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, Mohawk Girls, Strange Empire, Sunnyside, X Company, Young Drunk Punk

WCG podcasts: Writers Talking TV

From the Writers Guild of Canada:

Writers Talking TV
Our screenwriting-focussed podcasts are recorded at WGC events in front of live audiences and are moderated by WGC members. The podcasts offer an opportunity to learn about the art and craft of screenwriting, as WGC screenwriters discuss their work.

To listen, click on the link and your player should automatically launch. To download the file to your Windows computer, right click on the link and click on the “save target as” option. Then browse to the location where you want to save the file and click save. Each file is between 20 MB and 40 MB in size. Continue to the podcasts.

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Rookie Blue

Link: Rookie Blue’s Travis Milne brings Saving Hope to the dark side

From Christy Spratlin of The TV Junkies:

Rookie Blue’s Travis Milne brings Saving Hope to the dark side
“I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m excited for you to see what happens. There are some doubts though for sure. There is a lot of charisma to Tom that I find very interesting. I always like to bring a little bit of myself into all of the characters that I play in order to make them more authentic, and I feel like I did that with Tom. I loved being on Rookie Blue, loved it. I did that for seven years, but it was nice to play something a little different. It was like I stepped into another uniform. From a cop to a convict. From blue to orange. Hopefully next I’ll do a stint as a firefighter and then I’ll do some doctor show and that’ll be that for the next 10 years.” Continue reading.

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Forgive Me, Industry News

Season 2 of Forgive Me scheduled for Super Channel

From a media release:

Super Channel, Canada’s only national English pay television network, is pleased to announce that the Super Channel original series,Forgive Me, from writer and director Thom Fitzgerald, will return for a second season on Sunday, October 11 at 8 p.m. ET (SC1) and will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the following day.

Forgive Me is an emotionally powerful dramatic series that breaks the seal of the Catholic confessional. It follows a young priest straining under the ever-growing weight of his congregants’ confessions while trying to protect a secret of his own that could put his calling in peril.

Season one was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards including Best Writing in a Dramatic Series by Thom Fitzgerald; Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series by Mike McLeod, Best Supporting Actor by Hugh Thompson; Best Supporting Actress by Jane Alexander; and Best Performance in a Guest Role by Brenda Fricker. The series also received an impressive six ACTRA Award nominations, with Mike McLeod winning for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role in a drama series, and Jane Alexander and John Dunsworth receiving wins for Outstanding Performance – Female and Outstanding Performance – Male, respectively.

Halifax based rising star, Mike McLeod, reprises his award winning role as the Priest in the 12 episode second season of Forgive Me. Returning cast from the first season also includes acting legend and Oscar® winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias) as the Priest’s grandmother; ACTRA Award nominee and Gemini winner, Hugh Thompson (Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111) as Smith-O’Leary; Gemini and ACTRA Award winner, John Dunsworth (Trailer Park Boys) as the Prelate, Jeremy Akerman (Hobo With A Shotgun) as Father Gene, Rob Joseph Leonard (Sex and Violence) as Father Phil, and Lauren Liem (Sex & Violence) as Noelle.

Season two also sees seven-time Emmy® winner Ed Asner (Up), multiple Gemini Award winner Wendy Crewson (Slasher, Saving Grace) and Daniel Fanaberia (Sex & Violence) join the cast in supporting roles. Also making a returning guest appearance is Oscar®winner Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) in her role as Mrs. Smith.

In season two, the Priest hears confessions from a fallen politician (Wendy Crewson), a reluctant soldier (Daniel Fanaberia), and a parishioner recovering from abuse (Hugh Thompson). The Priest’s personal life with his secret love child is threatening his position in the church, making him vulnerable to punishment from the Bishop (Ed Asner). The first episode finds the young Priest (McLeod) facing his toughest challenge yet. Beset with visions and dreams of martyrs and spectres, the Priest has to choose between medical treatments to try to save his life, or embrace his ghostly visions as visitations from the saints.

Forgive Me is produced by Doug Pettigrew and Thom Fitzgerald of Halifax-based Emotion Pictures, in association with Super Channel, with the participation of the Canadian Media Fund.

