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Industry News

AMI announces the opening of the Disability Screen Office

From a media release:

AMI, in partnership with the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Telefilm Canada, is excited to announce the launch of the Disability Screen Office (DSO).

With our commitment to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, AMI is currently facilitating the creation of this industry office with funding from the CMF and Telefilm Canada.

The DSO will provide services that:

• increase accurate and meaningful disability representation on and off-screen throughout the Canadian media landscape

• expose and eliminate accessibility barriers to create a more inclusive and accessible industry for all

• support and amplify the creative voices of Canadians with disabilities nationally and internationally

Background
For the past year, AMI has been leading roundtable discussions with diverse groups of individuals in the disability community that are working in or with the screen industry. The groups include creators, writers, directors, producers, performers and representatives from academia. The objective of these roundtables was to obtain unfiltered feedback on the accessibility of the media industry to the disability community, and to identify barriers and brainstorm solutions with a view of developing programs to increase industry accessibility.

To do this, all roads lead to the formation of a new organization, now known as the DSO.

“It became apparent that there is currently no single program, incentive or regulation that can cause the screen industry to be fully inclusive for people with disabilities,” says Andrew Morris, Manager, Independent Production, AMI-tv. “The only way to create meaningful real opportunities for people with disabilities in the media industry is to address the systemic barriers relating to education, industry regulations, insufficient and/or inaccurate representation, public beliefs and attitudes, and full accessibility throughout the media industry.”

“As part of CMF’s growth and inclusion strategy, we’ve introduced new measures to support creators with disabilities,” says Tamara Dawit, Vice-President, Inclusion and Growth, CMF. “Helping establish the Disability Screen Office to support and amplify the creative voices of Canadians with disabilities, both here in Canada and beyond our borders, is part of that strategy. We’re delighted to partner with AMI and Telefilm to achieve this important goal.”

“The creation of the Disability Screen Office will be a significant advancement for meaningful representation, advocacy, and change for creators on both sides of the camera,” said Christa Dickenson, Executive Director and CEO at Telefilm Canada. “The DSO will further contribute to breaking down barriers and shaping a more accessible and equitable screen-based industry within Canada.”

Next steps
• With funding from CMF, AMI has begun the development phase of a national, bilingual research endeavor that will culminate in the creation of the Best Practices Guide for Disability Engagement in the Canadian Film and Television Industry. This document will be the foundation of the DSO.

• Meanwhile, Telefilm Canada has provided startup funding to enable the DSO to recruit a board of directors and open the office within the year.

• Both Telefilm and CMF have also contributed funding for innovative programs to help make writers’ rooms in Canada accessible to screenwriters in the disability community, to be announced this summer.

About Accessible Media Inc.
AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through accessible media, reflection and portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

About the Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Please visit cmf-fmc.ca.

About Telefilm Canada
As a Partner of Choice, Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation dedicated to the success of Canada’s audiovisual industry, fostering access and excellence by delivering programs that support cultural resonance and audience engagement. With a lens of equity, inclusivity and sustainability, Telefilm bolsters dynamic companies and a range of creative talent at home and around the world. Telefilm also makes recommendations regarding the certification of audiovisual coproduction treaties to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund. Launched in 2012, the Talent Fund raises private donations which principally support emerging talent. Visit telefilm.ca and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Telefilm_Canada and on Facebook at  facebook.com/telefilmcanada.

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Acting Good, Industry News

Award-winning actor Michael Greyeyes joins directing team for CTV Comedy Channel’s original series, Acting Good

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From a media release:

CTV Comedy Channel announced today that award-winning actor, director, and choreographer Michael Greyeyes is tapped to direct five episodes of the brand-new original series, ACTING GOOD. Loosely based on the life of Anishinaabe stand-up comedian and series co-creator, Paul Rabliauskas, production on the half-hour scripted comedy is currently underway in Winnipeg and surrounding areas, and is set to premiere later this year.

Joining Greyeyes as directors for the debut season of ACTING GOOD are writer, director, and video artist Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe), as well as series co-showrunners Amber-Sekowan Daniels (Anishininew) and Eric Toth.

ACTING GOOD stars Rabliauskas as Paul, a witty but sensitive comic who returns home to the fictional Grouse Lake First Nation after a botched attempt to move to the big city. Also joining the cast is actor, comedian, and series co-showrunner Pat Thornton, who stars as Brady, the “only white guy on the rez.” The homegrown lineup of cast and crew also features Billy Merasty (Elijah) as voice of the rez and radio DJ, Roger Laughingstick, Roseanne Supernault (THE DRIVE) as reformed bad girl and band councillor, Jo. Gabriel Daniels (The Ice Road) joins the cast as big-hearted Dean, along with series producer Tina Keeper (NORTH OF 60) as the family matriarch Agnes. And in their debut acting roles, Avery Claudia Sutherland stars as Jo’s rebellious daughter Chickadee, comedian Cheyenna Sapp as Paul’s, on-again-off-again girlfriend, Rose, Jason Mason as overzealous band constable Lips, and writer, poet, and radio host Rosanna Deerchild as First Nation Grouse Lake chief, Deedee.

