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Golden Screen Awards recognize most-watched TV

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From a media release:

Academy Announces First-ever Golden Screen Awards, Recognizing Canada’s Most-Watched TV Series

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announces the creation of two new television awards: the Golden Screen Award for the most-watched Canadian Drama/Comedy Series and one for the country’s highest-rated Reality Series.

The Golden Screen Award for TV Drama / Comedy and the Golden Screen Award for TV Reality Show are Academy Special Awards which will be presented alongside the Golden Screen Award for Feature Film during the LIVE broadcast of the Canadian Screen Awards on CBC, March 1, 8pm nationwide (8:30 NT).

Based on data provided by Numeris (BBM Canada), these are the Top-Rated 5 programs in each genre for the 2013-2014 broadcast year. *

Golden Screen Award for TV Drama / Comedy Finalists
(in alpha order):

THE LISTENER | CTV (Bell Media) (Shaftesbury)
Using his intuitive powers and enhanced policing skills, telepath Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) faces new professional and personal challenges as he helps solve crimes with the Integrated Investigative Bureau (IIB).

MOTIVE | CTV (Bell Media) (Foundation Features and Lark Productions)
Each episode of MOTIVE begins by revealing not only the victim, but the killer as well. It’s not a “whodunit,” it’s a “whydunit,”a question faced by spirited female Vancouver homicide detective Angie Flynn as she begins to piece together the clues from the crime.

MURDOCH MYSTERIES | CBC (CBC) (Shaftesbury)
Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century during the age of invention, Murdoch Mysteries is a one-hour drama centred on Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), the methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative forensic techniques to solve gruesome murders.

ROOKIE BLUE | Global (Shaw Media) (Entertainment One Television International)
After the bullet wounds and trauma of last season, life at 15 Division goes on for young cops, Andy, Sam. Chloe and Nick. Andy and Sam reunite and she’s tasked with training a challenging new rookie, under the watchful eye of a tough inspector.

SAVING HOPE | CTV (Bell Media) (ICF Films and Entertainment One)
Pulse-pounding surgeries, adrenaline-fueled breakthroughs and sultry romances force the doctors of Hope Zion to navigate unchartered waters. Alex faces doubts over her abilities as a surgeon and the men in her life. Charlie discovers mind-challenging medical miracles and Joel battles his inner demons as he treats patients on the streets.

Golden Screen Award for TV Reality Show Finalists
(in alpha order):

THE AMAZING RACE CANADA | CTV (Bell Media) (Insight Production Company Ltd.)
THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is a skills-based competition show in which two-person teams, who have a pre-existing personal relationship, race against other teams. Competitors strive to arrive first at “pit stops” at the end of each leg. The first team to the final pit stop wins the grand prize.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES | CBC (CBC) (Insight Production Company Ltd.)
Battle of the Blades is an original Canadian series that pairs NHL hockey greats with elite female figure skaters for an elimination style weekly competition. The pairs compete in figure skating performances judged by an expert panel that offer comments and marks for each performance. These marks are combined with the television audience votes to determine the winner.

BIG BROTHER CANADA | Slice (Shaw Media) (Insight Production Company Ltd.)
BIG BROTHER CANADA follows a group of strangers who live together in a house that records their every move, 24 hours a day. Each week they compete in challenges and one by one, vote each other out. Last house guest that remains wins the grand prize as voted by a jury.

DRAGON’S DEN | CBC (CBC) (CBC)
Launching a business is no small task. No matter how big an idea you think you have, it still takes a lot of work and a ton of cash. Enter the Dragons’ Den, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts and products to a panel of Canadian business moguls who have the cash and the know-how to make it happen.

MASTERCHEF CANADA | CTV (Bell Media) (Proper Television)
Canada’s Top 50 home cooks begin their quest to become the first ever MASTERCHEF CANADA and win a $100,000.00 prize. The home cooks will have to show off their cooking skills in intense culinary challenges in order to impress the judges Michael Bonacini, Claudio Aprile, and Alvin Leung.

*Audience estimates provided by Numeris based on a list of all Canadian television programming provided by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Analysis based on Total Canada, P2+, Average Minute Audience during the period of August 26, 2013-August 31, 2014, original airings (“live plus 7 days”) with 50% or more of the airings occurring during the 2013-14 broadcast season.

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Masterchef Canada, Motive, Spun Out

MasterChef Canada, Spun Out and Motive launch CTV’s midseason

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master_chef1

From a media release:

CTV is set to deliver TV’s top series week-after-week in the new year, as the network announced its 2015 mid-season schedule today. Kicking off the season is the new, big-buzz, Captain America-inspired, seven-part television event MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER (Jan. 6), which joins a heroic line-up of the fall’s returning ‘super’ hits, including new breakout series GOTHAM and THE FLASH, as well as Top 10 hits ARROW and MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.E.I.L.D.   

The new year also features a delicious trio of some of the best in Canadian reality, comedy, and drama as brand new seasons of three CTV Original Series return: Season 2 of hit culinary competition series MASTERCHEF CANADA (Feb. 8); Season 2 of workplace sitcom SPUN OUT (March 5); and Season 3 of crime drama MOTIVE (March 8). Viewers can also look forward to the return of new Season 3 episodes of the #1 Canadian drama SAVING HOPE, beginning with a special two-hour event Jan. 7. SPUN OUT, MOTIVE, and SAVING HOPE mid-season debuts will also be made available as CraveTVTM First Looks, one day prior to their television broadcast premieres.

