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CBC’s new chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault anchors The National

From a media release:

Starting September 5, Emmy Award-winning journalist and CBC News Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault will helm CBC’s flagship newscast each Monday to Thursday. Arsenault has been a senior correspondent for THE NATIONAL since 1999, deployed to the biggest breaking stories. Arsenault will inform and connect Canadians to the news and issues shaping Canada and the world, while continuing to broaden and deepen the storytelling on the national newscast. Arsenault was named Chief Correspondent earlier this summer. Ian Hanomansing will continue to host Friday and Sunday, in addition to hosting Cross Country Checkup.

“Adrienne is the first woman to be appointed chief correspondent for CBC, and we’re excited and proud to watch as she brings her unwavering dedication to journalistic storytelling, powerful on-the-ground reporting and authentic ‘take-me-there’ approach to the anchor desk, ushering in a new era for our flagship newscast at a time when trusted journalism is more important than ever,” said Barbara Williams, Executive Vice-President, CBC.

“I am fiercely protective of the importance of public broadcasting and the joys and necessities of good journalism, and this is a huge privilege and responsibility, “ said Arsenault. “I feel ridiculously lucky and grateful to be with all the colleagues I’ve learned from over a long time. It is more than the opportunity to continue to report from around the world. I want to be the advocate for the journalists we have in Canada and across the world. There is nothing more remarkable to me than being in the middle of a busy story surrounded by people rolling up their sleeves and throwing everything they have at getting it right, strictly because it matters. That is the image I always associate with The National.”

Arsenault’s assignments have included disasters, conflicts, politics, sports and human dramas. She won an International Emmy in 2015 for her work covering the Ebola crisis. She has covered seven Olympic Games for CBC including Beijing 2022 and Tokyo 2020, and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Her investigative work on security has seen her cross Canada and pursue terror stories across the globe, more recently being dispatched to cover conflict and war in Ukraine, Syria and Mali. Arsenault began her career at CBC in 1991. Over the years since, her postings have included Vancouver, Washington, Jerusalem and London.

Recently in Canada, Arsenault gained exclusive access to frontline workers dealing with the ongoing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic including Toronto’s Humber River Hospital and the Ottawa Paramedic Service, telling their stories and revealing the greater impact on the Canadian healthcare system.

Arsenault has been honoured with the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association’s Journalist of the Year award, and has also won two Gracie awards for outstanding female correspondent, a Monte Carlo Festival award for her coverage of the Zimbabwe election and several Gemini and Canadian Screen Awards.

THE NATIONAL airs at 10 p.m. on CBC TV and is available on all platforms including CBC Gem, CBC News Network, CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, YouTube and Facebook.

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New animated children’s series, Jeremy and Jazzy, to launch on CBC Kids and CBC Gem

From a media release:

Vérité Films, Jeremy Fisher Music, and Hidden Pony Records are proud to announce Jeremy and Jazzy, a new children’s animated television, music, and multi-platform brand about how feelings become songs, songs become stories, and music and friendship create joy. The series brings to life a new collection of children’s music written by three-time JUNO-nominated singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher. Jeremy and Jazzy is set to debut in Canada on the free CBC Gem streaming service on September 5, 2022, followed by its linear broadcast premiere on CBC Kids beginning September 12, 2022 and then streaming on CBC Kids’ YouTube channel starting on September 19, 2022.

The series stars Jeremy Fisher (Jeremy) and award-winning artist Aiza Ntibarikure (Jazzy). It’s set in Creation Station – a world that comes alive through the magic of music. The first 26 two-minute episodes and one 11-minute special (featuring a guest appearance from musician Joel Plaskett) will be available to stream at launch. A preview of the first short, “Jeremy and Jazzy (Theme),” is available here.

In addition, today Jeremy and Jazzy released the album Say Hello, a collection of 26 new songs via Hidden Pony Records and Universal Music Canada on all streaming services. Fronted by Jeremy and Aiza, the tracks showcase a diversity of styles – from vocal jazz to folky talking blues to funk, hip-hop, pop, and more. The songs are backed by children from the Dixon Hall Music School, the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, and Music For Young Children in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Listen to Say Hello here.

On September 6th, to celebrate the series launch on CBC Gem, the Jeremy and Jazzy song “Paper Heart” will be included in the CBC Canadian Music Class Challenge, and the short will be available here. Classrooms across Canada can submit their own version of the song for a chance to win musical instruments for their school or a chance to win a virtual classroom concert with Jeremy Fisher. Details are available at cbc.ca/musicclass.

September will also see the launch of Jeremy and Jazzy Learn, a free and fun series of educational resources for Junior Kindergarten-Grade 2, developed in collaboration with Sheridan College, that brings music into the home and classroom to help kids with literacy skills. Activities will be available on JeremyandJazzy.com.

More Jeremy and Jazzy shorts and songs are already in production and set to launch with CBC Kids and Universal Music Canada in 2023, alongside touring shows, books, and more Jeremy and Jazzy Learn educational content. Jeremy and Jazzy will inspire kids and parents to sing, dance, create, and learn on JeremyandJazzy.com, YouTube and Facebook.

