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Featured

Drew and Jonathan Scott’s Backed By The Bros premieres June 5 on HGTV Canada

From a media release:

Home renovation and real estate superstars Drew and Jonathan Scott will put their professional reputation, connections and resources on the line to help struggling property investors find success in the new HGTV Canada series Backed By The Bros. Premiering Wednesday, June 5, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada and available to stream the same day and time on STACKTV, the 10-episode season will show another side of the Brothers – proven real estate moguls who know a good investment when they see one – as they relinquish total control of renovations to advise bewildered entrepreneurs, short-term rental owners and residential developers on high-stakes investment properties. To get each project across the finish line in an unforgiving housing market, the popular twins will back investors with their professional expertise, experience, invaluable insights, and top-notch resources – gratis.

In every episode of Backed By The Bros, Drew and Jonathan will consider two potential real estate investments. After assessing the properties and meeting the owners, they will decide who to back with their full suite of support. Offering their expert mentorship, project management capabilities, trusted trade contacts, a team of designers and a warehouse full of construction materials, furniture and décor, Drew and Jonathan will bring every resource to the table. The Brothers are ready to help the investors avoid pitfalls, but there’s no guarantee they will listen. Protégés may push back or go rogue, but if they make the right decisions, they’ll get the best return on their investment.

In the season premiere, Drew and Jonathan will review a troubled renovation project in North Hollywood that’s already more than $100,000 in the hole, as well as a detached garage in Burbank that the owners hope to transform into a rental unit. While only one will receive the backing opportunity, the other will still reap the benefits of the Brothers’ consultation and invaluable advice.

Backed By The Bros is produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment with Drew and Jonathan serving as executive producers.

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Featured

Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman and CEO Channing Dungey joins the Banff World Media Festival Summer Series as a keynote speaker

From a media release:

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman and CEO Channing Dungey is joining the Festival’s premium Summit Series lineup as a keynote speaker.  The 45th edition of the Festival will take place June 9 – 12, 2024 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

“We’re delighted to welcome back Channing Dungey as a keynote speaker,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, BANFF Executive Director.  “Channing’s unparalleled expertise and insights are a key driver in shaping the future of the entertainment industry.  She is a visionary whose impact transcends screens.”

The BANFF Summit Series is a curated lineup of keynotes featuring global players who are shaping the future of the media industry. As previously announced, Rob Wade, CEO, FOX Entertainment is also confirmed as a Summit Series keynote. Past Summit Series keynote speakers include Jeffrey Katzenberg, Paula Kerger, Pearlena Igbokwe, Bela Bajaria, Ted Sarandos and Maverick Carter, to name a few.

The Festival will again include master classes going behind the scenes of some of the global industry’s most innovative projects and more than 1,200 facilitated networking opportunities, in addition to over 25,000 meetings connecting the global media industry to ignite new projects and support business growth.

This year, international financing and co-production will be a major focus with the launch of the “Better Together” content stream.  BANFF will also debut “Soundtrack,” a new conference stream focused on music on screen.   Technology, AI and entertainment content on social media and online platforms will also be a key content focus.

Also returning to the BANFF stage in June is the Rockie Awards International Program Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious screen industry competitions, with participation from more than 45+ countries annually including an international jury of 150 industry professionals. Category winners, including the Grand Jury Prize, the Rogers Prize for Canadian Content, the Emerging Talent Prize, the Francophone Prize, and other special prizes, will be announced during the Festival on June 11th.

In addition, taking place on the evening of June 10th, the industry-favourite Rockies Gala will return to recognize the best content and most influential entertainment industry executives, talent and creators in the world.

About Channing Dungey
Highly esteemed executive Channing Dungey serves as Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG), one of the entertainment industry’s most-respected providers of original programming. She is the first Black executive and first woman to lead WBTVG. In this role, she has creative responsibility for all of the Studio’s unrivaled television production activities, including nearly 90 scripted, unscripted, and animated series for streaming platforms, cable, and the broadcast networks. Prior to joining the company, she was Vice President of Original Series at Netflix. Before that, she made history as the first Black executive to run a major television network when she was tapped to serve as president of ABC Entertainment. Dungey graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. 

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Awards, Featured

Banff’s 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition nominees announced

From a media release:

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is pleased to announce the 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition Nominees, recognizing excellence in television and digital media from around the globe. The Rockie Awards ceremony will be held in-person as well as live-streamed during this year’s Festival on Tuesday, June 11th at 5:30pm MT (4:30pm PT/ 7:30pm ET).

