Tag Archives: Blue Ant Media

Link: Michael MacMillan, The Canadian Television Chief Who Brought The ‘CSI’ Franchise To The World, On Doing It All Again With Blue Ant Media

From Jesse Whittock of Deadline:
Link: Michael MacMillan, The Canadian Television Chief Who Brought The ‘CSI’ Franchise To The World, On Doing It All Again With Blue Ant Media
Michael MacMillan retired from the world of television 17 years ago. Except, he didn’t. Continue reading.

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Blue Ant Media announces its latest slate of original Canadian programming

From a media release:

International production studio, rights business and channel operator, Blue Ant Media, kicked off day one of Prime Time by announcing new and returning Canadian series for the company’s specialty TV and international free streaming platforms in 2024.

The slate includes My Haunted Hometown, a new paranormal series filmed across North America; Wild Rose Vets, a spin-off of the original series Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet; and Hope for Wildlife: The Next Generation (w/t), a new season of the hit franchise Hope for Wildlife. Further, Blue Ant Media has ordered two additional episodes of the previously-announced eight-part series Mysteries From Above, Season 3, following the ratings success of the franchise.

Blue Ant’s latest originals slate is overseen by Sam Linton, VP, Production and Development, Global Media and Julie Chang, EVP, Business Strategy & Co-Productions. Blue Ant Studios rights division will handle pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide for all the titles.

The latest original slate comes after the previously announced Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, which is currently casting GTA homeowners in need of a life-changing renovation via makeitright.ca/casting-call/.

Titles across the unscripted originals slate include:

Cottage Life/Love Pets

Wild Rose Vets (13 x 30; HD)
A Blue Ant Media and APTN Co-production
Producer: Wapanatahk Media in partnership with Great Pacific Media

Scheduled to air in spring 2025 on Cottage Life in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview, with a subsequent window on the free streaming channel Love Pets in multiple territories worldwide

A heartwarming and culturally-unique docuseries following the behind-the-scenes adventures of three Indigenous veterinarians in the prairies as they rescue and rehabilitate a wide range of household pets and exotic wildlife. The daily experiences of these young vets in very different clinics could not be more varied but they are each driven and connected by their love of animals. Blue Ant Studios rights division handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide. The series will also broadcast and stream on APTN’s channels and platform in Canada (date TBC).  

Hope for Wildlife: The Next Generation (w/t) (8 x 60′; HD)
Producer: Arcadia Entertainment

World broadcast premiere scheduled to air on Cottage Life in early 2025, with a subsequent window on the free streaming channel Love Pets in multiple territories worldwide

The series takes audiences inside a world-class rehabilitation center in Nova Scotia. Led by the compassionate and trailblazing Hope Swinimer, the show follows her team’s efforts to rescue, treat and release injured and orphaned wildlife. As Hope grows the operation and prepares for her eventual passing of the torch, the series introduces us to a new generation of caregivers, trained to continue her lifelong mission of compassion toward animals. Witness dramatic rescues, miraculous recoveries, and emotional releases in this inspiring journey of hope and healing. Blue Ant Studios rights division handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Cottage Life

Mysteries from Above, Season 3 (10 × 60’; HD)
Producer: Blue Ant Studios

World broadcast premiere is scheduled for spring 2024 on Cottage Life in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview

Previously renewed as an eight-part series, Blue Ant Media has ordered two more episodes of Mysteries from Above, Season 3. The popular series takes to the skies to unlock Earth’s greatest mysteries and dramatically change how we see the world. From the vantage points of drones, satellites and aerial photography, the series explores unique buildings and structures — both natural and man-made, curious creatures and lost ancient civilizations, revealing fascinating insights and never-before-seen footage to the viewers. Mysteries from Above, Season 1 and Season 2 both featured in the top 10 primetime series with total viewers, as well as Cottage Life’s core demographic of adults 25-54 and women 25-54. Blue Ant Studios rights division handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

T+E/HauntTV

My Haunted Hometown (8 x 60′)
Producer: Blue Ant Studios

World broadcast premiere scheduled in October 2024 on T+E during the channel’s nationwide free preview and its Creep Week programming event, with a subsequent window on the free streaming channel HauntTV in multiple territories worldwide

My Haunted Hometown follows the terrifying first-hand accounts of paranormal encounters in haunted small towns across North America. The documentary series reveals how many small towns are home to frightening supernatural activity; vengeful spirits torment residents. Each episode showcases true stories of individuals, families, and friends who built their lives in the community but now feel trapped, haunted and unable to escape. Blue Ant Studios rights division handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Blue Ant Media is a privately held international production studio and rights business and channel operator. The company’s studio creates and distributes a premium slate of programming in all content genres for streaming and broadcasting platforms around the world.

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CBC competition series Best in Miniature returns for Season 3 on December 26

From a media release:

BEST IN MINIATURE (8×60) is back with 10 exceptionally talented miniaturists from Canada and abroad, promising a season of unrivaled creativity and innovation. Season 3 premieres Tuesday, December 26, with all episodes available to stream at 9 am ET on CBC Gem, followed by daily back-to-back episodes on CBC TV beginning Tuesday, December 26 through Friday, December 29 at 8 pm (8:30 NT) and 9 pm (9:30 NT).