About Jeremy and Jazzy, Vérité Films, Jeremy Fisher Music, and Hidden Pony Records
Jeremy and Jazzy is created by Jeremy Fisher, Robert de Lint, Mike “Parkside” Renaud, and Virginia Thompson. The project is produced by Vérité Films, the award-winning production company behind the iconic Canadian comedy brand Corner Gas, in association with Jeremy Fisher Music and Hidden Pony Records. Animation is provided by Vérité Films and Smiley Guy Studios with digital production by Vérité Films and Stitch Media. Jeremy and Jazzy Learn is produced by Vérité Films in association with Jeremy Fisher Music and Sheridan College’s Early Childhood Education program.

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WildBrain Television announces three more original greenlights from Canadian producers exclusive to Family Channel

From a media release:

WildBrain Television, one of Canada’s most-loved kids’ and family broadcast networks, announces that Family Channel, its flagship broadcast network, has greenlit three new content projects across live-action and animation, in partnership with independent Canadian producers. Exclusive to WildBrain Television in Canada, the new content will begin rolling out across the company’s broadcast and digital channels this September, continuing into 2023. WildBrain has also acquired global distribution rights for all three properties.

Heading up the live-action slate is Life with Luca, the 90-minute spin-off feature film of the beloved franchise, Life with Derek. Produced by Shaftesbury as an original commission by WildBrain’s Family Channel, the movie recently wrapped filming in Southern Ontario and will premiere on the network in early 2023. WildBrain is also now the exclusive worldwide distributor of the classic Life with Derek library (70×22′) and an earlier spin-off film, Vacation with Derek (1×90′).

­WildBrain Television’s animation lineup features Slugterra: Ascension, produced in partnership with Epic Story Media. The shorts will premiere exclusively on WildBrainTV in Canada in a sneak peek on September 5 at 2:50 p.m. ET, with new episodes beginning September 18 at 11:45 a.m. ET, before rolling out globally across WildBrain Spark’s Slugterra YouTube channels. Also newly greenlit is an expanded order of five half-hours to the popular new series Summer Memories, produced in partnership with A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative. Summer Memories debuted on Family Channel this summer, and the new stories will begin airing on Family Channel in 2023.

Life with Luca­ ­(1 x 90′) – coming to Family Channel early 2023

Life with Luca is the spin-off of the long-running, beloved franchise Life with Derek. The movie picks up fifteen years later and follows Derek (Michael Seater) and Casey (Ashley Leggat) as they each navigate parenthood and raise distinctly different teenagers. Derek is a successful musician in Paris and the single dad of a 14-year-old girl named Skyler (Isabel Rose Silva) who is smart, funny, and studious and who has recently been testing the boundaries set by her father. Casey is a lawyer and a married mother of three in Toronto and is quite comfortable setting limits, though her eldest, 14-year-old Luca (Marcus Cornwall)—lover of pranks, gaming, and skateboarding—is constantly crossing them. Both Derek and Casey spontaneously decide to surprise their own parents at their recently constructed ‘forever home’ in rural Ontario but encounter each other instead. Casey and Derek are happy to see each other, but the teenaged cousins—who have barely seen each other over the years (and never really liked what they saw)—don’t get along at all, uniting only to get into serious trouble.

The 90-minute live-action film is produced by Shaftesbury, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and Shaw Rocket Fund, as an original commission by WildBrain’s Family Channel. The movie is set to debut on Family Channel in February 2023.

Life with Luca was created by Life with Derek series creator, Daphne Ballon and Life with Derek writer, Jeff Biederman. Ron Murphy (Jann, Trailer Park Boys) directs. Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Liz Levine, and Jennifer McCann are executive producers, and Marek Posival and Alex House are producers.

Slugterra: Ascension ­(20 x 4′) – coming to WildBrainTV and Family Channel fall 2022

The wait is over! For the first time in six years Eli Shane, Trixie Sting, and the slugs are back with more comedy, action, and exciting escapades in Slugterra: Ascension. After a rockslide leaves them trapped alone with only a few of their slugs, Eli and Trixie have to be smart and strategic to outwit and outrun villainous twins Locke and Lode and their deadly gattler blasters—that is until they find the legendary Universal Slug! At first glance “Uni” looks like any derpy little flopper. But once transformed, this powerful creature can imitate any slug’s strongest move! Too bad it comes with a price Eli and Trixie won’t be happy about paying. The twenty brand-new four-minute CG-animated shorts will join the classic library of Slugterra episodes, the fan-favourite adventure series set deep underground where fierce opponents collect, train and battle it out with their arsenals of fantastical transforming slugs.

Slugterra was created by Asaph Fipke, and Slugterra: Ascension is produced in association with Epic Story Media’s Ken Faier, acting as executive producer, along with showrunner Nancy Lees. The new series was animated at Island of Misfits (IOM) in Halifax. Additional executive producers include WildBrain’s Josh Scherba, Stephanie Betts and Anne Loi, and IOM’s Meaghan Clark. The series was directed by IOM’s Don Urquhart and produced by Epic Story Media’s Christine Cote and Marlene Schmidt.

