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Industry News

Pier 21 Films partners with Canadian YouTube personality Jus Reign on new comedy series for CBC

From a media release:

Acclaimed independent production company Pier 21 Films announced today it has partnered with one of Canada’s most popular comedic talents and YouTube personality, Jasmeet Singh Raina (aka Jus Reign) on a new half-hour series Late Bloomer (w/t), currently in development at the CBC.

Inspired by his own real-life experiences, Late Bloomer focuses on Raina’s journey navigating his newly found internet fame, dating, spirituality, culture, and his dysfunctional (yet loving) family. As a first generation Indo-Canadian, his identity is constantly questioned as he struggles to find the balance between Eastern customs centered around community and the Western ideal of individualism.

With more than 167 Million YouTube views, 970,000+ subscribers and 1M+ fans on Facebook, Jus Reign is a viral sensation known for his irreverent humor incorporating his ethnic background and upbringing into his comedic work. Referred to as “a social media superstar” by Huffington Post, he’s hosted the iHeartRadio MMVAs red carpet show and was also featured in Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Mean Tweets’ for YouTube Creators. In 2019, Raina suddenly stopped posting content to his social platforms which has sparked fan conspiracies and a massive international audience craving his return to their screens.

Renowned stand-up comedian, actor, producer Russell Peters is also attached to executive produce the project. Peabody Award, International Emmy, Gemini Award and Canadian Screen Award winner, Peters was the first stand-up special for Netflix and has been broadcast on HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, CBC, CTV, BBC and Amazon Prime.

Co-produced by Pier 21 Films and Reign Productions, Late Bloomer is written, executive produced, created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina and executive produced by Pier 21 Films, Baljinder Dhawan, Russell Peters and Clayton Peters.

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Humour Resources, Industry News

Just for Laughs wraps production on Humour Resources for CBC

From a media release:

Just For Laughs today announced that production has wrapped on HUMOUR RESOURCES (6X30), an irreverent new comedy series starring Canadian comedian, Jon Dore (Inside Amy Schumer, The Stand Up Show with Jon Dore). Produced remotely from August – October, the series features Dore as a human resources manager providing virtual coaching to some of the world’s top comics. Co-created by Dore, Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany, HUMOUR RESOURCES is slated to premiere on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service in winter 2021.

A hilarious, cutting and timely social commentary on a comedian’s place in our current high-alert environment of political correctness and cancel culture, HUMOUR RESOURCES follows Jon Dore as a retired comedian turned Human Resources manager. Filmed during the COVID-19 outbreak while under quarantine, Jon, living with his girlfriend Christina and her six-year-old daughter Emma, meets with comedians via webcam from his home office to evaluate and consult on the appropriateness of their material and overall “workplace” behaviour.

HUMOUR RESOURCES features many special guests including A-list comedians: Sarah Silverman; Tom Green; Eric Andre; Scott Thompson; Reggie Watts; Nikki Glaser; The Lucas Bros; Ronny Chieng; Dave Merheje; DeAnne Smith; Rory Scovel; Debra DiGiovanni; Sophie Buddle; Courtney Gilmour; Arthur Simeon; Casey Corbin; Aisha Brown; and Kyle Brownrigg.

HUMOUR RESOURCES was developed and executive produced by Jon Dore, and developed, directed and executive produced by Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany. Produced by Just For Laughs, the series is also executive produced by Bruce Hills and Marina Di Pancrazio. Zoe Rabnett and Nick Brazao are talent producers, and Anton Leo serves as the supervising producer.

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Industry News

David Oulton’s talk show, Face to Face with David, returns for a second season

From a media release:

David Oulton’s talk show, Face to Face with David, is set to return this fall for a second season. The show premiered in July 2020 in the United States and the United Kingdom on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV and was an instant success, currently rated higher than The Ellen Degeneres Show on both IMDb and Amazon Prime. The series features 27-year-old Oulton in his signature Versace bathrobe sipping red wine, while he interviews guests from the worlds of entertainment, business, fashion and more via remote link.

While the second season has increased from six to thirteen episodes, the format remains the same – casual and informative discussions focusing on a more “timeless” conversation, rather than current events, allowing the audience to watch whenever they want. With the guests often being in their homes or even on set, it provides a more intimate atmosphere and greater insight into the personal lives for the viewers. The host, Canadian actor David Oulton (Guns of Purgatory, Hannah Montana), said this was intentional as it allows the viewer to feel like they are listening in on a casual conversation between two people, rather than a formal interview.

The guest line up for season two includes Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Melissa Rivers (Fashion Police), Ali Landry (Miss USA, Eve), Corbin Bernsen (Psych, L.A. Law), Pamela Rabe (Wentworth), Manjit Minhas (CBC’s Dragons’ Den), Natasha Henstridge (Species, Commander in Chief), Caroline Stanbury (Ladies of London), Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1), comedian Debra DiGiovanni, viral singing sensation Charlotte Awbery and many other recognizable names. Some notable moments from the season include Rivers explaining how she was turned down by several major networks for her own show because she is “not famous enough”, and Henstridge revealing she would consider joining a Real Housewives franchise. Bernsen’s interview is deeply personal, as he removed Oulton from an abusive home situation over a decade ago and introduced him to the woman who would later legally adopt him.

David created the show during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was initially intended to be a very simple social media project as a means to save himself from boredom. Within one week of presenting the idea to his agent, Kelsea Forzani-Mannix and some industry friends, he had signed a distribution deal with Amazon and was developing a full-fledged talk show with Carson Kressley and Perez Hilton as his first major guests. The first season was filmed in Oulton’s home in Calgary, with the second season moving production to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel. Oulton serves as executive producer, along with Lisa McGillivray, Candace Schmidt and Luis Gonzalez of LnC Style, and Rae Farrer.

