From The Canadian Press:
Lois of ‘Sharon, Lois & Bram’ dies at age 78
A member of a hugely popular trio of Canadian children’s entertainers has died. Lois Lilienstein of Sharon, Lois & Bram has passed away.
She was the only member of the group born in the US, and one of the few Americans to ever be awarded with the Order of Canada, which happened back in 2002. Continue reading.
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From a media release:
Following last week’s DHX Television rebranding announcement, which emphasizes a mandate to build on the success of the company’s strong original production slate, Family Channel has revealed its plans for a fourth season of the popular tween drama The Next Step. The commissioning decision for the series, which currently ranks as the #1 kids television series airing across all Canadian kids networks1, follows the mid-season finale of the third season and the conclusion of the sold-out two-month, cross-country The Next Step Live on Stage tour. Production on the season four order, from Temple Street Productions, is set to begin this summer in Toronto.
Since its premiere in March, season three of The Next Step drew in an impressive average audience of 281,400 viewers2, weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT, making it the #1 series across all specialty networks for the three weeks of premiere episodes, with its target demos of kids 7-11, 6-12 and kids 8-14.3 On average, 479,000 unique viewers tuned-in to The Next Step each weeknight, and the third season has reached over 1.8 million Canadians to date.4
The Next Step follows the lives of an elite group of dancers who train at The Next Step studio. The first half of season three saw the dancers compete against rival studio, Elite, and each other, in order to secure a spot on the Internationals team. Thursday night’s finale brought even more twists and turns as viewers were introduced to Ella (Ella Gilling), a mischievous exchange program dancer from England, and Amanda (Logan Fabbro) was sent packing. Episodes of The Next Step currently air Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family.
Commissioned by Family Channel, The Next Step is produced by Temple Street Productions and is executive produced by Frank van Keeken (Wingin’ It, Kids in the Hall, Billable Hours), Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (Orphan Black, Being Erica, Wingin’ It). BBC Worldwide has acquired international distribution rights. The Next Step is also produced with financial assistance from The Shaw Rocket Fund.
From a media release:
TVO announced today that it has partnered with DHX Media on the development of a new children’s animated series based on the ‘George Greenby’ books by world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and his daughter, author Lucy Hawking.
The new series is geared towards school-aged kids and explores various aspects of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), including space exploration and physics. Each episode will turn big science concepts into bite-sized information for kids, with a whimsical take on how the universe works. DHX Media will produce the series, with Pure Grass Films as executive producers, co-financers and distributors for several territories outside of Canada.
The series will tell the story of 11-year-olds George Greenby and Annie Bellis. When George and Annie say their science tutor is out of this world, they really mean it. That’s because their tutor is Cosmos, an astounding artificial intelligence app that can instantly transport them anywhere in the universe!
Cosmos was built by Annie’s father, Eric Bellis, a member of the top-secret Order of Science, as a way to teach Annie about any scientific topic. But he built Cosmos a little too well…during one fateful physics lesson, Cosmos figures out a way to open a wormhole right in Annie’s living room!
Now Annie and George can explore anywhere in time and space and learn all kinds of cool stuff! Like what does a space smell like? And do stars live forever? It also means they can secretly help Eric with the discoveries and missions he and his fellow super-scientists at the Order are working on back on Earth…just as long as the trio makes it back before Eric realizes they’re missing!
Throughout the series, episodes will explore the wonders of physics, breaking down questions of cosmic proportions, and also looking at earthly phenomena, all while remaining grounded in the facts of cutting-edge science and their relevance to our lives.
The series is slated to have 39 half-hour episodes and will also include a robust interactive component for mobile and web. More news to follow.
Acceptance of others is a common theme in family programming, but The Stanley Dynamic certainly breaks new ground in the way it’s done. Debuting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on YTV, the live action series boasts a two-dimensional star: Luke Stanley, an animated 14-year-old who interacts with his three-dimensional family and world.
“This is a gentle nod to inclusion, diversity and acceptance,” says Michael Souther, co-founder of Amaze Film + Television, the show’s production company. “No one bats an eye at Luke. He is one of the family, he’s at school, he has crushes, but he’s different. And no one focuses on his difference.” At least, not in a negative way. There are plenty of positives to having an animated kid around: his twin brother, Larry (Charles Vandervaart, Murdoch Mysteries), appreciates the fact his sibling can stretch out his arms to reach the cookie jar on a faraway shelf.
Amaze is most recently known for producing four seasons of the ribald, adult comedy Call Me Fitz. Souther says he was interested in creating a family show that was different from everything already in the genre. They quickly settled on a new approach, combining animation with live action in a multi-camera series. With co-creator Ken Cuperus (Mr. Young) on board, Souther says the 26-episode first season is consistently entertaining.
It hasn’t been easy from a production standpoint. Taylor Abrahamse (Beyblade: Metal Fusion), who voices Luke, rehearsed and did initial takes with his TV family—cartoonist dad, Lane, (Michael Barbuto, Banner 4th of July), who chronicles the family’s adventures in his online comic strip, “The Stanley Dynamicâ€; mom Lisa (Kate Hewlett (Remedy); Larry; and bug-obsessed, genius sister Lori (Madison Ferguson)—before stepping off-stage during real takes. The next process involved inserting Luke’s action into scenes—in Thursday’s debut he squishes himself into a high school locker and is squeezed in a group hug—a time-consuming gig that is keeping Cuperus busy long after cameras stopped rolling.
The result is astounding:Â Luke has shadows behind him, makes eye contact with his co-stars and fits seamlessly into the world around him. Just like he’s supposed to.
The Stanley Dynamic airs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on YTV.
Spoiler alert: not every member of the A-Troupe dancers will last until the end of Season 3 of The Next Step. That shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise for anyone following the tween drama—kids get older and graduate all the time—but this exit will be a bit of a shock nonetheless.
We were on the show’s Scarborough, Ont., set during filming, and watched that pivotal scene from a vantage point just out of camera range. We won’t give it away, but the announcement sends shock waves through the group. How it all happens, and how it affects the crew going into Internationals, rolls out when The Next Step returns to Family Channel on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.
To watch filming of an episode of The Next Step is to see television production set at double speed. Unlike most series that take a week to film one episode, The Next Step does it in just over a day and lines are written in a different manner too.
“Traditionally, you write a script and then you find actors to read the material,” says writer and executive producer Frank van Keeken (The Kids in the Hall, Winging’ It). “We write very involved outlines, and on the day of shooting we talk about the scene and then we just start playing.” The result? A serialized drama that feels very real and authentic.
Returning to The Next Step Dance Studio are, among others, Brittany Raymond as Riley, Victoria Baldesarra as Michelle, Alexandra Beaton as Emily, Trevor Tordjman as James, Lamar Johnson as West, Jennifer Pappas as Chloe, Brennan Clost as Daniel, Zac Vran as Hunter, Bree Wasylenko as Kate, Natalie Krill as Phoebe and So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 4 winner Jordan Clark as Giselle. Newbies include Ella Gilling, a semifinalist from Season 2 of the UK talent television show Got To Dance. Each one—when they weren’t celebrating the show’s catering or discussing injuries and the bonding element on-set—spoke of how van Keeken is a mentor to them. It’s a label he isn’t comfortable wearing, but understands the sentiment.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, so there are certain skill sets I’ve developed,” he says. “Because they’re green, or were, I had to spend the time just educating them. It’s been a good relationship. After they saw the cuts they realized, ‘He just cuts the bad bits.’ Once you make that transition as an actor then they just go.”
As for who exits the troupe early? You’ll just have to tune in to find out.
The Next Step airs Monday to Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family Channel.