Summer Memories ­(5 x 30′) – new episodes coming to Family Channel in 2023

Summer Memories adds five half-hours to the popular new series Summer Memories which launched this summer on Family Channel. The new stories dive further into the world and characters, following the adventures of best friends Jason and Ronnie as Jason looks back on the most pivotal summer of his life (which was just a few weeks ago). This is Jason’s summer of change…and he fears change. Lucky for him, he has charismatic, life adventurer Ronnie at his side. Summer Memories transcends time, space and memory—the good and the bad—as it chronicles Jason and Ronnie’s sweet, fun-filled relationship.

Summer Memories was created by veteran animator/producer Adam Yaniv and produced by A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative, with the financial support of the Canada Media Fund and Shaw Rocket Fund.

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ET Canada’s Sangita Patel promoted to host alongside Cheryl Hickey ahead of Season 18 premiere this fall on Global

From a media release:

ET Canada is proud to announce that Sangita Patel has been promoted to host, after ten seasons as a reporter on the Canadian Screen Award winning entertainment news program. Patel will now help lead the nightly broadcast alongside longtime host Cheryl Hickey, when ET Canada’s 18th season premieres Monday, September 12 on Global.

“It’s been an incredible journey to be part of ET Canada for the past 10 years, bringing the best in entertainment to our viewers,” stated Patel. “I am honoured to be joining the one and only

Cheryl Hickey as co-host, the first time that two women will be hosting together. It’s going to be an amazing ride!”

“It is so empowering to have our show back with two hosts, and leading the way into Season 18 with Sangita,” exclaimed Hickey. “This is an important time for all of us at ET Canada, and I am excited for what the future holds!”

Since joining ET Canada, Patel has been delivering entertainment news headlines to viewers across the country. In 2016, she was announced as host of HGTV Canada’s popular home renovation series Home to Win, garnering a Canadian Screen Award nomination for her hosting duties. Dedicated to utilizing her national platform to shine a light on organizations close to her heart, Patel is a supporter of Pathways to Education, Children’s Wish and ONE Campaign. Most recently, she spearheaded ET Canada’s HELP INDIA broadcast special when India was battling the nation’s worst COVID-19 crisis, bringing together some of the biggest names in entertainment to help raise over $135,000 for the Humanitarian Coalition’s emergency response efforts.

“Whether she is laughing with Julia Roberts, on the beach with Dwayne Johnson, or broadcasting from an aircraft carrier with Tom Cruise, Sangita’s energetic yet thoughtful interviews are what makes her an incredible journalist and an immeasurable asset to ET Canada,” stated executive producer John Kampilis. “We are thrilled to have Sangita hosting alongside Cheryl [Hickey], and have this unstoppable duo lead the show into our 18th season, this fall!”

ET Canada airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on Global. For up-to-the-moment entertainment news, celebrity interviews and more, visit etcanada.com, and stream ET Canada live and on demand with STACKTV and the Global TV App.

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Boat Rocker strikes first-look deal with Jay Baruchel

From a media release:

Boat Rocker, an independent, integrated global entertainment company, has struck a first-look deal with actor, writer, director, and producer Jay Baruchel. Under the deal, Baruchel will develop and produce original television, film and digital projects for the company.

“Proudly wearing the Canadian maple leaf tattooed over his heart, Jay Baruchel is a national treasure. Jay has brought his unique talent, charm and humour to a multitude of rewatchable films and series, whether it be as actor, writer, producer or host,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, Co-Executive Chairmen, Boat Rocker Media and Co-Chairmen, Boat Rocker Studios. “Everyone at Boat Rocker is excited to be working with Jay to help him bring his ideas and stories to global audiences.”

Baruchel starred as Josh Greenberg on all three seasons of Simon Rich-created Man Seeking Woman on FXX. He is also known for voicing Hiccup in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, co-writing and starring in the Goon movie franchise, and his roles in blockbuster feature comedies Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up, and This is the End. Baruchel recently hosted the hit series LOL: Last One Laughing Canada from Boat Rocker’s Insight Productions for Amazon Prime Video. He will also be a series regular in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming untitled spy adventure series for Netflix.

Jay Baruchel said: “I loved working with the Boat Rocker and Insight Productions family on LOL: Last One Laughing Canada and have been and continue to be a big fan of what they’re doing and the projects they are developing. I couldn’t be more excited about this partnership or more honoured to be working with Boat Rocker in finding wonderful Canadian stories to entertain the world with. Stay tuned!!”

Baruchel joins other first-look deals recently struck by Boat Rocker, including Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s Maroon Visions, Dakota Johnson and Ro Donnelly’s TeaTime Pictures, and Shamier Anderson and Stephan James’ Bay Mills Studios.

Boat Rocker is behind a growing number of premium content productions, including Amber Brown, for Apple TV+, the upcoming Slip for The Roku Channel, and Orphan Black: Echoes for AMC.

Baruchel is repped by CAA, Thruline Entertainment, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, Feldman & Clark, Inc.

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