Also headlining CTV’s mid-season schedule, and loaded with star power, is new murder-thriller SECRETS AND LIES (March 1)starring Ryan Phillippe (DAMAGES); cyber-crime procedural CSI: CYBER (March 4), starring Emmy® Award winner and Golden Globe® nominee Patricia Arquette (MEDIUM); Oscar® winner John Ridley’s new TV drama AMERICAN CRIME (March 5), starring Oscar nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Felicity Huffman (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) and Oscar and Golden Globe Award winner Timothy Hutton (LEVERAGE); and new comedy THE ODD COUPLE (Feb. 19), starring Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Perry (GO ON).

Also returning to the CTV line-up with new seasons are culinary competition series MASTERCHEF JUNIOR (Jan. 6 on CTV Two), Emmy Award-winning singing competition THE VOICE (Feb. 23 on CTV Two), and the 26th installment of THE AMAZING RACE (Feb. 25).

Following last week’s Golden Globe nominations, THE 72ND ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS (Jan. 11) kicks off a long list of big ticket events on CTV this winter, including SUPER BOWL XLIX (Feb. 1), THE 87TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (Feb. 22), and THE 2015 JUNO AWARDS (March 15).

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Motive

Production underway on Motive season 3

From a media release:

Production Underway on Season 3 of CTV’s Hit Crime Drama MOTIVE

  • 13 episodes now being shot on location in Vancouver
  • Key cast members return for third season, including Kristin Lehman, Gemini Award-winner Louis Ferreira, Brendan Penny, Lauren Holly, and Warren Christie
  • Six-time Emmy®-nominated actor Victor Garber (Argo, ALIAS) joins the MOTIVE cast in a recurring guest role
  • Jessica Lowndes (90210) and Luisa D’Oliveira (CRACKED) also set to appear as guest stars this season

CTV announced today, in association with Foundation Features and Lark Productions, that production has begun on Season 3 of the original Canadian crime drama MOTIVE. A 2014 Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Dramatic Series, MOTIVE’s second season saw an average audience of 1.3 million viewers, a 19% increase over Season 1. Shooting in and around Vancouver through February 2015, MOTIVE’s 13 new episodes will join CTV’s upcoming mid-season lineup.

Acclaimed six-time Emmy Award-nominee Victor Garber (Argo, ALIAS) is set to join the cast this season in a recurring guest role as a victim’s father. Jessica Lowndes (90210) and Luisa D’Oliveira (CRACKED) are also set to appear as guest stars this season. Starring Kristin Lehman as Detective Angie Flynn, the hit crime drama also stars Louis Ferreira (SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE), Brendan Penny (THE ASSISTANTS), Lauren Holly (NCIS), and Warren Christie (ALPHAS).

The dramatic Season 2 finale of MOTIVE saw Angie’s past and present fatally collide when her involvement in a new trial about an old case called everything she stood for as a detective into question. With Sergeant Cross (Christie) at the centre of it all, and the personal toll he paid as the price in the end, viewers were left wondering if Angie was calling it quits as a member of the homicide team. The third season picks up six months later – with a burnt-out Angie having left the homicide team. But a case with direct personal implications for her beloved partner Detective Oscar Vega (Ferreira) draws her back into the fold.

MOTIVE stars Kristin Lehman as spirited Detective Angie Flynn, Louis Ferreira (SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE) as Detective Oscar Vega, and Brendan Penny (THE ASSISTANTS) as the team’s eager young Detective Brian Lucas. The series also stars Lauren Holly (NCIS) as the team’s lead medical examiner, Dr. Betty Rogers, and Warren Christie (ALPHAS) as Sergeant Mark Cross.

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Featured, Motive

Motive showrunner Dennis Heaton on getting past the “uhhhhh”

DHavatarDennis Heaton was part of the writing team on season one of Motive, and moved up to co-showrunner for season two. So taking over the reins for season three must have been a thrill, right?

“The first thought that goes through my head when they say we’re going to do another season is usually ‘shit … OK, I can do this … 13 people have to die … uhhhhh,” he told Anthony Marco in a recent TV Eh-B-Cs podcast interview. “That’s the first week. It’s me and six other writers going ‘uhhhhhh.’”

The series was pitched by creator Daniel Cerone as a whydunnit – the killer and victim are revealed at the beginning, and it’s the motive that’s the mystery. “Within that it’s a series of overlapping stories,” Heaton explains. “We have our investigator story, killer story, flashback story.”

“I mean this in the best possible way but these are hideous little Jenga puzzles that kill me every time we go to put one together.”

He calls that first week in the writers room – which for season three convened at the end of May – “bad idea week” as they find ways to be creative within the formula of the show without getting into a “Find/Replace” mentality.

“The trick is to not let the formula become a format, and to find ways – and this is the creative stamp I get to bring to a show (as showrunner) – to not just do the same thing week after week.”

“We’ve had killers you can identify with, we’ve had killers you can’t identify with. We’ve had victims who are tragically innocent, we’ve had victims who had it coming.”

He sees character development as the primary task. “You want the audience invested in the characters’ lives. If you can’t get them to do that, they’re going to invest somewhere else.”

“There’s always that conversation about likeability but I’m more interested in the character that’s compelling,” he says. “That can be either a truly heroic character, a flawed character, or the antihero — as long as that character is compelling you’re going to be along for the ride. Casting is such a huge part of that.”

After about four months in the writers room, they should start filming this month. Given season one premiered after the Super Bowl in February and season two in March of last year, he assumes season three will begin sometime between January to March of 2015.

Listen to the full interview here, where he and Anthony Marco talk about what being a showrunner is all about, the creative process behind the camera, planning a season’s worth of episodes, how the characters are the thing, animation writing, Tarzan, Sid and Marty Krofft, and the elusive Gold Monkey.

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