TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 751
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

Video: Telling Canadian stories. Telling CanadianS stories. Stories that travel the world.

From The Writers Guild of Canada:

Telling Canadian Stories. Telling Canadians Stories. On all screens.

Canadian screenwriters write for all screens bringing a Canadian point of view to Canadian and worldwide audiences. If we don’t tell our own stories, who will? In this video, Metis screenwriter Penny Gummerson talks about growing up in the north, her search for meaning and why she writes about family, healing and home.

Canadian screenwriters are among the best. They’re the only creators who reflect a Canadian perspective for audiences at home and around the globe — on all screens. And we want to share our pride in Canadian screenwriters with every Canadian.

The Writers Guild of Canada is proud to present the first in a short series of animated videos featuring Canadian screenwriters sharing personal anecdotes. You’ll find out why they’re passionate about what they do, and where they live. First, Penny Gummerson. She’s an award-winning Métis screenwriter (Strange Empire, Arctic Air, Heartland, Moccasin Flats).

As the Department of Canadian Heritage wraps its “Canadian Content in a Digital World” consultations, and on the eve of the CRTC’s group-licence renewals, it’s timely to celebrate and promote Canadian screenwriters. After all, watching screen-based entertainment is phenomenally popular, and we all want to make sure the work of our Canadian screenwriters continues to be watched at home and world-wide.

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Link: Interview with Shoot the Messenger producers Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness

From Koliah Bourne of Shifter:

Link: Interview with Shoot the Messenger producers Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness
“We are looking at how we can bring humanity to our characters. You know let’s understand why they’re doing this, and also let us understand our own perception, such that when we see these things, what do we think? It probably looks more complicated than the show looks but that’s the kind of thinking that we were doing when we’re creating this.” Continue reading.

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Wild Archaeology: Inuit of Rigolet, Part 1

Nope, Jenifer and Jacob are NOT AT ALL COMPETITIVE! We begin the penultimate episode of Wild Archaeology finishing up at the site in Sheshatshui.

SNAP! Jacob a.k.a. “artifact magnet” found a bi-face and then SNAP!, moments later, Jenifer found aher own bi-face in the exact same quadrant. We learn that Jacob’s Groswater and Dorset paleo Eskimo end blade is not native to the area of their dig and therefore  indicates an interaction between Inuit and Innu communities of Labrador happening at this site. Meanwhile, Jenifer’s is a locally crafted little red quartzite knife blade.

Then we head off to Rigolet to meet up with Dr. Lisa Rankin at Double Mer, an 18th-century Inuit site in Labrador demarked with semi-subterranean sod huts. What is unique to this site is it is a location that was a traditional meeting ground in the summer months for various ethnic groups. This site is also our first glimpse at post-European contact artifacts making an appearance with nails ideal for building the superstructure of the sod homes.

And, true to form, Jacob finds the first artifact, a piece of leather that has markings to indicate it had been sewn. Jenifer comes across a couple of decorated beads in her quadrant the likes of which had not been found previously.

We are down to the final episode next week, with Part 2 of Inuit of Rigolet. This has been such a fun adventure, I hate to see it end.

Wild Archaeology airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

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Daily Planet spreads sci-tech cheer for all to hear during “High-Tech Toys Week”, beginning December 5 on Discovery

From a media release:

It’s beginning to look a lot like…“High-Tech Toys Week”! Santa’s helpers, better known as the team behind Discovery’s daily sci-tech series DAILY PLANET, are hard at work preparing for every tech toy-lover’s favourite week of the year, “High-Tech Toys Week”. Airing exclusively on Discovery beginning Monday, Dec. 5 through Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, DAILY PLANET explores a week full of boundless innovation and imagination.

From a life-size Transformer car to vertical air hockey, viewers are invited to join co-hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin as they fill Santa’s sleigh with the season’s most exciting, outlandish, and coveted high-tech toys from around the world.

“High-Tech Toys Week” was the second most-watched theme week on DAILY PLANET during the 2015/16 broadcast year, trailing only “Future-Tech Week”. DAILY PLANET, the world’s only nightly science broadcast reaches more than 1.3 million viewers each week and continues to win the 7 p.m. ET timeslot among Canadian entertainment specialty channels during the 2016/17 broadcast year among all key adult demographics.

Highlights from DAILY PLANET’s “High-Tech Toys Week” include:

“Transformer Car”
The BMW can now shapeshift from a car into huge robot, thanks to a prototype designed by Turkish company, Letrons. The Antiomon is a real-life, nearly five-metre tall Transformer with driving capabilities. A total of five working models were developed by a team of 12 engineers, with each featuring a 35,000 hydraulic cylinder system that allows for quick and effective transformations. DAILY PLANET meets with the development team to discuss the Antiomon’s price tag in advance of its consumer debut.