About Michael Greyeyes:
Michael Greyeyes is a multi-hyphenate talent – an actor, director, choreographer, and scholar whose diverse career from stage to screen spans over 25 years.

Greyeyes recently starred in the thriller Wild Indian, directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr, which premiered in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. He garnered a Film Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award nomination for his leading performance. On television, Greyeyes returns for Season 2 of RUTHERFORD FALLS. He also received a Film Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award for his role in the series, marking a historical moment as he becomes the first Native Actor with two nominations in the same year for the awards.

His film work includes the role of Traylor in Blood Quantum and Sitting Bull in Woman Walks Ahead, co-starring Jessica Chastain. He has appeared in numerous other feature films such as The New World, directed by Terence Malick, Skipped Parts, Sunshine State, directed by John Sayles, Passchendaele, directed by Paul Gross, and Dance Me Outside, a cult-classic directed by Bruce McDonald.

As a director, he has created numerous theatre works including Bearing, a searing dance opera that premiered at the 2017 Luminato Festival in Toronto, A Soldier’s Tale, from thine eyes, and wrote Nôhkom. Greyeyes was nominated for a Dora Award for his direction on Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit, a full-length evening of Indigenous opera featuring two librettos in Cree and Sami.

He is Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. He graduated from Kent State University with a Master’s Degree in the Fine Arts at the School of Theatre and Dance and is also a graduate of The National Ballet School where he went on to join The National Ballet of Canada company. In 2010, Greyeyes founded a Canadian non-profit theatre organization, Signal Theatre, a company that explores intercultural and transdisciplinary live performance. He serves as the Artistic Director for the theatre.

About Darlene Naponse:
Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe writer, director, and video artist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, ON. Her films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, TIFF, and imagineNATIVE Film Festival. Her film Falls Around Her opened imagineNATIVE Film Festival in 2018, and took home the Audience Choice Award. Naponse’s fourth feature film, Stellar, in which she wrote, directed, and produced, just wrapped production.

ACTING GOOD is set in the fictional remote fly-in Grouse Lake First Nation, a world that lives by its own set of rules. The series location is inspired by Rabliauskas’ own isolated community of Poplar River First Nation.

ACTING GOOD is produced by CTV Comedy Channel, in association with Kistikan Pictures Inc., with the participation of Canada Media Fund and Bell Fund. Producers are Tina Keeper (Kistikan Pictures) and Jennifer Beasley (Buffalo Gal Pictures) with Phyllis Laing (Buffalo Gal Pictures) as Executive Producer and Paula J. Smith as Supervising Producer. Paul Rabliauskas is Executive Producer and writer, with Amber-Sekowan Daniels, Pat Thornton, and Eric Toth as writers and co-showrunners.

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Industry News, Shoresy

The puck drops on Crave original series Shoresy, May 13

From a media release:

Crave announced today the highly anticipated debut of SHORESY streams Friday, May 13. Created by and starring Jared Keeso, the six-episode, half-hour hockey comedy sees the foul-mouthed, chirp-serving, mother-loving, fan favourite character, Shoresy (Keeso), join the Sudbury Bulldogs of the Northern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization (The NOSHO) on a quest to never lose again.

Two new episodes of the LETTERKENNY spin-off rollout every Friday, exclusively on Crave. In the series debut, “Never Lose Again,” Shoresy tries to prevent his team from folding. The next episode, “Veteran Presence,” follows Shoresy and his new recruits attending a mixer at Nat’s, the General Manager of the Sudbury Bulldogs.

Click here for an NSFW preview.

Season 1 of SHORESY was shot on location in Sudbury. As previously announced, Hulu will be the exclusive streaming home to the debut season of SHORESY in the U.S., joining its smash-hit predecessor, LETTERKENNY, as a Hulu Original.

Developed by Bell Media for Crave, SHORESY is produced by New Metric Media, in partnership with Play Fun Games in association with Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, OMDC Tax Credits, and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, and is distributed by WildBrain, New Metric Media is the exclusive sales agent. Jared Keeso is executive producer, writer, star, and creator. Jacob Tierney is executive producer and director. Kaniehtiio Horn is consulting producer. Mark Montefiore and Kara Haflidson are Executive Producers for New Metric Media.

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Industry News, Little Bird

Principal photography begins on the Crave original series, Little Bird

From a media release:

Crave announced today, in association with Rezolution Pictures, APTN, and OP Little Bird, that production is underway on the Crave Original drama series, LITTLE BIRD. Created by showrunner Jennifer Podemski (UNSETTLED) and head writer Hannah Moscovitch (X COMPANY), the six-part, one-hour limited series follows an Indigenous woman on a journey to find her birth family, and uncover the hidden truth of her past. The series will be available to audiences in English and French, and Fremantle will handle international distribution.

