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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

CTV Life Channel whips up reboot of classic culinary series Cook Like a Chef

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From a media release:

This March, the masterclass is in session as CTV Life Channel enrolls Canada in the ultimate culinary emersion: the reboot of iconic series COOK LIKE A CHEF, Fridays at 8 p.m. ET, beginning March 6. Produced in partnership with Gusto Worldwide Media, the 20-episode, half-hour CTV Life Channel original shows viewers tricks of the trade from some of Canada’s best and brighest chefs.

The award-winning series that ran for 165 episodes from 2001-05 stays true to the original with modern updates including cutting-edge innovations, diverse cultural influences, and an all-new cast.

Bringing their varied culinary backgrounds to the table, COOK LIKE A CHEF’s four new hosts includes former personal chef to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and executive chef for the Beckta restaurant group, Chef Katie Ardington, and head chef of Montréal’s Maison Publique and former protégé of Jamie Oliver, Chef Derek Dammann. As well, Argentinian ONE WORLD KITCHEN host, Chef Natalia Machado, brings her unique flavour to the series, along with owner of Asian-Caribbean Toronto restaurant Patois, Chef Craig Wong. 

In each episode of COOK LIKE A CHEF, the expert chefs focus on a single ingredient and dive deep into cooking techniques, tips, and tricks that give any home cook confidence in the kitchen.

In the series premiere, “Duck ”, (Friday March 6 at 8 p.m. ET), Chef Craig Wong demonstrates techniques for preparing the perfect duck. Chef Wong first prepares the classic Peking Duck using unique techniques including blanching, basting, roasting, and frying. Other creations in this episode include a simple pan-seared Maple Duck Breast with Rosemary and a Jerked Duck Confit.

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Awards

And the Judy goes to … the full list of CAFTCAD 2020 Award winners

From a media release:

CAFTCAD is proud to announce the winners of the 2020 CAFTCAD Awards in Toronto.

Excellence in Crafts- Illustration
WINNER: Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events,
Season Three
Illustrator: Keith Lau

Excellence in Crafts- Textiles
WINNER: See, Season One
Key Breakdown Artist: Lanny Campbell, Key Assistant Breakdown Artists: Ellie Schultz, Samantha Stroman, Breakdown Artists: Carolyn Bentley, Ciara Brady, & Gaye (GG) Gardiner

Excellence in Building, Eastern Canada – Sponsored by NABET 700 Unifor
WINNER: Murdoch Mysteries Season 13
Cutter: Erika Fulop, Cutter & Sewer for Julia Ogden: Nona Prilipko, Stitchers: Mary Furlong & Sam Crossley, Milliner: Charlene Seniuk

Excellence in Crafts, Western Canada- Building
WINNER: See, Season One
Cutters: Kieu Nguyen, Tannis Hegan, Seamstresses: Ying Quan, Roma Wnuk, Renee Hope Twaddle

Costume Design in Short Film
WINNER: Liam and May
Costume Designer: Lara Berry
On Set Assistant: Yuliana Rubio

Costume Design in Web Series
WINNER: Devouring Dungeon: A One Hit Die Adventure, 303, Bag of Farts
Costume Designer: Odessa Bennett, Costume Designer: Ralamy Kneeshaw
Armourer: Andy Guba, Cutter: Ronda Borneman, Cutter: Ana Simões Marquer, Cutter: Jolane Houle, Set Supervisor: Hilary Boterman

Styling in Commercials & Music Videos – Sponsored by Berman & Co.
WINNER: Anthem “Conviction”
Costume Designer: Kristin Thurber
Assistant Designer: Magdalena Shenher, Coordinator: Sabina Bullard. Head Cutter: Devon Halfnight Lefluffy, Cutter: Gina Hopkins, Stitchers: Vanessa Palmer, Charlotte Chang, Andrea Macdonald & Ashandra Soleil Block, Hero Builder: Salem Taylor, Scar Builders: Jessica Pantella & Dylan Gilbert Lad, Breakdown Key: Christina Simpkin, Breakdown Assist: Veronica Lepik, Leather Worker Key: Richard Wasnock, Work Room Assistant: Rebecca Phillip

Costume Design in Indie Feature – Sponsored by IATSE 891
WINNER: The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw
Costume Designer: Adriana Fulop
Costume Assistant/Set Supervisor: Vanessa Young, Set Supervisor: Alisha Robinson, Costume Daily: Morgan Penney

Costume Design in TV – Contemporary- Sponsored by IATSE 873
WINNER: Baroness Von Sketch, 401, Humanity is in an Awkward Stage
Costume Designer: Nicole Manek
Assistant Designer: Elise Taylor, Set Supervisor: Delaney Hicock, Truck Supervisor: Aleksia Pavlovic, Buyer/Set Assistant: Gwyneth Barton, Seamstress: Melinda Dempster

