TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 1244
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
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Canadian union organizing with reality TV workers to stop crew deaths

From a media release:

The Canadian Media Guild is saddened by the news that 10 people, cast and crew of French reality TV series Dropped, were killed in a helicopter crash yesterday in Argentina.

The union is organizing with reality TV workers to improve health and safety standards and working conditions in this country. In a 2013 survey, 54% of workers who go on location told us they have worked in unsafe conditions. That same year, Canadian director John Driftmier was killed in a plane crash in Kenya while filming Canadian series Dangerous Flights.

As one worker wrote recently, “I have come close to dying at sea, in the air and on land.”

Later this month, the union will publish a guide book for workers in the industry that will include information on how to stay safe on the job. The union is also seeking to negotiate with production companies to improve working standards in the industry.

More information is available at http://www.cmg.ca/en/tag/factual-tv/.

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Rick Mercer Report

Link: Canada’s unsung hero of television

From Stan Ashbee of Sunny South News:

Canada’s unsung hero of television
Rick Mercer’s weekly report, as seen on the CBC for its 12th season — is as Canadian as hockey, maple syrup and a large double-double. Enough with the sterotypes eh?

Mercer, is one of Canada’s top political satirists and has been dubbed, “Canada’s unofficial opposition.” His show presents topical satire, funny takes on the week’s top stories and his Canada-wide adventures. He is also appearing at the Funny Bone Comedy Night fundraiser in southern Alberta in April with Canadian songstress Jann Arden. Continue reading.

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The Pinkertons

Link: Actor works long, cold hours as Pinkertons detective

From Randall King of the Winnipeg Free Press:

Actor works long, cold hours as Pinkertons detective
If the real-life frontier-era Pinkertons Detective Agency had a reputation for hard work and determination, the same may be said for the TV series The Pinkertons, which is winding down the intense 22-episode shooting schedule that began Aug. 25. The show’s production is scheduled to wrap on March 19.

Jacob Blair, 31, plays Allan’s hot-headed, two-fisted son, William; Martha MacIsaac plays his cooler, more cunning partner, Kate Warne, the first female detective in the United States. Continue reading.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: TV’s Deluged By Data Deluges The Senses

From James Bawden:

TV’s Deluged By Data Deluges The Senses
I think it was last summer that I suddenly realized my insular little world was fast changing.

There I was walking in my neighborhood one afternoon when I met up with an old friend who said she’d just sent her teenaged daughter to a special camp to break her twitter addiction. Seems the teen was notching 3,000 tweets and twitters a month even as her grades plunged accordingly. Then I saw a nun at St. Michael’s College out on the lawn reading her tablet. And bookstores I’d been frequenting for decades started disappearing.

If only I had been able to see John Freed’s new documentary Deluged By Data at that time I wouldn’t have been in such a funk. Continue reading.

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