Tag Archives: Essex County

Links: Essex County

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: TV version of Jeff Lemire’s ‘Essex County’ tells ‘beautiful, emotional, magical stories about ordinary people’
As the TV series “Essex County” begins, a boy in a red cape stands staring at a field of wheat. There’s a vulnerability in the sight of the back of his curly head and exposed neck, but he determinedly straps a black mask over his face, clenches his fists, closes his eyes and rises into the air while a woman in a white dress smiles at him. Continue reading.

From Barry Hertz of The Globe & Mail:

Link: Inside Essex County’s superheroic journey from Canadian comics breakthrough to CBC epic
A young boy stands out in the middle of a field, the crops reaching up to his knees. He’s wearing a slim black mask around his eyes, and a bright red cape is tied around his neck, fluttering in the wind. He takes a breath, concentrates and then smirks as his feet lift off the ground, the opening act of a superhero origin story yet to be fully written. Except that this Smallville-esque moment arrives in the first episode of Essex County, a new limited television series set in rural Ontario that has nothing to do with comic books. Well, almost nothing. Continue reading.

From Joe Belanger of the London Free Press:

Link: Young London teen stars in Essex County TV series
Essex County, based on the graphic novel by Jeff Lemire, stars London’s Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student at St. Michael Catholic elementary school. The show is on CBC at 9 p.m. and can be streamed on CBC Gem. Continue reading.

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TV, Eh? Podcast Episode 254: Production on Murdoch Mysteries spinoff, Run the Burbs and The Hardy Boys

Welcome back to another bi-weekly (ish) chat about the latest news in Canadian TV! First, Greg and Amy go through debuts and returns on the Canadian TV calendar.

Then, we cover the latest Canadian TV news, which includes production beginning on a Murdoch Mysteries spinoff; Season 2 of Run the Burbs; the final season of The Hardy Boys; casting for CBC’s new series, Essex County; and David Suzuki retiring from The Nature of Things. We finish the podcast by getting into the Halloween spirit with Are You Afraid of the Dark?

This podcast brought to you by Candy Corn Cocktails and Pommies Cider.

[Editor’s Note: Greg erroneously said that Anthony Q. Farrell was the showrunner for Diggstown. Anthony Q. Farrell was the showrunner for Overload and the Underwoods, The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker and the upcoming Shelved. He apologizes for the error.]

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Molly Parker, Brian J. Smith, Stephen McHattie, Finlay Wojtak- Hissong and Kevin Durand lead cast of CBC’s Essex County

From a media release:

Molly Parker, Brian J. Smith, Stephen McHattie, Finlay Wojtak- Hissong, and Kevin Durand lead the cast of Essex County (5×60), EP and First Generation Films (FGF) CEO Christina Piovesan announced today. Based on Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel, Essex County is a limited series that follows the intertwining lives of two families living in a rural community. The series explores how loss, betrayal, and trauma can impact generations and how redemption can be found through human connection.

ITV Studios and Media Musketeer Studios will launch the show internationally at MIPCOM. The limited series premieres in Canada on CBC and CBC Gem in Winter 2023.

Sprawling in scope yet intensely intimate, Essex County is written by creator Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth; Black Hammer; Secret Path) and Eilis Kirwan (The Whistleblower; Nurses) and directed by Emmy- winner Andrew Cividino (Schitt’s Creek, Sleeping Giant). Production wrapped on September 30th in North Bay, Ontario.

Despite the appearances of a close-knit community, many of the Essex County residents are isolated and lonely. Eleven-year-old Lester (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) has moved in with his uncle Ken (Brian J. Smith) after the death of his mother. Ken, a stoic farmer, must contend with his own grief and fears while raising Lester, even as Lester looks for a father in Jimmy (Kevin Durand) – a man who can barely take care of himself. Anne (Molly Parker) a nurse and mother who, after a lifetime of caring for others, finds herself at a crossroads when her daughter leaves for university. When Anne takes over the care of her estranged uncle, Lou, (Stephen McHattie) who is suffering from worsening dementia and the ghosts of his past, she begins to unearth family secrets. It is through Lou and Lester that the viewer enters a world of magic realism – Lou’s present begins to merge with his past and he literally haunts his own memories; Lester escapes into his imaginary world as he struggles to overcome his crushing grief.

