Tag Archives: Chris Locke

Baroness von Sketch Show, Industry News, Kim's Convenience, Run the Burbs, Second Jen

Casting announced for CBC’s new original comedy Run the Burbs

From a media release:

With production underway in and around Toronto and Hamilton, CBC and Pier 21 Films are confirming casting for new, original comedy series RUN THE BURBS, from award-winning comedian, writer, and actor Andrew Phung and his best friend and collaborator filmmaker Scott Townend (The Secret Marathon).

Premiering on CBC and CBC Gem in Winter 2022, Phung executive produces, writes, and stars in the series as a stay-at-home dad – Andrew Pham – living and loving with his entrepreneurial, executive wife and two kids. The Phams are a young, bold Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest, while changing the way we think about contemporary family values and life in the burbs.

Joining Phung on screen forming the balance of the Pham family are actor and comedian Rakhee Morzaria (Note to Self, Private Eyes) playing Andrew’s wife Camille Pham; and rising young stars Zoriah Wong (Nancy Drew) and Roman Pesino (Odd Squad) as their children Khia and Leo Pham. The Pham fam are joined in the burbs by a cast of friends, family, and neighbours played by an illustrious roster of Canadian talent including Ali Hassan (CBC’s Laugh Out Loud) as Camille’s father Ramesh, YouTube sensation Julie Nolke (Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self) as Camille’s best friend Sam, Jonathan Langdon (Utopia Falls) as next door neighbour Hudson, Simone Miller (Detention Adventure) as Hudson’s daughter Mannix, Samantha Wan (Second Jen) as local bubble tea café owner Cathy, Candy Palmater (The Candy Show) as neighbour Candy, comedian Chris Locke (Workin’ Moms, Mr. D) as neighbour Sebastian, and Baroness von Sketch Show’s Aurora Browne as neighbourhood permit assassin Barb.

“We set out to make a show that goes big. To showcase a family that truly supports one another while going all out every week. It’s a bit of a throwback to classic family sitcoms in the burbs, but with a family that you’ve never seen reflected on television before,” comments Townend.

“We are so hyped and proud of this incredible group of performers that have joined us on this journey. We are introducing Canada to some amazingly talented new faces they may not have met before – including the amazing Rakhee Morzaria – alongside comedy rockstars like Ali Hassan, Aurora Brown, and Candy Palmater – they are all going to blow audiences away and take on the burbs like no one has before. We’re honoured to have this opportunity and it’s been our absolute pleasure working with CBC, Pier 21 Films, and Endeavor Content as we bring Run the Burbs to life,” adds Phung.

Pier 21 Films Executive Producer Laszlo Barna adds, “We are so fortunate to be working with such a talented cast led by our star and co-creator Andrew Phung. We can’t wait for the world to join us in the burbs and meet the Phams and their unforgettable friends and neighbours.”

“We are so excited to watch Andrew’s deeply personal story about family come to life through this remarkable cast and creative team,” said Sally Catto, General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports, CBC. “RUN THE BURBS authentically reflects how Canadians are building new communities in suburbs across the country, and we can’t wait to share it with audiences this winter.”

A CBC original series, RUN THE BURBS is produced by Pier 21 Films. As announced earlier this year, Endeavor Content has picked up the international sales rights. Executive Producers are Laszlo Barna, Nicole Butler and Bill Lundy (for Pier 21 Films), Andrew Phung, Scott Townend, and Aleysa Young. Shebli Zarghami serves as Executive Producer and Showrunner. Jessica Daniel is producer. Co-Executive Producers are Matt Kippen and Wendy Litner. Nelu Handa is Consulting Producer. Season One directors include Aleysa Young, Peter Wellington, Joyce Wong, Melanie Orr, and Justin Wu.

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Featured, Web series

Web series Learning Nature with Chris Locke is balls-out hilarity with an edge

You might, as I did after watching two episodes of Learning Nature with Chris Locke, think it’s a one-note web series. The tale of a pudgy man named Chris who casts the cruel, unfeeling big city away for the embrace of nature … but has no real clue how wild the wild truly is.

But to watch all eight webisodes of Learning Nature with Chris Locke, available on Funny or Die now, is to see a man enamoured with trees, rocks, the sky, birds, worms and water but having no real knowledge of them and left struggling to survive. Locke, a hilarious stand-up comic who has also appeared in episodes of Mr. D, Baroness Von Sketch Show and The Beaverton, teamed with longtime collaborator Derek Horn to create the eight-part opus.

“People watch the first episode and say, ‘I get it, web humour,'” Locke says over the phone. “But stick with it and you will see my butt.” While Horn (who has worked with Locke on such projects as Hello, What? and Kelly 5-9) directed, edited, lit and worried about the budgets for Learning Nature, Locke established the character, a friendly shlub who aims to educate viewers on facts regarding a plethora of things you see in nature.

The first instalment of the iThentic production, “Trees,” features Chris welcoming us into a lush forest for his first-ever documentary. Chris is super-enthusiastic as he hugs a nearby tree he dubs one of “the mighty tall giants of the woods.” He expounds on their multiple uses, including making paper out of them, building log cabins … or creating a wooden sword to practice fighting with. The hilarity and oddness of Learning Nature are in camera angles lingering a little too long, unsure footing and Chris’ meandering patter. He knows a little too little about nature as it turns out, leading to uncomfortable facts about his personal life being revealed. It’s a character Locke has been perfecting for years.

“I’ve been making shorts since 2005 or 2006,” Locke says. “And I’ve always been honing that kind of guy. A dumb, worried, idealistic weirdo. It was always in the back of our minds that if you like our brand this is what it is if we had freedom.” The duo, along with friend/production assistant/spiritual advisor Aaron Eves, spent three full days at Headwaters Farm in Cobourg, Ont., as Locke rumbled around in the brush, his character spouting questionable nature know-how and some core beliefs. It all comes to a head in “Worms,” when an event sends Chris into an emotional spiral. A lot of work went into those three days, production-wise, figuring out logistics and camera angles.

“Visually you look at it and you think, ‘Oh, he’s just being a goof,’ but the technical aspect behind that is huge,” Locke reveals. “And I can’t stress this enough that Derek did it all by himself.” Filming had its challenges and wasn’t restricted to just weather, fauna and foliage. Capturing a key scene at a lake was delayed until the last possible moment thanks to a group of young guys who wandered into Locke’s vicinity.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, are you serious?’ We had waited all day to get this shot,” he says. “They ducked behind a bunch of bushes, probably to smoke something, and as soon as they did I said, ‘Let’s go,’ stripped off all my clothes and jumped into the lake in one take.”

Learning Nature with Chris Locke is available on Funny or Die now.

Images courtesy of iThentic.

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