The Rockie Awards Grand Jury chooses the coveted Grand Jury Prize, selected from the top-scoring programs across the entire field of nominees. This year’s esteemed Grand Jury includes:

Javiera Balmaceda
Head of Originals, Latin America, CA & AU at Amazon MGM Studios

Julie Chang (above)
EVP, Business Strategy & Co-Productions at Blue Ant Media

Prentiss Fraser
President, TV Distribution at Fifth Season

Nichole T. Roberts
Head of Unscripted at Hoorae

Michael Thorn
President, Scripted Programming at FOX Entertainment 

Morgan Wandell
Head of International Content Development at Apple TV+

“We’re delighted to unveil the nominees for this year’s Rockie Awards, a field that truly embodies excellence and innovation within our industry. This is the best of the best across international content. Deep appreciation goes to the esteemed members of the Grand Jury, whose discerning adjudication elevates the program immeasurably,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, Executive Director. 

In addition to the Grand Jury Prize, the $25,000 Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content, awarded to the top Canadian production and the Prix Francophone for the top French language production will also be awarded as well as other special awards. In total, 30 awards will be bestowed in the category streams of Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted, and Podcast, in addition to the presentation of several Rockies Gala Awards to be announced soon.

Leading nominations by company are:

  • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – 22 nominations
  • 20th Television – 8 nominations
  • Sky – 5 nominations

Leading nominations by country are:

  • USA – 51 nominations
  • UK – 50 nominations
  • Canada – 40 nominations
  • France – 8 nominations
  • Germany – 7 nominations
  • Taiwan – 6 nominations

Additional countries represented in the nominations are:

  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • The Netherlands
  • Wales

FOR THE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES, PLEASE VISIT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16zvZwg34SHW190DzBYx35AY5RGtxcRrvMGnLa_nK5VQ/edit?usp=sharing

About the Rockie Awards:

With a 45-year legacy, the Rockie Awards International Program Competition is open to genres and platforms including drama, non-fiction, digital, kids, youth and podcasts. Timed in the heart of awards voting season, the prestigious Banff World Media Festival competition recognizes excellence in global television and digital content. Entries from more than 45 countries compete each year, and winners are selected by an international industry jury of 150+ senior entertainment and media professionals.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

T+E annual “Spring Shivers” programming event unveils a spooktacular must-see TV lineup, including new season of the hit series, Haunted Hospitals

From a media release:

It’s halfway to Halloween and T+E’s highly anticipated annual event ‘Spring Shivers,’ is emerging from the dark depths, bringing Canadians a full week of spine-tingling programming from Monday, April 1 to Sunday, April 7, 2024 as we celebrate the midway point to the best holiday. Now in its third year, Spring Shivers is set to deliver more ghosts than ever before with over 150 hours of chilling programming, featuring all-new premieres and themed marathons of T+E viewers’ favourite ghostly series. This must-see lineup will include the Season 5 world broadcast premiere of the hit original series Haunted Hospitals, bringing viewers fresh eyewitness accounts of paranormal encounters in hospital facilities recounted by nurses, medical staff and patients. Audiences will find themselves immersed in hair-raising stories with the premiere of Social Media Murder, featuring one of the most shocking murders in recent years, a tragic tale played out through social media of teenage infatuation and repressed sexuality; and Close Encounters, focusing on unique, often untold and unsolved UFO sightings, known to captivate experts and researchers for decades. Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted and Unexplained Caught on Camera also return with new seasons.

From April 1 to 7, T+E’s “Spring Shivers” will be airing daily paranormal programming marathons, including episodes of Paranormal Caught on Camera, Haunted Gold Rush, History’s Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters and more. Join the conversation on social media by following T+E’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and by using the hashtags #TEonTV #SpringShivers

Spring Shivers – Programming/Episodic Highlights (in order of date):

Social Media Murder, Season 1 (1×60’; HD)
April 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
When schoolboy Alex Rodda received a flirty message from an older man he was flattered and excited. Unaware he was being groomed he thought this would be his first taste of love. Yet just six weeks later he was brutally murdered in a dark wood. 18-year-old Matthew Mason was not openly gay and after grooming 15-year-old Alex on social media he wanted to keep their relationship secret – and knew there was only one way he could really silence his young lover. Experts observe how social media acted as a catalyst for this dreadful crime and share their views on how the older killer’s grooming of Alex played out. 