The character-driven drama features an extraordinary cast of Indigenous actors, led by newcomer Darla Contois (Dhaliwal ’15) along with: Ellyn Jade (LETTERKENNY); Osawa Muskwa (World Ends at Camp Z); Joshua Odjick (The Swarm); Imajyn Cardinal (TRIBAL); Mathew Strongeagle (BLACKSTONE); Eric Schweig (BLACKSTONE); and Michelle Thrush (Bones of Crows).

Award-winning filmmakers Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) and Zoe Hopkins (Run Woman Run) each direct three episodes, while Hopkins writes three of the episodes.

LITTLE BIRD explores themes of resilience in the face of trauma and loss. Removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan, Bezhig Little Bird is adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of five, becoming Esther Rosenblum (Contois). Now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them. Her quest lands her in the Canadian prairies, worlds apart from everything she knows. As she begins to track down her siblings, she unravels the mystery behind her adoption, and discovers that her apprehension was connected to a racist government policy now known as the Sixties Scoop. Bezhig’s sense of identity shatters and she is forced to reckon with who she is and who she wants to become.

The production of LITTLE BIRD features a training program that includes opportunities for emerging and mid-career level Indigenous creators and crew as well as for entry-level individuals to gain practical on-set experience leading to subsequent employment in the industry. Built with the understanding that training, skill building, and professional development are integral to building capacity and sustainability in the Indigenous screen sector, the program, is made possible via partnerships with the Indigenous Screen Office, Bell Media, REEL Canada, DGC, DGC Manitoba, and IATSE 856.

LITTLE BIRD is a co-production from Bell Media’s Crave and APTN, produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Manitoba Film and Music. Fremantle International is the distributor for the series. Led by an Indigenous creative team, LITTLE BIRD is developed by showrunner Jennifer Podemski and Rezolution Pictures, and created by Podemski and head writer Hannah Moscovitch. The series is executive produced by Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Christina Fon, Linda Ludwick (Rezolution Pictures), Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst (Original Pictures), Jeremy Podeswa, Jennifer Podemski, and Hannah Moscovitch, along with Christian Vesper and Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle). Producers are Tanya Brunel and Jessica Dunn (OP Little Bird), Philippe Chabot (Rezolution Pictures) and Ellen Rutter.

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Hudson & Rex, Industry News

Shaftesbury mourns the death of Paul Pope, president of Pope Productions and executive producer of Hudson & Rex

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From a media release:

Shaftesbury extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Paul Pope, the beloved Executive Producer of Hudson & Rex and President of Pope Productions. Pope passed away suddenly on the morning of April 14, 2022. He was 63 years old.

“The news is truly shocking,” says Christina Jennings, Chairman and President, Shaftesbury. “Canada has lost an amazing producer, a force in Newfoundland. Paul has been Shaftesbury’s partner on seven shows for over 15 years. Most recently, we teamed up on Hudson & Rex. Paul was a wonderful man. A spirited human. He loved life and knew how to live it. Paul will be sorely missed by his wife, Lisa, his two sons and all of us here at Shaftesbury.

Based in St. John’s, NFLD, Pope was a dynamic force in the Canadian film industry, having produced or worked on hundreds of films. A founding member of the Newfoundland Filmmakers Cooperative (NIFCO), where he served as president for over 20 years, he has been instrumental in the development of a vibrant production industry. A generous mentor, he was a passionate voice for independent production at a national level with a long-standing tradition of supporting Canadian artists and ensuring that Canadian stories were brought to the screen.

In addition to his numerous awards and nominations for his projects with Pope Productions, he also received the Arts Achievement Award from ArtsNL, the Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award, and an honorary Doctorate from Memorial University. Pope served on the board of Resource Centre for the Arts and NIFCO and has previously served on the board of the Canadian Media Producers Association and was Vice-Chair of the Canadian Media Fund.

About Pope Productions
Pope Productions is a St. John’s based media production company, helmed by producer Paul Pope. The company’s most recent television projects are the fourth season of Hudson & Rex for Citytv, which is now seen in over 100 territories worldwide and Departure Season 3 for Global. The company’s features and MOWs include the CBC comedy A Christmas Fury and festival favourites Hunting Pignut, Beat Down and Grown Up Movie Star, which scored a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for Tatiana Maslany. Documentaries include It’s Mental, Heavy Weather Presents, the multi-award-winning My Left Breast, Legends and Lore of the North Atlantic, and Going the Distance. From the historical dramatic miniseries Above and Beyond to the classic comedy Rare Birds, and the outrageous series Drunk and on Drugs: The Happy Funtime Hour, Pope’s rich repertoire reflects its deep commitment to a vibrant production industry both in Newfoundland and nationally.

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