This season, the 10 miniaturists will unleash their creative superpowers, crafting petite wonders in 1/12 scale, as time ticks away. In each episode, the judges will decide whose delicate dreams have come to an end, and who’s got what it takes to move forward for the chance to claim a prestigious residency and $10,000. The miniaturists better not get worked up over the minor details because if they survive the chopping block, they’ll score the ultimate prize.

Actor and stand-up comedian Aba Amuquandoh returns as host, alongside judges, UK miniature expert Emma Waddell, and esteemed Canadian interior designer and entrepreneur Micheal Lambie.

Meet the Season 3 competitors vying to be crowned Best in Miniature, including five Canadians:

Shelley Acker from Kentville, Nova Scotia has been making miniatures for almost 25 years and is the owner of Freedom Miniatures, a full-service miniatures and hobbies store. Shelley’s skills in miniatures were showcased as one of two Art Directors on the 2022 multi-award-winning documentary feature film Bernie Langille Wants to Know what Happened to Bernie Langille.

Jen Arnold from Winnipeg, Manitoba is a full-time social worker, who finds her strength in the time she spends building hand-held memories, and considers her art as her own form of self-care. Her work has been featured in The Winnipeg Free Press, Global News Morning Winnipeg, Winnipeg radio station 680 CJOB, CBC Radio Information Morning, as well as in the Lac Du Bonnet and Manitoba Clipper.

Lance Cardinal from Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta is a First Nations 2-Spirit artist, designer and television personality, who has quickly become one of the province’s leading First Nation artists and entrepreneurs. His 30-year journey has allowed him to work with world-class organizations all over Canada, including The Edmonton Oilers, IKEA Edmonton, Kunitz Shoes, Rugby Canada, Unbelts, Telus World of Science, Rogers Place, Fort Edmonton Park, and Re/Max Field.

Tiffany Monk is originally from England and now lives in Sutton, Quebec. Tiffany is a versatile multidisciplinary artist with a background in prop making, sculpting and model making for film. She has worked on a number of diverse film and TV projects in both England and Canada including John Carter, The 100 and a number of independent stop-motion animation films and projects.

Arline Smith is from the UK and now lives in Port Hope, Ontario. She is a many-faceted artist and has spent the past fifty years creating everything from a pea to an elephant. After graduating from Liverpool College of Art, she joined The Royal Shakespeare Company as a costumier and worked alongside Sir Ben Kingsley and Dames Helen Mirren and Judy Dench.

In the lead up to the Season 3 premiere, Miniature enthusiasts can catch up on Seasons 1 & 2 on CBC Gem.

BEST IN MINIATURE is produced by marblemedia, a Blue Ant Media company, in association with CBC. Matt Hornburg, Mark Bishop, Diane Rankin and Donna Luke are executive producers; Erica Lenczner is series producer; the series is created by development producer Kelsey Espensen. 

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Canada’s paranormal investigators visit world-famous haunts in new T+E series, History’s Most Haunted

From a media release:

Chasing the success of T+E’s original two-part documentary, Haunted Gold Rush, exploring ghostly mysteries along British Columbia’s historic Gold Rush Trail, paranormal investigators Corine Carey, Leanne Sallenback and Kelly Ireland return with History’s Most Haunted (6×60’; HD).

The all-new series follows the trio as they travel across North America meeting with real people who recount their intense, terrifying and emotional paranormal experiences. This time, the women are on a mission to unlock a deeper understanding of the hauntings that take place in the world-famous locations they visit including Montreal, Newfoundland, Salem, New Orleans, Charleston and San Antonio. History’s Most Haunted premieres Friday, September 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on T+E during the channel’s nationwide free preview event, running from September 4 to November 5, 2023. New episodes from the series will air every Friday leading into October and T+E’s highly-anticipated ‘Creep Week’ event.

In History’s Most Haunted, Corine, Leanne and Kelly are reaching out and connecting with historical figures, many of whom died through war, criminal sentences, diseases, and natural disasters. Featuring stylized, cinematic dramatizations of eyewitness accounts, coupled with rich context provided by experts, historians and locals, the series shows how paranormal investigations can enrich people’s understanding of history by giving voices to the spirits of those who lived it. Together, the trio will bridge the gap between past and present in a fresh new way.

History’s Most Haunted is produced by Small Army Entertainment. Sean De Vries (The Bachelor Canada, Border Security) and Stephen Sawchuk (Love it or List it Vancouver, Sidney) serve as Executive Producers. The series is directed by Garth Dyke, Michael Bodnarchuk, Sean De Vries and Stephen Sawchuk. Overseen by Sam Linton, VP, Production and Development, Global Media on behalf of Blue Ant Media. Blue Ant International oversees global distribution.

