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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Season two of Eyes for the Job to premiere July 31 on AMI-tv

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From a media release:

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced today that Season two of Eyes for the Job, the 13-part television series focused on home improvement and do-it-yourself projects starring Chris Judge and Alex Haider, will premiere on Tuesday, July 31, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET on AMI-tv.

Produced by Clerisy Entertainment, Eyes for the Job is set in Halifax and features Nova Scotian co-hosts Chris Judge and Alex Haider. A lifelong handyman and do-it-yourself enthusiast, Chris brings a unique perspective to the program: he is blind. Working alongside Chris is Alex Haider, who shares Chris’ creativity and enthusiasm and boasts some serious social media and outreach know-how. Together, they’ll inform, entertain and inspire viewers to expand their DIY abilities in new and exciting ways.

In Season two, Chris steps up his DIY game. He’s started a community workshop in the heart of the city and has the space, tools and materials for some seriously cool creations. With Alex by his side, Chris tackles several projects both in the workshop and in the community, with help from friends.

In keeping with AMI’s mandate of making accessible media for all Canadians, Season two of Eyes for the Job features Integrated Described Video (IDV), where Chris and Alex describe their actions and surroundings during filming to make the program accessible to individuals with vision loss.

Beginning on July 31, Eyes for the Job airs Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET on AMI-tv.

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Industry News

Ideacom International announces start of production on Human+

From a media release:

Award-winning, independent television and digital media company Ideacom International announced today that production is currently underway on the new documentary series Human+, a co-production with France’s Academy Award®-winning Bonne Pioche, for Ici Explora, TVO, and AMI in Canada and RMC Découverte in France. The five-episode one-hour series, filming in the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, and France, is slated to premiere in April 2019.

Human+ takes viewers into the enigmatic world of scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs who are revolutionizing the way humans see, touch, taste, hear, and smell. Each episode delves into the awe-inspiring and emotional stories of people whose lives are being transformed through some of the most cutting-edge advancements in sensorial technology.

With the participation of the TELUS Fund, Human+ is a Canada-France co-production for Ici Explora, TVO, and AMI in Canada and RMCDécouverte in France. Ideacom International’s Josette D. Normandeau, Bonne Pioche’s Sophie Parrault and André Barro are the Executive Producers, and Amy Webb serves as Producer. Human+ is directed by Vincent Barthélémy and written by Duncan McDowall, Yann Renoard, and Vincent Barthélémy. The series is distributed internationally by Terranoa.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Growing Sense adds gardening to AMI’s stable of original programs

Here in Southern Ontario, it appears winter is over. Squirrels are bounding all over the place, birds are waking me up and the crocuses in my front garden are in bloom. With the first day of spring officially arriving on March 20, AMI-tv is marking the occasion with the debut of its latest series, Growing Sense.

Airing Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on AMI-tv, each of Growing Sense‘s 10 episodes follow novice gardener Milena Khazanavicius and veteran ecological landscaper Rosmarie Lohnes as they build and tend an accessible garden plot in Halifax’s Common Roots Urban Farm. 

“I believe that when we heal the earth, we heal ourselves,” Lohnes says in the show’s opening credits. It’s sage advice. Viewers are first introduced to Khazanavicius, who once worked as a floral designer with dreams of opening her own shop before losing her sight at the age of 22. She and seeing eye dog Lewis hit up a local Halifax flower shop to nab some herbs for her balcony boxes. It’s at this store we learn Khazanavicius’ life story and the pleasure she derives from the smells and textures of flowers and plants. 

Lohnes, meanwhile, outlines her tale. The daughter of a miner who worked in Northern Ontario, childhoods were spent camping in the woods where she developed her “superpower.” Now she’s founded Helping Nature Heal, which restores sustainable ecosystems and connects people with nature.

The pair, introduced months ago, reunite with a bold plan: fill a community garden plot with plants and vegetables designed to reconnect Khazanavicius with her passion for plants while giving her food to augment her fixed income. Khazanavicius’ first challenge? Getting there.

