Everything about Children’s Programming, eh?

Make It Pop premieres Sept. 9 on YTV

From a media release:

Corus Entertainment’s YTV is introducing Make It Pop, a brand new, live-action, musical-comedy series that stars three unique and talented girls who forge a friendship at boarding school and form their own K-Pop-inspired band called XO-IQ. The series will premiere with two back-to-back episodes at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9 ET/PT on YTV. Make It Pop features original songs and performances with a modern pop twist from the show’s emerging, real-life group, XO-IQ. The series is co-created by Thomas W. Lynch and multi-faceted entertainer Nick Cannon and produced by DHX Media. Lynch and Cannon will serve as executive producers together with DHX Media’s Steven DeNure and Anne Loi. Watch theMake It Pop trailer here.

Make It Pop follows Sun Hi (Megan Lee), Jodi (Louriza Tronco) and Corki (Erika Tham), three freshmen girls who meet when they are randomly selected to room together at boarding school and soon discover that they share a taste for adventure and a love of music. With the help of fellow classmate and aspiring DJ, Caleb (Dale Whibley), the girls grow from roommates to bandmates as their group, XO-IQ, becomes a school-wide sensation. At the same time, they compete for a place in the upcoming school musical all while balancing music, grades, relationship and crushes.

 

Megan Lee stars as Sun Hi, the funky, fresh and free-spirited bandmate who is the driving force of the band. Megan is a young rising superstar, widely known as a triple threat, mastering the arts of acting, singing and dancing. A Southern California native, she started her career at the age of ten. Her television credits include guest appearances on Nickelodeon’s iCarly, BrainSurge and Disney’s Get Connected and 3 Minute Game Show.She has also guest starred on the Starz Original series Crash. Megan’s YouTube channel of original songs and music covers, led her to South Korea where she officially debuted her first K-Pop singles 8days and OST Ready for Love in Korea.

Louriza Tronco stars as Jodi, the fashionista and choreographer of the group. Raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Louriza landed her first professional theatre gig at eight as part of the children’s choir in a production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” After attending The Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, British Columbia, Lourizo got her first break on the CW’s Cult. Her subsequent television credits include Lifetime’s Behind the Hit: Saved By the Bell, Disney Channel’s Zapped, My Boyfriends’ Dogs and My Life as a Dead Girl. Tronco can be seen on the big screen in the feature film Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb.

Erika Tham stars as Corki, the bandmate who is shy, private and not prepared for most typical teenage girl experiences like boys, school dances, or concerts. A Canadian, Tham was born in Singapore, she is of Malaysian, Chinese, Dutch, Ukrainian heritage and has lived in seven different countries in her 15 years. Make It Pop is her first television starring role.

Dale Whibley stars as Caleb, a fellow freshman, beat maker and aspiring DJ who believes he has the perfect sound to catapult the girls to stardom. Hailing from Barrie, Ontario, Whibley began his acting career at the age of five in television commercials. Whibley has appeared on YTV’s Life with Boys and Max & Shred and  has had a recurring role on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

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Link: Casey and Finnegan of Mr. Dressup alive and well on Hornby Island

From CBC:

Casey and Finnegan of Mr. Dressup alive and well on Hornby Island
Iconic puppets Casey and Finnegan starred alongside the late Ernie Coombs on one of the longest-running Canadian children’s shows, CBC Television’s Mr. Dressup.

But while the treehouse in which Casey and Finnegan lived can be found in the CBC Museum in Toronto, the puppets themselves aren’t there. Continue reading.

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YTV Brings Gordon Korman’s Macdonald Hall to the Small Screen with Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool!

From a media release:

The most infamous troublemakers at Macdonald Hall Boys’ School are bringing their pranks to YTV in Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool!, based on the much-loved Macdonald Hall book series by best-selling young adult author Gordon Korman. Aircraft Pictures and YTV have started production on the TV movie, which stars Jonny Gray (Max & Shred, Annedroids) and Callan Potter (Stratford Festival), Peter Keleghan (18 To Life, Murdoch Mysteries) and Caroline Rhea (Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Phineas and Ferb). The movie will shoot in Hamilton, Ontario through to the middle of August and is slated to premiere on YTV in 2016

Bruno (Jonny Gray), the enthusiastic instigator of plots, plans to enrage Macdonald Hall’s rivals at York Academy, to intrigue the students at Miss Scrimmage’s Academy for Education & Awakening and to just make high school more fun. His very best friend, his comrade-in-arms, his we-do-everything-together pal is Boots (Callan Potter) who, as it happens, is a very good swimmer. The duo’s shenanigans try the patience of Headmaster William Sturgeon (Peter Keleghan) and Headmistress Eugenia Scrimmage (Caroline Rhea).

For the boys at Macdonald Hall, losing swim meets to the snobs at York Academy is a constant humiliation. But, until the Hall gets its own pool and Boots can train, York is going to win every swim meet. Unhappy with their son’s athletic performance, Boots’ parents decide to transfer him to York and enrol him in its excellent sports program. What is worse than losing your best friend? Nothing. So Bruno concocts a plan to raise $150,000 to build his school a pool. How hard can it be? A few rummage sales. A couple of bake-offs. Maybe a slightly, possibly against-the-rules toll booth. Bruno will try anything to keep Boots at Macdonald Hall.

Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool! is produced by Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen of Aircraft Pictures (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Cybergeddon), written by Adam Barken (Killjoys, Flashpoint) and directed by Vivieno Caldinelli (This Hour has 22 Minutes, Odd Squad). Breakthrough Entertainment will handle international sales.

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Jason Priestley & Molly Ringwald head up Family’s Wonderful Wayneys

From a media release:

Canuck A-lister Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz, Beverly Hills: 90210, Haven) and celebrated actress Molly Ringwald (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Breakfast Club and the upcoming Universal Pictures film Jem & The Holograms) bring the funny to Family Channel, starring as seemingly-flawless parents to five children in the new original series The Wonderful Wayneys. From Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment, The Wonderful Wayneys follows Paige and Wayne Wayney as they forge the path to familial greatness. The live-action comedy, created and executive produced by the witty and cheeky Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show), begins filming in Toronto on July 27 and will deliver 26 half-hour episodes to DHX Television for Spring 2016.

The wonderful Wayneys are an amazing family: good looking, MENSA smart, talented, athletic and popular to boot. Paige (Ringwald) and Wayne Wayney (Priestley) have worked hard at raising “multi-exceptional” offspring and are proud of their children: Adam, Conner, Bentley and Derek. Everyone in town envies them or wants to be them, and you can even find Paige’s book about raising her extraordinary family on the bestseller list. But alas, their fifth child, Emmett, is not marching in lock step on the path to familial greatness. What he lacks academically, athletically and artistically, he makes up for with relentless enthusiasm and curiosity. Emmett knows that one day he’ll find his way, but in the meantime he’s determined to celebrate his C-average status in spectacular creative fashion – no matter how often his best laid plans threaten to destroy the family’s living space, reputation or sense of safety.

Filling the roles of Priestley and Ringwald’s multi-exceptional children in the series are: Luke Bilyk (Degrassi, Lost Girl) as Adam; Katie Douglas (Defiance, Max & Shred) as Conner; Matthew Tissi (Call Me Fitz, Transporter) as Bentley; Jake Sim (The Amazing Gayl Pile, Arthur) as Derek; and newcomer Simon Cadel as Emmett.

The Wonderful Wayneys is produced by Aircraft Pictures (Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil, What’s Up, Warthogs!) with producers Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, and Dolphin Entertainment (Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Zoey 101, and the upcoming feature film Max Steel, based on the Mattel action-figure franchise) with Executive Producer Bill O’Dowd. Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show) is Series Creator and Executive Producer. The show is co-executive produced by Steve Skrovan (Everybody Loves Raymond, Hot in Cleveland) and Garry Campbell (MADtv, Kids in the Hall). Tia Ayers, Barbara Haynes, Skander Halim, Max Reid, Josh Gal, Kate Spurgeon and Emer Connon round out the writing room.

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Fresh TV and DHX team for Family’s Backstage

From a media release:

Fresh TV today announces start of production on a new Family Channeloriginal performing arts school drama, Backstage. The 30-episode, half-hour scripted series (shot docudrama-style) will follow a group of outstandingly talented teenagers as they live through the highs and lows that come with attending the prestigious Keaton School of the Arts – from the angst and disappointments to the new friendships and crowning achievements. The series films this summer in Toronto, beginning today, and is slated to debut on DHX Television’s Family in Spring 2016.

Through diary-style confessionals and dramatic cliffhangers, Backstage will lift the curtain on these would-be stars as they chase their dreams and deal with the day-to-day reality of being a student, a sister, a son, a girlfriend — a teen. Every episode will be jam-packed with dance, instrumental and vocal performances from rehearsals to concerts to opening nights.

Featuring an all-Canadian cast, the series stars Devyn Nekoda (Degrassi) as Vanessa, a gifted ballet dancer; Alyssa Trask as Carly, a dancer who is stuck in her best friend Vanessa’s shadow; Aviva Mongillo as Alya, an incredible singer who lacks confidence; Joshua Bogert as Miles, a mysterious musician with a big secret; Colin Petierre as Sasha, the school’s biggest gossip; Julia Tomasone as Bianca, who is being groomed by her casting director mother as “the next big thing”; Matthew Isen as Jax, a charming DJ and musician; Kyal Legend as Julie, the school president; McKenzie Small as Scarlett, a talented singer with a big ego; Romy Weltman as Kit, a DJ and musician who is fighting to garner recognition for her talents; Isiah Hall as Denzel, a fashionable designer; and Adrianna Di Lielloas Jenna an eager ballet dancer, always ready to seize an opportunity.

Backstage was created and developed by Fresh TV in association with DHX Television. Executive Producers are Brian Irving, who is also a producer; Jennifer Pertsch, who is also the creator, co-developer and a writer; Lara Azzopardi, who is also a co-developer, show runner, writer and director;Tom McGillis and George Elliott.

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