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Blue Ant Media ‘Makes it Right’ with its latest original slate for 2024, featuring Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy

From a media release:

Announced today at Banff World Media Festival, international producer, distributor and channel operator, Blue Ant Media, announced its 2024 original slate for its Canadian specialty TV and global FAST offerings. The slate includes the brand new commission Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, featuring the original home renovation pioneer and TV personality, Mike Holmes, in a reboot of his original franchise, this time joined by his son Michael and daughter Sherry. The series will premiere on Cottage Life in Canada and also air on free streaming channel Homeful globally. Also starring on the slate is the new greenlight A Secret to Die For, commissioned for T+E and Total Crime, and Intervention Canada (Season 6), in partnership with A+E Networks, for Makeful. Rounding out the lineup are the two hit returning series, Haunted Hospitals and Mysteries from Above.

Blue Ant Media’s slate is overseen by Sam Linton, VP, Production and Development, Global Media. Blue Ant International will handle pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide for several of the original series in the slate.

“Our latest slate delivers on Blue Ant Media’s commitment to commission universally relevant and compelling original series for our Canadian speciality TV and global free streaming channels. Our new original series with Mike Holmes is a great example of home reno programming that will resonate with the extensive fanbase Mike has grown over the last 20 years,” says Carlyn Staudt, Head of Commissioning, Global Media, Blue Ant Media. “Banff is the perfect backdrop to announce these new projects, as we take great pride in working with our production partners to bring premium content to global audiences.”

Cottage Life/Homeful
Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy (6×60’; HD)
Producer: The Holmes Group
World broadcast premiere scheduled for Cottage Life in spring 2024 during free preview. Series will also become available on Homeful in the US in 2024

After a lifetime of helping homeowners in need, Mike Holmes still has some unfinished business. Blue Ant’s new highly-anticipated original series will see Mike go back to his roots, alongside his son and daughter Michael and Sherry, to secure his legacy of ‘making it right’ in Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy (6×60’; HD). From renovations gone wrong by crooked or incompetent contractors to worthy homeowners in need of a life changing renovation, each hour-long episode sees the Holmes trio roll up their sleeves and continue the work that cemented Mike as a household name across North America. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Cottage Life
Mysteries from Above, Season 3 (8×60’; HD)
Producer: Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Media company

World broadcast premiere is scheduled for spring 2024 on Cottage Life in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview.

Renewed for a third installment is Cottage Life’s popular original series, Mysteries from Above. The series takes to the skies to unlock Earth’s greatest mysteries and dramatically change how we see the world. From the vantage points of drones, satellites, and aerial photography, the series explores unique buildings and structures — both natural and man-made, curious creatures and lost ancient civilizations, revealing fascinating insights and never-before-seen footage to the viewers. Mysteries from Above, Season 1 was one of spring 2022’s top 10 primetime series with total viewers, as well as Cottage Life’s core demographic of adults 25-54 and women 25-54. Season 2 is currently airing on Cottage Life. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

T+E/HauntTV
Haunted Hospitals, Season 5 (8×60’; HD)
Producer: Sphere Media

World broadcast premiere scheduled for spring 2024 on T+E in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview

Scheduled to air on HauntTV in the US, UK and Australia in 2024

Fan-favourite paranormal series Haunted Hospitals is back for a fifth season, recounting the chilling stories of paranormal activity inside hospitals and medical facilities. In each episode, nurses, health care workers and hospital support staff give first-hand accounts of the supernatural encounters. As these personal testimonies unfold, the mysteries behind the troubled souls and hauntings reveal a terrifying reckoning. Season 5 of Haunted Hospitals follows the success from Season 4, which ranked as one of fall 2022’s top 10 primetime series on T+E and outpaced the primetime average with total viewers. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities (for Season 5) worldwide.

T+E/Total Crime
A Secret to Die For (10×60’; HD)
Producer: Blue Ant Studios

World broadcast premiere scheduled for fall 2024 on T+E in Canada

Scheduled to rollout on Total Crime in the US at a later date

The series investigates how a person’s secret life can end up costing them their own. A Secret to Die For peels back the layers of the victim’s seemingly happy life to reveal new, dark secrets that family and friends would never have believed. As the missing pieces of the victim’s life come together, new interviewees offer an entirely fresh perspective, concluding with the dramatic revelation of a secret explaining why the victim was killed and identifying the murderer. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Makeful
Intervention Canada, Season 6
Producers: Open Door Co./Insight Productions

Canadian broadcast premiere scheduled for winter 2024 on Makeful in Canada

Blue Ant Media has partnered with A+E Networks to greenlight the sixth season of Intervention Canada, a one-hour documentary series from Open Door Co. and Insight Productions. Based on the critically acclaimed A&E Network series, Intervention, the Canadian format provides an unflinching glimpse at addiction from all sides – including the addict as well as the dreadful toll the addiction takes on their families and friends. Each episode culminates in a dramatic intervention led by a prominent interventionist in which the addicts featured must decide whether or not to accept an offer for a clear path to recovery in one of Canada’s top addiction treatment facilities.

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