Costume Design in TV – Period – Sponsored by IATSE 873
WINNER: The Terror, 206, Taizo
Costume Designer: Tish Monaghan
Assistant Designers: Kenichi Tanaka, Jaida Hay & Takashi (Ash) Bernhardt, Costume Supervisor: Janice Swaze, Costume Coordinator: Kyla Nesbitt, BG Costume Coordinator: Debbie Geaghan, Set Supervisor: Denise Barrett, Truck Costumer: Christina Petford, Key Breakdown Artist: Sharon Fauvel, Breakdown Artists: Katy Johnson & Jim Campbell,Cutters: Rosalie Lee & Elizabeth Raap-Walski, Shoppers/Prep Costumers: Colette Storey & Suzette Soloman, BG Set Supervisor: Katie Johnson, BG Truck Costumer: Maxine Siperko, Prep Costumers: Stephanie Nolan, Sheila Bingham & Emily Laing, Seamstresses: Patrice Yapp, Anna Postawski, Petra Wright, Jillian Little, 7 Sula Salampassis, Kimono Tech: Fumiko Horan

Costume Design in TV- Sci-Fi/Fantasy – Sponsored by IATSE 873
WINNER: Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events, 306,
The Penultimate Peril
Costume Designer: Cynthia Summers
Assistant Designers: Phoebe Parsons & Kelsey Chobotar, Costume Coordinator: Courtney Mckenzie & Lorelei Burk, BG Coordinator: Deanna Palkowski, Illustrator: Keith Lau, Prep Costumer: Madeleine Mckibbon, Natalie Mason, Eli Finley, Marcia Mior, Natasha DeFazio & Miel Nicholson, Background Costumer: Natalina Sabathil, Key Breakdown Artist: Sage Lovett, Breakdown Artists: Chance Lovett, Brittany Morrow, Shelby Page & Alissa Luxford, Head Cutter: Devon Halfnight LeFluffy, Assistant Head Cutter: Norma Bowen, Seamstresses: Lisa Truong, Vina Guigcangco, Anna Postawski, Helena Prentice, Chelsea Murray, Sahar Eslami & Alina Babii, Set Supervisor: Steve Holloway, Truck Costumer: Sanchia Wong, Set Costumer: Steve Oben, BG Set Supervisor: Deanna Palkowski, Costumer: Carmen Bonzelius, BG Truck Costumer: Chloe Sonnenfeld, 2nd Unit Set Supervisor: Magdalena Shenher

Costume Design in Film – Contemporary – Sponsored by IATSE 891
WINNER: Ready or Not
Costume Designer: Avery Plewes
Assistant Costume Designer: Heather Crepp, Set Supervisor: Joey Watson, Truck Supervisor: Anita Schspansky, Breakdown Artist: Alex Kavanagh

Costume Design in Film – Period – Sponsored by IATSE 891
WINNER: The Lighthouse
Costume Designer: Linda Muir,
Managing Director, Seamless Costumes: Kelly Sullivan
Tailor: Marvin Schlichting, Tailor’s Assistant: Stefan Dean Stitchers: Nancy Allen, Lori Bond, Angela Colburne, Monique MacNeill, Leanne Reimer, Lynette Schlichting & Raelene Worthington, Milner: Julie Munson, Bootmaker: Jitterbug Boy, Aging/ Breakdown: Sue Willis, Alima Meyboom, Knitter: Laurie Krempien-Hall, Set Supervisor: Bethana Briffett, Truck Supervisor: Rachael Grant

Nobis Industry Icon
Juul Haalmeyer

Costume Design in Film – International
WINNER: The Song of Names
Costume Designer: Anne Dixon
Assistant Designers: Anna Dal Farra & Clarke Stanley,
Costume Supervisors: Heather Leat, Sosa Juristovszky & Madeleine Tremblay

Costume Design in TV International
WINNER: Daybreak, 107, Canta Tu Vida
Costume Designer: Michael Ground, Assistant Costume Designers: Maria Tortu & Suzanne Barnes, Costume Supervisor: Danny Vick, Head Ager Dyer: Wynema Chavez, Head Cutter: Aura Sperling.

The show was directed by Liz Whitmere and written by Cynthia Amsden. Music composed by Gary Grant, lyrics by Cynthia Amsden. The hosts were Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen. Presenters were CBC’s Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, Toronto Life Fashion’s Odessa Paloma Parker, actors Helene Joy, Lauren Lee Smith, Dewshane Williams, Shanice Banton, Steven McCarthy, Rachel Ancheril, and Salvatore Antonio, fashion bloggers Cailli & Sam Beckerman, and Drag Queens Priyanka Love and Helena Poison. DJ Salazar Solomon performed during the party.