Season two is expected later this fall.

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Industry News, Sort Of

CBC greenlights Sort Of, from creators Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo

From a media release:

CBC has greenlit new original comedy SORT OF (8×30) from Sienna Films (Trickster, Cardinal). Created by Bilal Baig (Acha Bacha) and Fab Filippo (Save Me) and starring Baig, SORT OF is a big-hearted series about Sabi Mehboob (Baig), a fluid millennial who straddles various identities from sexy bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar, to the youngest child in a large Pakistani family, to the de facto parent of a downtown hipster family. Sabi feels like they’re in transition in every aspect of their life, from gender to love to sexuality to family to career. The half-hour single-camera comedy begins production in Toronto today.

In addition to Baig, the cast includes Gray Powell (Hudson & Rex, Designated Survivor), Amanda Cordner (Baroness von Sketch Show, The Expanse), Ellora Patnaik (Kim’s Convenience, Schitt’s Creek), Grace Lynn Kung (Transplant, Star Trek: Discovery), Supinder Wraich (The 410, Crawford), Kaya Kanashiro, Aden Bedard, Gregory Ambrose Calderone (This Movie is Broken, Salvation) and Alanna Bale (Cardinal, Killjoys).

When Sabi’s best friend 7ven (Cordner) presents them with an opportunity to live and find themself in the “queerest place in the galaxy,” Sabi instead makes the decision to stay and care for the kids they nanny after their mom has a serious bike accident. Do they regret it? Sort of. A coming-of-age story, SORT OF exposes the labels we once poured ourselves into as no longer applicable…to anyone. A show about how each and every one of us is in transition. Sort of.

A CBC original series produced by Sienna Films, SORT OF is created by Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo, who also serve as showrunners and executive producers. The series is written by Baig, Filippo, Jenn Engels, Nelu Handa and Ian Iqbal Rashid, with Filippo and Renuka Jeyapalan (Kim’s Convenience, Workin’ Moms) directing. Sienna Films’ Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny are also executive producers.

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Children's Programming, Industry News

marblemedia starts production on two new family sitcoms, The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker 

From a media release:

Award-winning media production and distribution company, marblemedia, in association with award-winning creator Beachwood Canyon Productions, announces today production is set to begin later this month in Toronto on series, The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker (20 eps x 30 mins), two brand-new scripted family single-camera sitcoms that follows the life of one bi-racial family, blended by marriage.

In this completely new and innovative concept, the series will enhance traditional TV storytelling by creating two stand-alone comedy series, The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker, each with their own storylines and episodes, while still connected by larger overarching plotlines tying the two independent series together. The Parker Andersons follows the warmly comedic antics of a newly blended family, while Amelia Parker centers around the quietest member of the family, a tween girl navigating the world around her.

The Parker Andersons follows Tony Parker, a British widower and father of two (Nathan and Amelia), who moves to North America where he meets and marries Cleo Anderson, the mother of two kids (Victoria and Charlie). Altogether, they quickly discover that sometimes being ‘blended’ feels a lot like being in a blender.

Amelia Parker centers around the quietest member of the Parker Anderson family, a tween girl who is coming into her own. After her mother died, Amelia became selectively mute, figuring that before she participates in the world again, she better figure some things out. In confessionals, we see that Amelia is actually an opinionated, vivacious girl, who openly explains her hopes, anxieties and fears in virtual conversations with her deceased mom.

Anthony Q. Farrell takes over as Showrunner for both series. Farrell has written for NBC’s The Office, CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, and Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans and has developed TV series for CBS Studios, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network amongst others. He is the creator of Secret Life of Boys, the BAFTA-winning CBBC series, which is in its fifth season. Anthony joins the series bringing unparalleled talent, humour and leadership to really form the true essence of both shows.  He has assembled a richly talented and diverse team of writers and directors to assist him in ensuring that the stories for both shows are not only entertaining but also authentic. Leading by example through collaboration and providing an opportunity for the next generation, Anthony Q. Farrell is reimagining show running for the next wave.

The series has been commissioned by BYUtv in the U.S. to debut in 2021 as part of their focus on inspiring family programming and will launch in Canada later in 2021, with a Canadian broadcaster to be announced soon.

The Parker-Andersons and Amelia Parker will star Arnold Pinnock as Tony Parker (Cardinal, Coroner, Baroness Von Sketch), Kate Hewlett as Cleo Anderson (The Stanley Dynamic, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Girlfriend Experience), Millie Davis as Amelia Parker (Odd Squad, Dino Dana, Orphan Black), Agape Mngomezulu as Nathan Parker (Best Intentions, The Twilight Zone, Supernatural), Devin Cecchetto as Victoria Anderson (Ginny & Georgia, The Craft), Charlie Zeltzer as Charlie Anderson (The Handmaid’s Tale, Anne with an E), Sandy Jobin- Bevans as Roger Anderson (Designated Survivor, Just Like Mom and Dad, Good Witch, Baroness Von Sketch Show) and Akiel Julien as Nick Parker (Utopia Falls, The Boys, What We Do in the Shadows). Additional cast members will be announced in the coming weeks.

Executive Producers for the series include Mark J.W. Bishop, Matt Hornburg, Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy, and Co-Executive Producer Donna Luke (marblemedia); Executive Producers Frank van Keeken and Yolanda Yott (Beachwood Canyon); Executive Producer and Showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell and Producer Jim Corston; Executive Producers for BYUtv Michael Dunn, Andra Johnson Duke, Melissa Puente and Jim Bell.

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