (Snoop Dogg, Sean Paul, Shane Harte), Director X (Iggy Azalea, T.I., Drake), Wendy Morgan (Dragonette, Janelle Monáe) and Warren Sonoda (Johnny Reid, George Canyon), as well as Mario Azzopardi (Stargate SG-1, The Outer Limits, Degrassi) and Lara Azzopardi (I Am an Apartment Building, Rewind).
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
X Company preview: Let’s Build an Army!
If you’re thinking that the drama and intensity on Season 2 of X Company was going to take a break this week, think again. Following an emotional week for Aurora (Evelyne Brochu) that saw her have to make a difficult decision regarding René’s (François Arnaud) life, the team is back to work trying to build up their forces since the invasion at Dieppe is less than four weeks away. Meanwhile, on the other side of the lines, Franz Faber (Torben Liebrecht) is dealing with the repercussions of Forst’s (Julian Michael Deuster) demise and what he did to his son. Continue reading.Â
From Bill Harris of Postmedia Network:
‘Vikings’ star Dianne Doan stirs up Season 4
Vikings has me thinking a lot about human nature and the origins of racial prejudice.
Heavy stuff, yes. But it indicates the impact of new cast member Dianne Doan and her mysterious character, Yidu. Continue reading.Â
To celebrate Episode 200 of the TV, Eh? podcast, you get a twofer: our newsy chat about the latest goings-on in the industry followed immediately by Anthony’s chat with Mayday narrator Stephen Bogaert!
Diane, Anthony and Greg highlight the next two weeks in Canadian TV programming, Motive‘s final season return date next month and how cameras have started to roll on CTV’s production of Cardinal, the six-part series based on Giles Blunt’s novels.
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