Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Production begins on Season 2 of APTN’s Treaty Road

August 13, 2024 Greg David

From a media release:

Saxon de Cocq, Hannah Hermanson and Ell McEachern of 3 Story Pictures, Doug Cuthand of Blue Hill Productions, and Candy Renae Fox are pleased to announce that principal photography has started on Season 2 of Treaty Road. This ground-breaking 12-part docuseries (one hour each) follows Dakota/Anishinaabekwe educator and researcher, Erin Goodpipe (RezX, The Other Side, Bathsheba: Search for Evil) and Métis writer, director and producer Saxon de Cocq (The Other Side, The Invincible Sergeant Bill (CBC), Land Acknowledgement (CIFF) and the upcoming Red River Gold,) as they head back out on the road exploring the familiar and unfamiliar grounds of Treaties 7 – 11.

Season 2 of Treaty Road challenges the crew as they travel from Saxon’s hometown of Calgary to remote, fly in communities on James Bay and end in the nation’s capital, Ottawa. Helicopters, boats, float planes, trains, and miles of winding and remote roads take them to the experts and activists who are navigating the ongoing negotiations and settlements that surround the numbered treaties.

“It’s not only an eye-opening experience, meeting with and learning from all of the amazing people throughout the Treaty territories, it’s an absolute honour,” said Saxon de Cocq.

Treaty Road is directed by Candy Fox (The Other Side, Big Brother Canada, ZARQA S2), Saxon de Cocq and Erin Goodpipe and hosted by Saxon de Cocq and Erin Goodpipe and produced by Saxon de Cocq, Candy Fox, Ell McEachern (Staying Wild, The Other Side, ZARQA S2 and the upcoming Red River Gold,) and Hannah Hermanson (Staying Wild, The Other Side, ZARQA S2 and the upcoming Red River Gold). The series is written by Saxon de Cocq and story edited by Berkley Brady (Dark Nature, The Secret History of: The Wild West) with Doug Cuthand (Guardians: Evolution,Big Bear, Searchers, Van Life) serving as executive producer.

Cinematography by Jeremy Ratzlaff (By Faith, Denis, Never Seen Again) and editing by Jennifer Prokop (Staying Wild, The Other Side, Treaty Road), Kolby Kostyniuk (Staying Wild, Dirt Farmers, Treaty Road, Red River Gold), Nina Staum (Ice Racer Showdown, The Other Side, Treaty Road, Red River Gold).

Treaty Road is produced with financial support from Canada Media Fund, Creative Saskatchewan, Alberta Media Fund, Bell Fund and APTN. The series will air on APTN in 2025.

Featured, Shoresy

Production underway on Season 4 of Crave original comedy, Shoresy

August 12, 2024 Greg David

From a media release:

Crave announced today that production is underway in Sudbury on the six-episode, fourth season of Crave’s smash-hit original comedy series, SHORESY. Created by and starring Jared Keeso, and produced by New Metric Media in association with Play Fun Games and Crave, the hockey comedy continues to follow the foul-mouthed, chirp-serving, mother-loving, fan favourite character, Shoresy (Keeso), and the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs of the Northern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization (The NOSHO). The fourth season of SHORESY drops Winter 2025 on Crave.

Guest stars appearing in SHORESY, Season 4, include: TSN hockey reporter Kenzie Lalonde; TSN reporter and Olympic gold medalist Tessa Bonhomme; Meghan Chayka, co-founder of Stathletes; and former NHLers Doug Gilmour, Marty McSorley, and Sean Avery. Other newcomers include Isaac Kragten (ODD SQUAD), Eric Fleising (BURDEN), Sudbury native Xander Roy, and Sudbury Wolves forward Chase Coughlan.

Featured, Ghosting with Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan

CBC renews unscripted paranormal comedy Ghosting with Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan

July 24, 2024 Greg David

From a media release:

CBC today announced a second season of the unscripted paranormal comedy series GHOSTING WITH LUKE HUTCHIE AND MATTHEW FINLAN (8×30) from Blue Ant Studios in association with Luke Hutchie Productions. Currently in production, the new season sees Hutchie (EZRA) and Finlan (Orphan: First Kill, EZRA) take the show on the road, expanding their quest cross-country to explore some of Canada’s most haunted places.

Joined by celebrity guests, the amateur ghost-wrangling duo will traverse the country, investigating stories of paranormal activity in Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the Yukon Territory. Their mission remains unchanged: to uncover the truth behind local ghostlore and deliver a verdict of “haunted” or “not haunted”. The new season is slated to premiere winter 2025 on the free CBC Gem streaming service.

Hutchie is most credited with creating and starring in the hit award-winning short-form series EZRA, where he portrayed the titular role of Ezra Grey, acting alongside Priyanka (Canada’s Drag Race), Zoe De Grand Maison (Orphan Black, Riverdale), Veronika Slowikowska (What We Do in the Shadows) and Finlan. Finlan previously starred in Orphan: First Kill and alongside Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk in their slasher comedy Hell of a Summer.

A CBC original series, GHOSTING WITH LUKE HUTCHIE AND MATTHEW FINLAN is a Blue Ant Studios production, in association with Luke Hutchie Productions. Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan are the Creators, Executive Producers and stars of the series. Executive Producers for Blue Ant Studios are Matthew Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop, Donna Luke and Jennifer Harkness. Mitch Burman (Freak Encounters, Brother vs Brother) joins as showrunner and series producer. Jonathan Jude will serve as Senior Story Producer for the season, Nikki Chow is the Series Director and Brooke Yerxa is the Associate Producer.