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Industry News, Orphan Black

Marblemedia reveals primetime slate for MIPCOM

From a media release:

Award-winning content creation company marblemedia, will premiere three new development titles at MIPCOM from the company’s Primetime Scripted division, which launched last year. The projects come from their highly publicized partnerships with Cirque du Soleil Média and OutEast Entertainment and features prominent television writers Karen Walton, Jennifer Kennedy and Ian MacDonald.

marblemedia will unveil a new 13×60’ sci-fantasy thriller called Alchemy, created by the award-winning producer and writer Karen Walton (Orphan Black, Ginger Snaps). The series is the first project in marblemedia’s venture with Cirque du Soleil Média, which will see the two develop a slate of shows together. Alchemy is currently in development withShowcase (Shaw Media) and will be executive produced by Matt Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop and Jacques Méthé.

marblemedia is also bringing the much anticipated Thank You, Ashley Madison, written by Jennifer Kennedy (Justified) and Ian MacDonald (Punched Up). Produced alongside LA-based company OutEast Entertainment, the series centres around a mother of two who goes on a deep personal journey when she casts aside her conventional morality to start an adultery website to avoid financial ruin. The series will be executive produced by Matt Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop, Steven Marrs (Rogue) and Courtney Hazlett.

Lastly, marblemedia has acquired the rights to author Edeet Ravel’s riveting novel Held. The book, which was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award, centres around a woman named Chloe who is kidnapped during her vacation and placed in total isolation for several days before coming face to face with her abductor for whom she develops deep feelings.

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Continuum, Featured

Interview: Continuum’s Roger Cross is enjoying his career ride

There’s something you should know about Roger Cross. The man exudes positive energy and loves to laugh. Far from his Continuum character of Travis, the Vancouver-raised actor is a staple of Canadian programming. If you film a TV show in this country, odds are Cross will be in it.

With Continuum‘s penultimate episode, “The Desperate Hours,” set to roll this Friday, we grabbed five minutes with Cross to talk Liber8, auditioning and filming in his favourite city.

Can you talk about the tentative relationship between Liber8 and Kiera this season? It’s foreign to die-hard fans.
Roger Cross: What I love about it is that it shows growth. I grew up very religious, Christian. That’s my belief system and my doctrine, but later on you discover there’s a lot of beauty in the Muslim religion and in Buddhism. If you expand you mind and your views … you know. With Kiera, she came in with this one mind that we’re so bad, but in the end we’re trying to help people. It’s a great growth for her and for us as well. Travis has a very militant way of doing things and he learns that maybe that’s not always the best way. It’s a coming together and learning from each other.

What are you taking from the set?
I’m going to take some gear. Or maybe a piece of a time ball. Where’s the prop department? I need to cozy up to them. [Laughs.]

The CBC did a piece on the burgeoning TV and film industry in Vancouver. What’s it like for a guy like you to be working here so much?
People think they know about it, but they really don’t know about it. I think the segment said there are 42 projects filming in Vancouver. That’s a busy city and I think that’s why Hollywood is upset too. There are a lot of major productions here.

You’ve made your career out here. Every show filming in Vancouver seems to feature you in some way.
They keep me busy. It’s a great thing.

Do you have a favourite Canadian city for filming?
They’re all so different. I do have a special place for Vancouver because where else do you get this view? You have the water, the lush greenery, the mountains, the fresh air … it’s a special place. It’s home for me. I moved here when I was 11. Yes, I live in L.A. and I love it there too, but as you know, you don’t get the lush green in L.A. Toronto has its own energy and its own way of doing things. I’ve been there for the last two years filming The Strain and now Dark Matter, and I’ve gotten to know Toronto a lot better.

How do you get gigs for The Strain and Dark Matter? Are you auditioning, or are folks writing parts with you in mind?
It happens both ways. There are times when I get a call where someone is thinking of me for a part, but yes, I still do audition by going in and earning my pay. Guillermo del Toro isn’t handing anything to anyone on The Strain. I did the auction for that and got it, which was great. For Dark Matter, I was in the Dominican Republic and recorded the audition tape down there and sent it back and got the role.

How great is technology? You’re on vacation and can film an audition on your laptop and send it off.
[Laughs.] It really is. You just use your iPhone to record it, upload it and boom!

Continuum airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.

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