The 2020 CAFTCAD Awards is sponsored by DIAMOND: IATSE 873; IATSE 891. LEGACY Sponsor: Nobis. RUBY: NABET 700-M UNIFOR; Berman & Company. SAPPHIRE: City of Toronto. JADE: Grand Costumier; Canada Life; Sync On Set; IATSE 856. OPAL: Platis Drycleaners; Mokuba; Cactus Sewing Studio; IATSE 634; William F White; Sassoon Salon.

ABOUT CAFTCAD and the CAFTCAD Awards
For over a decade, the Canadian Alliance of Film and Television Costume Arts and Design (CAFTCAD) has brought together Canadian costume professionals from all corners of the industry, regardless of union affiliation. The founders of this Alliance understood that Canadian costumers would be stronger together than individually. The CAFTCAD Awards, which held its inaugural event in 2019, was the culmination of these efforts to bring the costuming community together, recognize and reward talent, and usher CAFTCAD onto the world stage.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

The Oland Murder peels back the curtain on a high-profile East Coast death

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The story ticks all of the boxes for a true crime fan like myself.

On the morning of July 7, 2011, multi-millionaire Richard Oland, of the Moosehead Brewing family, was found beaten to death in his Saint John, New Brunswick, office. His son, Dennis, was quickly identified as the main suspect and convicted of the crime. After spending 10 months in prison, the verdict was overturned and Dennis was released.

That’s where Deborah Wainwright came in. The award-winning director and Gemini and Canadian Screen Award-nominated producer was there with her team to film everything that happened in the planning for the trail.

Debuting on Wednesday at 9 p.m. on CBC, the four-part The Oland Murder delves into the family, the police, the investigation and the result of the retrial in a truly compelling way. We spoke to Deborah Wainwright about the project.

How did you find out about this in the first place? 
Deborah Wainwright: Richard was murdered in 2011, but it was probably 2014 that I first sort of paid attention to the case. Of course, 2015 is when Making a Murderer hit. Everybody was talking about it. And this case kept popping up on my homepage and I didn’t really pay much attention except that patricide is certainly horrifying. And so when Dennis was convicted, I was like, ‘Yikes, that’s quite the story.’ And I started to pay attention as he was applying for bail, pending appeal, and he kept being turned down for bail, pending an appeal over and over again.

I thought that was curious. So I started reading all of the news articles and watching all the news clips that I could find on the story, trying to figure out why he wasn’t being granted appeal. And eventually, I thought this guy’s going to win his appeal. He’s going to be granted a retrial. So it just kept hopping across my home page and then I thought, ‘Well, wow, if I could find a way to be able to tell this story if he does get granted a retrial and I have the opportunity to follow that story as it’s happening, that would be a really unique situation.’ I can’t think of another case in Canada that did that.

How did you get Dennis to sign on and his mother to sign on? How did you convince them that you were a documentarian, that you weren’t going to take advantage of him?
DW: I’ve been asked that question a lot. And the first time someone asked, ‘How did I get access?’, I was so shocked. I said, ‘Because I asked.’ But I also think there was a little combination of the timing and the fact that I’m from the other side of the country.

Once I was in, they definitely expressed unease for agreeing. They definitely expressed unease with the way the case has been handled in the media. They didn’t feel it had been handled fairly by the media. So I do think that perhaps it was partly because I was from Vancouver and perhaps they hoped that I was coming with more of an open mind because as I say, I didn’t know the Olands. I didn’t know Moosehead. I didn’t know anything about it. I just saw this as an opportunity to tell the story of an ongoing trial.

Do you think maybe part of it was so that they could tell their side of the story?
DW: Absolutely. I mean, no one had been told their side of the story. And I think that’s a decision by the Oland’s to be quiet, to just be stoic and quiet and try and get through it together. Oh, I think it may have bitten them in the butt a little bit because people can only tell the stories that they are given access to. They knew because I’m a documentary filmmaker my goal was to tell the truth and to tell every bit of the story that I can. I can’t be one-sided.

And so they knew that they were going to be some things that were going to be uncomfortable. You mentioned Dennis’ mother, the widow. Having a sit-down interview with her was really something. And this was, gosh, six years later, seven years later, that I interviewed her after her husband had been murdered and her son had gone to prison and was still going through this. She was so brave and what a gift she gave me by allowing me to just sit down and ask her some really uncomfortable questions.

Something that I found really unique in your storytelling was the court transcripts. You couldn’t be in there with a camera so you used animation and it was wonderful.
DW: Oh, thank you so much. I will happily tell you, our animator is our wonderful graphic artist. His name is Vern Giammartino. He’s in Toronto and he is absolutely brilliant and also hilarious. We knew we wanted to animate it because of course, you can’t put a camera in the courtroom. So we talked about making it look like courtroom sketches. We really wanted the viewer to feel like that they had been sitting in the courtroom watching it go on.