Don't Even, Featured

Indigenous coming-of-age comedy Don’t Even debuts August 23 on Crave

July 23, 2024 Greg David

From a media release:

A funny, relatable, and heartwarming take on friendship, growing up, and the complexities of life in Winnipeg, the new Crave and APTN Original series DON’T EVEN premieres on Friday, August 23 on Crave, followed by a premiere on APTN later this year. The series premieres with two episodes on August 23, with two new episodes dropping on subsequent Fridays.

Starring Leenah Robinson (1923), Victoria Turko (Burden of Truth), Joel Oulette (Trickster), Gail Maurice, and Jennifer Podemski (Showrunner and Creator, LITTLE BIRD), the series follows two best friends in late ‘90s Winnipeg as they grapple with their uncertain futures in the summer after their final high school year.

Following a hilariously humiliating mishap at her high school grad, Violet (Robinson) wants to make the most of the last summer before moving away for university, as Harley (Turko) distracts herself from a big dilemma of what’s next. As the lifelong friends bask in newfound freedom, and face adult life choices, cracks begin to form in their once impenetrable bond. It’s awkward. It’s dramatic. It’s friggin’ Winnipeg.

DON’T EVEN is co-produced by Pier 21 Films, Frantic Films Manitoba, and Sekowan Media, in association with Bell Media’s Crave and APTN, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Manitoba Film & Music, and film and television tax credit assistance from the Government of Manitoba, the Government of Ontario, and The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Amber-Sekowan Daniels is Executive Producer, Creator, and Showrunner. Zoe Hopkins is Executive Producer and Director for the series. Laszlo Barna, Nicole Butler, Karen Tsang, and Vanessa Steinmetz serve as Executive Producers for Pier 21 Films. For Frantic Films Manitoba, Jamie Brown and Stephanie Fast are Executive Producers. Lori Lozinski is Series Producer. Karen Hill is Co-Executive Producer and Meg MacKay is Co-Producer.

Featured, Kim's Convenience, Murdoch Mysteries

Award-winning Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee joins the cast of Murdoch Mysteries

July 23, 2024 Greg David 5 Comments

From a media release:

Shaftesbury and CBC announced today that award-winning, Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Mandalorian) will join the cast of the CBC original hit series MURDOCH MYSTERIES as the series commences production on its 18^th season in Toronto. Lee enters the “Murdoch-verse” as Inspector Albert Choi, who brings a whole new perspective to Station House #4. Best known for his portrayal as Appa on Kim’s Convenience, as well as Uncle Iroh on Netflix’s live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this new role marks Lee’s first foray into the world of period drama.

CBC’s most-watched show and Canada’s top-rated long-running drama, MURDOCH MYSTERIES is set in Toronto in the early 1900s during the age of invention, where Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) enlists innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most perplexing murders. Notable guest stars on the series have included William Shatner, Margaret Atwood, Geddy Lee, Chris Hadfield, Ed Asner and Nick Nurse, adding star-studded intrigue to its compelling tales. The 18^th season, consisting of 22 episodes and celebrating the series’ 300^th episode, will broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem in Canada this fall, Acorn TV and Ovation TV in the U.S. and on Alibi in the UK.

Ahead of the Season 18 premiere of MURDOCH MYSTERIES this fall, a special ‘Beginner’s Guide to Murdoch Mysteries’ collection is now available to stream for free on CBC Gem. The 10 iconic episodes are the perfect Murdoch primer pulled from across the series and highlight the show’s trademark mystery, murder and Detective Murdoch’s unflappable resolve.

“We are delighted that Paul has joined us in the world of Murdoch,” says Executive Producer Peter Mitchell. “Paul brings a wealth of experience to his role as Inspector Albert Choi and we think the fans will really enjoy seeing him on the team at Station House 4.”

Season 18 is full of ‘Murdochian’ delights: a murder at a Charles Dickens convention; Murdoch acting as a bodyguard for a silent film star (Siobhan Murphy) and thrown into a cinematic adventure himself; foiling a theft of the world’s largest ruby; proving the veracity of a ‘Missing Link’ skull found in Milton, Ontario; and a holiday episode celebrating the ‘misfits’ and singletons. Episodes that root mysteries in the social issues of the time are also explored: a worker’s strike at a factory; an early instance of low-income housing; competing public hydro projects; and immigrants trying to purchase land in the ‘paradise’ of the wilds of Canada.

MURDOCH MYSTERIES was born out Maureen Jennings’ 1997 novel Except the Dying. Key characters in Murdoch’s world include Chief Constable Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), Constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch), Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany), Chief Coroner Violet Hart (Shanice Banton), Margaret Brackenreid (Arwen Humphreys) and Effie Newsome-Crabtree (Clare McConnell) as Canada’s first female Crown Attorney. In addition, the milestone 300^th episode will see Detective Murdoch visit the UK to see his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. This season will also introduce several fresh, new faces, as well as combining the history, humour, romance, and adventure that makes MURDOCH MYSTERIES so popular and unique for viewers around the world.

MURDOCH MYSTERIES is developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with CBC, ITV Studios, and UKTV, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the IPF’s COGECO Television Production Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and Ontario Creates. Shaftesbury Sales Company and ITV Studios hold worldwide distribution rights for the series.