Close Encounters, Season 1 (13×30’; HD)
April 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT 
Every year countless UFO sightings are reported from thousands of regions around the globe. Many of these sightings are documented and investigated. Most of them can be accounted for by weather patterns, flight schedules or extraordinary imagination. But a select few are still considered unsolved–extraterrestrial puzzles that police investigators, government officials and even medical communities cannot explain. These are the unique, often untold stories that have captivated UFO experts and researchers imaginations for decades. These are the Close Encounters.

Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, Season 3 (6×60’; HD)
April 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT 
Celebrity Help! My House is Haunted is back with six new celebrities allowing three of the UK’s leading paranormal investigators; Ian Lawman, Barri Ghai and Jayne Harris into their homes to investigate, cleanse and exorcize spirits that have left them living in perpetual fear. From royal revenants to lifelong spiritual attachments, our six celebrities including, Paul Chuckle, Chloe Ferry, Paul Burrell and Tina Malone, come face to face with terrifying supernatural entities, forcing the team to do whatever it takes to return their homes back to the land of the living. 

Unexplained Caught on Camera, Season 4 (10×60’; HD)
April 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT 
The most eye-opening unexplained videos caught on camera around the world – from poltergeists caught on mobile phones, UFOs on dash cams or apparitions on CCTV. This series uncovers a multitude of weird and wonderful phenomena; all caught on camera.

Haunted Hospitals, Season 5 (8×60’; HD)
April 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT 
Haunted Hospitals showcases eyewitness testimonies of paranormal activity inside hospitals and medical facilities. These chilling stories of ghostly experiences are first-hand accounts from nurses, health care staff and patients. It’s real people and their terrifying encounters in spaces occupied by the ailing, the recovering, and the undead. 

T+E is a Blue Ant Media specialty channel and the ultimate destination for totally entertaining programming, providing an escape into a world that is brimming with mystery, intrigue, and unforgettable storytelling. As the home to spine-tingling paranormal encounters, T+E combines thrills and chills with fan-favourite cult series and can’t-miss TV events.

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Featured, Skymed

Paramount+ renews high-stakes medical drama SkyMed for a third season

From a media release:

Paramount+ has picked up a third season of SKYMED, the hit medical drama series that follows young medics and pilots who fly air ambulances across the remote skies of Northern Canada. Produced by Piazza Entertainment, production for the nine-episode third season begins Monday, March 25 in Manitoba and Ontario with the ensemble cast returning for more jaw-dropping rescues 20,000 feet in the air. The upcoming season will be available to watch exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and internationally outside of Canada, and on CBC in Canada.

Season three of SKYMED picks up in the aftermath of the dramatic season two finale, when the mounting pressure within the tight-knit SkyMed team – and shocking medical emergency for one of its members – threatens to tear the group apart. Now, faced with more dangerous missions across the wilderness and a few newcomers who arrive at the crew house to shake things up, the medical responders must rely on each other more than ever as they experience heart-pulsing rescues, new love and hard goodbyes on the job.

Returning to SKYMED are series regulars Natasha Calis (Nurses) as Hayley, Morgan Holmstrom (Outlander) as Crystal, Praneet Akilla (Nancy Drew) as Chopper, Mercedes Morris (Ghosts) as Lexi, Thomas Elms (The Boys In The Boat) as Nowak, Kheon Clarke (Riverdale) as Tristan and Sydney Kuhne (Ginny & Georgia) as Stef. Aaron Ashmore (Ginny & Georgia) as Wheezer has also been upped to series regular this season. Returning in recurring roles are “Ace” Aason Nadjiwon (The Twilight Zone) as Bodie and Emilia McCarthy (Zombies) as Madison, with Braeden Clarke (Outlander)  returning to guest star as Jeremy.

Anthony Grant (Star Trek: Discovery, Polar) joins the cast in a recurring role as TJ, a fun-loving, social pilot who is easy to crush on but secretly carries some heavy baggage of his own. Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent) also joins in a recurring role as Marianne, an appealing city-slicker who struggles to fit in up north despite her electric chemistry with Chopper (Akilla).

SKYMED is produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC and CBS Studios. The series is created by Julie Puckrin and inspired by her sister and brother-in-law, who met flying air ambulances. Puckrin also serves as executive producer, along with Gillian Hormel and Vanessa Piazza. From Manitoba, Rhonda Baker and Carrie Wilkins serve as producers. Outside of Canada, SKYMED is distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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