“Teal Highspeed Drone”
George Matus was 11 years old when he flew his first drone and was immediately blown away. By 16, Matus was competing as a professional drone racer and acting as a test pilot for new aircraft. Today, Matus is the CEO of his own drone and software company, Teal. After years of flying, crashing, rebuilding, and modifying dozens of versions of drones, Matus has completed his dream drone, the Teal. The highly impressive unmanned aircraft flies at more than 120 kilometres per hour, can operate in wind speeds of 64 kilometres per hour, and has a built-in camera, GPS, and autonomous capabilities. From gaming and augmented reality to security applications and agriculture, Matus wants to make this drone do anything the imagination can conjure. Testing diffferent flight propellers and evaluating for speed, noise, and handling, Matus and the Teal team join DAILY PLANET as they race to get to market “the world’s fastest production drone in its class.”

“Climball”
What is the result when pinball, air hockey, wall climbing, and a splash of augmented reality mix together? Climball – a high-tech, fast-paced game combining augmented reality technology with rock climbing. The physically engaging game tracks the players’ movements while they compete to volley a virtual ball. DAILY PLANET climbs on board to get a closer look at the tech behind the newest way to get into shape.

“The PancakeBot”
Marking the very first food printer of its kind, the $300 PancakeBot is the brainchild of Miguel Valenzuela, a civil engineer, inventor, and father living in Norway. A container of batter is attached to PancakeBot’s mechanical printing arm where underneath sits a flat, heated griddle that acts as its canvas. Users can turn almost anything into a yummy breakfast treat – a child’s drawing, a product image, a team’s logo, or even a favorite piece of artwork. DAILY PLANET meets with Valenzuela, who spills the batter on PancakeBot’s food printing technology.

“Amphibious Helicopter”
Novelty car builder Jeff Bloch, also known as SpeedyCop, is the master of developing crazy, homemade cars. He’s built a fighter jet car, an upside down Camaro, and even a car that stretches out like an accordion – all capable of racing at 24 Hours of LeMons, a series of endurance races held on paved courses across the U.S. This year, Bloch recycled a damaged helicopter from the Vietnam War and transformed it into a mighty machine that can race on land and in water, making the gadget an entirely amphibious helicopter. Although it can’t take flight just yet, it has some truly astounding capabilities! DAILY PLANET meets Bloch to discuss how he intends to take these off-the-wall vehicles from the junkyard to the racetrack.

“Carr-E”
Many city drivers have experienced the congestion of downtown roadways during rush hour – the impatience, the frustration, and the worry. Well, Ford Motor Company is hoping to prevent commuter frustration with the “Last Mile Mobility Challenge”. One of this year’s finalists is Kilian Vas, a Ford engineer who has designed and built the Carr-E. An easily transported, segway-like vehicle, the Carr-E can propel motorist through all types of traffic. Carr-E’s ultrasonic sensors and built-in GPS allow it to navigate through busy streets, avoiding any obstacle thrown in its path. DAILY PLANET meets with Vas to test out the four-wheel, electric pedestrian assistant that could potentially be the next big breakthrough in urban commuting.

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Nearly 400,000 tune in to debut of The Beaverton on The Comedy Network

From a media release:

This just in! Final Numeris data confirms that a combined audience of 379,000 viewers has tuned into the premiere episode of THE BEAVERTON since its November 9 debut on The Comedy Network. With an average audience of 189,000 viewers during its broadcast premiere timeslot, Comedy was the most-watched specialty channel in Canada for A25-54 (102,000 viewers), and the most-watched entertainment specialty channel for A18-49 (101,000 viewers). To date, the premiere episode has reached a total of 724,000 unique viewers across all airings.

During its Nov. 9 broadcast debut, #TheBeaverton was among the Top 10 trending topics on Twitter in Canada, alongside hashtags related to the American election. Worldwide #TheBeaverton has garnered an estimated 18.7 million impressions to date.

Across Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, the teaser clip for the debut episode “Obituary for America” has garnered nearly 900,000 views with nearly half a million views in just its first 12 hours of being published. To date, 19 various in-show and web exclusive clips of THE BEAVERTON have racked up more than 4 million views across Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Since its premiere, the Top 3 BEAVERTON clips on social media are:

3) Rachel Notley Caught in Yet Another Scandal with nearly 344,000 views
2) With 683,000 views, “The Donald Trump Apocalypse Begins” became the #11 trending video on YouTube, and also landed on the front pages of reddit.com and uproxx.com
1) The series’ most-watched clip to date, 5 War Atrocities Only 90s Kids Remember, has garnered nearly 708,000 views.

On tonight’s episode of THE BEAVERTON, (Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT), shocking new insights into the world of ISIS are revealed, Aisha Alfa looks at the Liberal sex-ed curriculum, and Canada ponders a new currency.

A so-called televised adaptation of the immensely popular online satirical site TheBeaverton.com, THE BEAVERTON files fake news stories of the utmost importance, informed by real events, the cultural zeitgeist, and national news media. With nearly 7.5 million views in 2016 and averaging more than half a million unique visitors a month, TheBeaverton.com has become a go-to source for Canadian satire. Viewers who need a daily-dose of biting Canadian satire can check in with TheBeaverton.com or follow @TheBeaverton for hourly updates.

THE BEAVERTON airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT exclusively on The Comedy Network.

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