Featuring integrated described video, Growing Sense is a wonderful addition to AMI’s quickly growing stable of original programming that is blind or partially sighted viewers but enjoyable by all.

Growing Sense airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on AMI-tv.

Image courtesy of AMI.

 

 

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

AMI’s Four Senses to return for fourth season

From a media release:

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced today that its cooking show with an accessibility twist, Four Senses, is returning for a fourth season and will begin production this fall.

Four Senses is a unique cooking show produced for AMI-tv by Varner Productions Limited that unites blind and sighted chefs in the kitchen. Hosts Christine Ha and Carl Heinrich are back for season four to share new recipes and experiences with a fresh group of celebrity guests. Each 30-minute show will also include nutrition guidelines for optimal eye health and accessibility tips and tools for independence in the kitchen.

Special guests this year include celebrities from the culinary world and beyond such as interior design gurus Colin and Justin, fashion icon Jeanne Beker, comedian and television star Luba Goy, and many more.  Each guest will share one of their favourite recipes with Christine and Carl, help the hosts prepare two additional dishes and share what inspires their own love of cooking.

Again this season Christine and Carl will be on the road shooting in field segments that highlight Canada’s diverse culinary landscape. Christine will explore Ontario, visiting a cranberry farm in Bala, learning about sustainable trout in Collingwood, and paying a visit to Lake Joe – the CNIB’s camp for individuals living with vision loss. Carl will be on a Nova Scotia road trip visiting Lunenburg, Wolfville, Digby, and Dartmouth. Along the way he’ll check out the Digby Days Scallop Festival, visit the oldest farmers market in Nova Scotia and learn more about the province’s growing wine and craft beer scene.

In keeping with AMI’s mandate of making accessible media for all Canadians, Four Senses features integrated description, where hosts and guests describe their surroundings and actions for audience members who are blind or partially sighted, as well as closed captioning for those with hearing loss.

Season four of Four Senses will air on AMI-tv in January, 2017.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Four Senses nails winning recipe in Season 3

Carl Heinrich and Christine Ha are cooking up good stuff on Four Senses. Heinrich, the Season 2 winner of Top Chef Canada, and Ha, who took the Season 3 title in MasterChef, are back for Season 3 of AMI-tv’s culinary series sharing recipes with each other and celebrities while traipsing the country meeting with the folks that put food on our tables.

The two chefs—and the Four Senses crew—have hit a real groove in Season 3, returning Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The most obvious thing I noticed during a set visit last fall was the confidence the two have in the TV process. Gone are the jitters I saw in the first season, replaced with an understanding of what Four Senses is, and their roles in it. Yes, the program features embedded description for those who are blind or partially sighted and closed captioning for those with hearing loss, but at its heart Four Senses is a cooking show—and a darned entertaining one.

“Christine has had a lot of experience with very big productions,” says executive producer Anne Marie Varner. “This is a little more relaxed and she gets to hone her skills in terms of describing what she’s doing in the kitchen. She’s been very good at being able to point out to our guests and Carl what the challenges are when you’re blind or visually impaired in the kitchen. Carl has really grown in his confidence working in TV and it shows in his performance. You’re seeing a completely different person.”

Celebrity guests in the kitchen include Thursday’s visitor, Chef Corbin Tomaszeski, followed in the coming weeks by CHFI’s Erin Davis, French Chef at Home‘s Laura Calder, Chatelaine‘s Claire Tansey and BreakfastTelevision Toronto’s Frank Ferragine. As for the locations Heinrich and Ha will be visiting, Prince Edward Island, rural Ontario and Kelowna, B.C., beckon for features on lobsters and oysters, butter tarts and goat milk. Varner notes Four Senses is a national program, and she wanted their location segments to reflect that. A Season 3 addition that helped elevate Four Senses is new director Arlene Hazzan Green; the Emmy and Genie award winner is pushing the cooking process to the back burner in favour of stirring the pot through conversation about cooking and accessibility.

“We needed more conversation. ‘Who are you and why are you interested in this?'” Varner says. “She’s really focusing on the performance and learning about the twist that makes Four Senses unique.”

Four Senses airs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on AMI-tv.

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