Tag Archives: CBC

How to Fail as a Popstar, Industry News

Vivek Shraya’s How to Fail as a Popstar moves from stage to page to screen, with production underway on adaptation from Sphere Media and CBC

From a media release:

CBC and Sphere Media announced today that production is underway on How to Fail as a Popstar, a CBC Gem original series based on award-winning artist, author, and musician Vivek Shraya’s debut theatrical work of the same name, a one-person performance reflecting on the power of pop culture, dreams, disappointments, and self-determination. The series stars Shraya, Adrian Pavone (Star Trek: Discovery, Grand Army), and Chris D’Silva (Slumberland, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Vivek at various stages of life. Written by Shraya, the comedy series is directed by Vanessa Matsui (Midnight at the Paradise, Ghost BFF) with Shraya co-directing one episode, with filming to continue in Toronto for three weeks. The series will premiere on CBC Gem later in 2023.

How To Fail as a Popstar is a coming-of-age, eight-episode limited series about a queer brown boy with a huge voice doing everything he can to become a Popstar – as told by the queer trans femme that boy becomes, looking back on how and why that dream was never realized.

The cast includes Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves (Sort Of, Y: The Last Man, Star Trek: Discovery), Nadine Bhabha (Letterkenny, This Hour Has 22 Minutes,Terror Train), Arwen Humphreys (Murdoch Mysteries, Run the Burbs), Eric Johnson (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, American Gods, Vikings), Vanessa Matsui (Ghost BFF, Letterkenny, Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments), and introducing ​​Aayushma Sapkota in her first role.

Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. Her album Part-Time Woman was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize, her music was featured on the acclaimed CBC and HBO Max show Sort Of, and her best-selling book I’m Afraid of Men was heralded by Vanity Fair as “cultural rocket fuel.” She is also the founder of the award-winning publishing imprint VS. Books, which supports emerging BIPOC writers.

The stage play How to Fail as a Popstar was written and created by Vivek Shraya and directed by Brendan Healy. The original production was commissioned and produced by Canadian Stage, Toronto, Ontario.

How to Fail as a Popstar is produced by Sphere Media with the financial participation of the TELUS Fund, the Bell Fund, and the Shaw Rocket Fund. In June 2020, the project was selected as one of the recipients of development support from the CBC Creative Relief Fund, a fund created by CBC to provide immediate support to Canadian creators at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Created by Vivek Shraya, executive producers are Bruno Dubé, Jennifer Kawaja, Elise Cousineau, Caroline Habib, Laura Perlmutter, Vivek Shraya, and Vanessa Matsui.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Documentary Doug and the Slugs & Me is a filmmaker’s love letter to her childhood

Growing up in the 1980s, I heard a lot of Doug and the Slugs music.

The group’s music videos for tunes like “Too Bad,” “Making It Work,” “Tomcat Prowl” and “Day by Day” were MuchMusic staples. Heck, I have “Day by Day” as part of my most-played songs on my iPhone. But, aside from knowing they were from Vancouver and created some wild videos, Doug and the Slugs has been a bit of a mystery to me.

Until now.

Debuting Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC, Doug and the Slugs & Me follows filmmaker Teresa Alfeld as she explores the story of Doug Bennett. And while he led one of the most iconic 80s bands in Canada, Alfeld only knew him—during her childhood—as the cool dad of her best friend next door in East Vancouver.

Unlike most music documentaries that simply trace the birth and growth of a band, Doug and the Slugs & Me adds Alfeld’s personal journey, including chats with her mother, to round out Bennett and the band’s story. That, along with interviews with the Slugs, Bob Geldof (who worked with Bennett before Doug and the Slugs formed), Bif Naked, Steven Page, Ron Sexsmith, Michael Williams, Denise Donlon (who was the band’s publicist!) and Terry David Mulligan—and treasured home video—paint a wonderfully moving picture not only of Bennett but capture a slice of Canadiana well worth checking out.

Doug and the Slugs & Me airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Image courtesy of Hans Sipma.

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Run the Burbs

Links: Run the Burbs, Season 2

From Aisling Murphy of the Toronto Star:

Link: ‘We laugh a lot on set’: Andrew Phung and Rakhee Morzaria on running the ’burbs for a second season
“One thing we noticed right away was that our audience was much younger, was often families and often families of colour. That’s something I’m really proud of. In order for us to make those changes in our media landscape, we have to engage audiences who haven’t always been engaged by mainstream broadcasters.” Continue reading.

From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Link: What about Bob? Albertans Andrew Phung and Gavin Crawford face off in Season 2 of Run the Burbs
In the three years that Andrew Phung worked at Calgary’s Village Square Leisure Centre co-ordinating youth programs, he got a good look at bureaucracy. Continue reading.

From Courtney Shea of Toronto Life:

Link: “King Street nightlife is fun, but then you turn 30 and just want to be in bed by 11”: A Q&A with Run the Burbs creator Andrew Phung
“If Full House was about the Tanners, you could say Run the Burbs is about their neighbours—the people whose stories never got told. But our show is unique in other ways: a lot of family comedies are about bickering, whereas my show is about two adults who love their kids. It’s funny that such a basic premise feels fresh.” Continue reading.

From Noel Ransome of The Canadian Press:

Link: ‘Run the Burbs’ has a new showrunner and renewed focus on authenticity for Season 2
Newly minted “Run the Burbs” showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell firmly believes that authenticity is a central part of diverse storytelling — from the script to diverging perspectives on set that express what is real versus “what doesn’t feel true.” Continue reading.

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Son of a Critch

Links: Son of a Critch, Season 2

From Noel Ransome of The Canadian Press:

Link: From being bullied to falling in love, Mark Critch mines the past for ‘Son of a Critch’ S2
When Mark Critch stepson the set of “Son of a Critch,” wearing his dad’s signature aviator frames and a 1980s-styled fully buttoned suit and tie, it’s a chance for the 48-year-old actor to reminisce about his upbringing. Continue reading.

From Sheldon MacLeod of Saltwire:

Link: Mark Critch: A love letter to his parents
What started out as a memoir of his time growing up under the transmitter tower of VOCM is now into a second season as a television series. Continue reading.

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