What do you think happened?
DW: Of course I have an opinion on the verdict and who the killer is and so on. I and my colleagues sat through every day of the trial and all of the pretrial motions, so we have a lot of information that didn’t even make it into the film. We worked so very hard to craft a story that is balanced and fair and truthful.

The Oland Murder airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries’ Shanice Banton: “I hope that you understand Violet a little bit more”

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Violet Hart is perhaps the most galvanizing character on Murdoch Mysteries. Facebook feeds have been devoted to her conniving and plotting, with many comments simply stating, “I hate the character, so congratulations to the actress!”

That’s music to Shanice Banton’s ears. The actress, who has previously starred on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Lost Girl, has portrayed Violet Hart for a mere 33 episodes but has made a huge splash on a show celebrating 200 instalments. When we first met Ms. Hart, she was selling vitamins. Now she’s a coroner accused of murder. With Monday’s Murdoch Mysteries season finale upon us, we spoke to Banton about the brouhaha surrounding Ms. Hart.

Give me your origin story. How did you end up playing this character of Violet Hart in the first place?
Shanice Banton: I was shooting another project and this opportunity had come up, just like a regular audition, and I ended up putting myself on tape for it, I believe. Same old audition style, regular audition style and they told me they wanted to have me on, and that was it.

What were your initial thoughts? Coming off a show like the Degrassi or Lost Girl, you’re coming onto Murdoch Mysteries, which is a period drama. Was your initial reaction, ‘Yeah, get me into some of that old clothing!’
SB: Yeah. It kind of took me back to high school, ‘Ooh, this feels like theatre.’ This is exciting, but you’re doing it for film. It’s amazing because I’ve done a lot of older plays and stuff like that in high school.

Obviously hair, makeup, costumes, all that helps make this character.
SB: Yeah, absolutely. Well, we have Deb [Drennan] who does makeup and she is just super amazing at transforming me so that I would fit absolutely perfectly for that time. Exactly knowing what to do. And with Joanna [Syrokomla] as well, she’s been doing some amazing, amazing things like pulling things from these New Age stores, like Zara and cutting things together, building things for the character and it’s amazing. They even collage and such and without those things, until I stepped into my costume, until I step into makeup, that’s when I really feel like, ah, I’m Violet Hart now.

They really help shape your character. So I’m so glad that we have a team that’s amazing at that. Really awesome.

It was interesting to see how Violet was introduced. She was at a show and she was selling vitamins. Julia took her under her wing and, right from the get-go, we knew that Violet was different, that she was ambitious. How much of the character was described to you in those first few episodes of those first few scripts? 
SB: A lot of it was just taking it, what I’d been told what she would be like and reading the scripts. [She] was just really pushing the ambition and wanting to get something out of life and get to the next level.

You don’t see Violet as an evil person. She’s an ambitious person, right?
SB: Yeah, absolutely.

How do you feel about playing one of the evilest characters on Murdoch Mysteries?
SB: I feel good about it. I feel great actually. It’s fun. No, honestly, it’s always fun to play these characters. I’m glad that she’s stirring all the other’s troubles in the end. And, you finally get to see who is Violet Hart. We’ve all been wondering. And I think what’s happening here in this last little bit is really going to show that. It is exciting.

Showrunner Peter Mitchell has always said it’s a lot more fun to write for a character like Violet Hart. You’ve already hinted at the fun you’re having.
SB: Yeah, that’s super fun.

On the Facebook pages, the compliment that I see the most is, ‘hate the character because the actress does such a good job.’
SB: I love that. That’s amazing.

What’s it like working with Hélène and Yannick?
SB: They’re really great. When I first stepped onto the show and even up to now, it’s like I’m settled more into my character now than I was in the beginning. But working in the early stages, they were just so planted in their characters and scene actions. It’s really been great to watch them work together and have scenes together and it’s funny, off-set we’ve made a lot of jokes, it’s always great. And the crew is really awesome.

What do you want to say to the fans about this character and how they feel about her?
SB: Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for all the great comments on people hating her. I hope that after this episode you can get to understand her a little bit more and see where she’s coming from and have a little bit of a change of heart.

 

Have you changed your tune on Violet Hart? What do you think will happen in the finale? Let me know in the comments below.

The Season 13 finale of Murdoch Mysteries airs Monday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Baroness von Sketch Show

Link: ‘Baroness Von Sketch Show’ producer buys back company from embattled Kew Media Group

From Manori Ravindran of Variety:

Link: ‘Baroness Von Sketch Show’ producer buys back company from embattled Kew Media Group
“Baroness Von Sketch Show” producer Frantic Films has bought back the company from embattled parent Kew Media Group.

Frantic Films founder Jamie Brown has personally financed the deal to reacquire 100% ownership of the firm, which was bought by Kew in March 2017. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Continue reading. Continue reading. 

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