Link: Diverse storytelling wins big at final night of 2018 Leos
A feature film about life in Afghanistan, a music-driven documentary about the fight for Indigenous rights in Canada, and a short about four Arab teens on a quest to find a public pool in their new city took home the top prizes at the 2018 Leo Awards.
The Leo Awards recognize excellence in the homegrown film and television industry, and Black Kite – a gripping feature-length drama about a father in Afghanistan who defies the Taliban’s ban on kites in order to bring some joy into his daughter’s childhood – won Best Screenwriting and Best Direction for Tarique Qayumi, and Best Motion Picture for producer Tajana Prka. Continue reading.
Until a screener landed in my inbox, I wasn’t sure what Queen of the Oil Patch was going to be about. According to the press release, the documentary series, debuting Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET on APTN, tells the tale of Fort McKay resident Massey Whiteknife and his alter ego, Iceis Rain. Whiteknife’s business empire was shattered when oil prices took a tumble followed by fire sweeping through nearby Fort MacMurray. Cameras capture Whiteknife as he attempts to get back on his economic feet.
But Queen of the Oil Patch is so much more than that.
When we catch up with Whiteknife, he shows off his two businesses in Fort Mac, Tatonka North Contracting, a construction company and Iceis Safety, a full-service occupational health and safety consulting business. But at night, Whiteknife becomes someone else … Iceis Rain. Iceis is a critically-acclaimed recording artist, booking dates across the country, and was nominated at the 2014 Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards, where she also performed. She’s also an anti-bullying advocate, speaks to suicide prevention and has a wicked wiggle.
Whiteknife’s plan? To spend a year transitioning fully into Iceis Rain. How will that go over in Fort Mac? Will being a woman ruin his day-to-day business? Whiteknife is willing to take that chance to be who he is.
I don’t—and have never—smoked marijuana. Growing up, I didn’t know anyone who did and when it was offered I declined. As a result, I don’t have any skin in the game as Canada inches closer to the legalization—voting on Bill C-45 is scheduled for June —of recreational marijuana in this country. But tuning in to History’s latest original series, Bud Empire certainly educated me in the drug and what being able to sell it as an entrepreneur.
Debuting Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the specialty network, the seven-part Bud Empire—narrated by Will Sasso—introduces viewers to Bob Kay, the owner of Be Kind, the Okanagan’s original Compassion Club. Episode 1, with its guitar-driven soundtrack, introduces Kay as he reveals B.C.’s Okanagan Valley is dotted with pot grow-ops mixed in with other crops. It’s a $5 billion industry and Kay aims to be “the King of Weed.” That title comes with challenges in the form of robbery, extortion, violence and Kay potentially being arrested for selling.
But Bud Empire isn’t about the furtive exchange of money for pot in a shadowy alley or groups of stoners lounging in a room filled with smoke; the program explores not only Kay’s family life (including his creatively-named kids) but how he’s running and, hopefully, expanding his business. This could be a series about any entrepreneur wanting to sell a product; the hook is that Kay sells marijuana. Kay welcomes salespeople into Be Kind, analyzing and sampling their weed and deeming if it’s up to his high standards and worthy of being in his store. Watching bunches of twenties exchange hands over bags of pot is certainly something to see.
Kay works a grey area of the law but he believes what he and others are doing is really helping; medical marijuana helps alleviate chronic pain and other ailments. Still, rules in Kelowna, B.C., could put him out of business and in jail.
Produced by Screen Siren Pictures Inc. and HLP + Partners, Trish Dolman (Canada in a Day)—Bud Empire‘s executive producer and director—offers a wonderful, educational and heartfelt peek into the life of man eking out a business in a rapidly-changing landscape.
Bud Empire airs back-to-back episodes on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.
Update: Congratulations to Marsha Mason, who won a free pass to this year’s Toronto Screenwriting Conference. Thanks to everyone who submitted their story.
Want access to veterans of the screenwriting industry who can give you the education and skills development to further your career in writing, producing and directing? The Toronto Screenwriting Conference is for you.
The two-day weekend event—on June 23 and 24—brings together expert creative talent, authors and speakers specializing in the craft of writing.
Among the highlights is a Writing Room Intensive with Degrassi: Next Class and Holly Hobbie showrunner Sarah Glinski, where participants will work together in a mock writing room to break a pilot for a Dawson’s Creek reboot. Also on tap: speakers like David Shore (House, The Good Doctor), Chip Johannessen (Homeland), Stacy Rukeyser (Unreal), Ben Watkins (Hand of God) and Corey Mandell.
New this year is The Foundation Series: Where New Stories Begin with two sessions in Brain, Biography and Crime with Dr. William Watson, and Understanding Fraudsters and the Coppers that Chase Them with Mike Akpata.
TV, eh? is proud to be the exclusive media sponsors for this year’s Toronto Screenwriting Conference, but we’re even more excited to offer our readers the chance to win one complimentary pass to the weekend!
Simply comment below telling us which Canadian TV show, past or present, has inspired you to write for Canadian TV or film and we’ll select one winner at random to attend this month’s event. The contest closes Friday, June 15, at noon PT/3 p.m. ET.
It’s one and done for The Detail; CTV has opted not to order another season of the cop drama.
“Canada! The last ever episode of @TheDetailCTV starts now!” star Shenae Grimes-Beech tweeted prior to the show’s first season finale on Sunday night. “Sadly we will not be coming back for a second season on @CTV but it’s been an absolute dream getting to bring Det. Jack Cooper to life!”
“CTV was so lovely, they were so passionate about the show and I know everyone really wanted it to go again,” Grimes-Beech continued on her latest YouTube post. “Unfortunately, due to finances, I think, and ratings and all of that kind of stuff it won’t be going again. I loved that show a lot. It was so much fun being a badass homicide detective and it was so much fun getting to play Det. Jack Cooper.” You can watch the full video below.
Developed by Ley Lukins (Saving Hope) who served as co-showrunner and co-executive producer alongside Adam Pettle (Saving Hope), The Detail was a 10-episode adaptation of the UK smash Scott & Bailey and starred Grimes-Beech as street-smart Detective Jacqueline “Jack” Cooper, who has keen investigative skills but a messy personal life. Angela Griffin starred as Detective Stevie Hall, a sharp quick-witted interrogator who is Jack’s mentor. Wendy Crewson played Staff Inspector Fiona Currie, the homicide unit’s boss, who works overtime to secure justice, no matter what the cost.
Supporting cast included David Cubitt as Detective Kyle Price, Stevie’s ex-boyfriend and new co-worker at the division; David Ferry as Harry Barker, Stevie’s stepfather and retired cop; Matthew Edison as Stevie’s husband Jono Hall; Ben Bass as Marc Savage, Jack’s boyfriend; Al Mukadam as Detective Aaron Finch; and Matt Gordon as Detective Donnie Sullivan.
Executive producers included Ilana Frank (Saving Hope), John Morayniss (Bitten), and Linda Pope (Rookie Blue), with co-executive producers Jocelyn Hamilton (Cardinal), Sonia Hosko (Saving Hope) and Gregory Smith (Rookie Blue).
The Detail‘s lack of a renewal is the latest move by Bell Media; the broadcaster announced InnerSpace and Daily Planet would not be back.