BIOS/CREDITS
Showrunner/EP/writer Jeff Lemire is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of such graphic novels as Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Underwater Welder, and Mazebook as well as co-creator of Black Hammer, Gideon Falls, Descender, The Bone Orchard, and many others. He has worked extensively for both Marvel and DC Comics and his graphic novels have been translated into dozens of languages, establishing him as one of the most prolific and celebrated comic book creators of his generation. Many of his books are in development including Descender at NBC Universal with Lemire attached as an executive producer. Sweet Tooth has been adapted into a popular Netflix original series produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr., and Essex County is currently in post-production with Lemire writing, show-running, and producing.

EP/Writer Eilis Kirwan is an award-winning writer from Dublin, Ireland, where she began writing plays at University College Dublin. She came to the U.S. as a Fulbright scholar, and received her MFA in Film from Columbia University. Her graduating film, Nostradamus And Me, was a finalist for the Student Academy Awards. Kirwan went on to co-write the award-winning The Whistleblower, starring Rachel Weisz and Vanessa Redgrave, which premiered at TIFF in 2011. Kirwan has written and developed multiple features, pilots, and mini-series in addition to working as a supervising producer and writer on Nurses for Global/NBC.

EP/Director Andrew Cividino is a writer, director, and producer from Toronto. He began his career directing commercials and short films that garnered international recognition after winning prizes at TIFF and Locarno. Cividino’s debut feature, Sleeping Giant, opened the competition at the 2015 edition of Semaine de la Critique in Cannes. The film went on to win more than a dozen awards, including prizes at TIFF, VIFF, Munich, and Mumbai. He was named TIFF’s Artist in Residence and was a frequent director on Schitt’s Creek, for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Direction in 2020.

Molly Parker (Anne) is an Emmy and SAG award-nominated actress and director known for such series as House of Cards, Deadwood, Lost in Space, Dexter, and the soon to be released The Accused. Features include Pieces of a Woman, Jockey, The Center of the World, Kissed, and the soon to be released Peter and Wendy and The Mothership.

Brian J. Smith (Ken) is known for his role as Will Gorski in Netflix’s Sense8; Lt. Matthew Scott in the Syfy series Stargate Universe; and for his Tony Award-nominated turn as Jim O’Connor in the 2013 revival of The Glass Menagerie on Broadway.

Stephen McHattie (Lou) is a prolific Canadian actor who has amassed more than 200 film and television credits including Orphan Black, Emily of New Moon, Cold Squad, Seinfeld, and many more. He won a Genie Award (CSA) for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Rocket and a Gemini Award for Life with Billy.

Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (Lester) began his acting career at the age of eight and is known for The Kindness of Stranges, Blood, Dreamkatcher, and Robin Wright’s feature directorial debut Land.

Kevin Durand (Jimmy) can be seen in Locke & Key, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Resident Evil: Retribution, Ballers, Robin Hood, and Lost. He recently starred in Swamp Thing and it was just announced that Durand has joined the cast of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Commissioned by CBC, and produced in association with ITV Studios and Media Musketeers Studios, Essex County is executive produced by Jeff Lemire, Eilis Kirwan, Christina Piovesan, and Andrew Cividino. Jeff Lemire is the showrunner; the series is written by Jeff Lemire and Eilis Kirwan; Andrew Cividino is the director.

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TV, eh? podcast episode 195 – Purveyor of Nog

With the end of 2015 in sight, Diane, Anthony and Greg remark on the shows ending their seasons over the next few weeks, including the season finales of This Life and The Romeo Section and the series finales of Blackstone and Haven.

We then switch gears to chat about CBC’s latest in-development project, Jeff Lemire’s Essex County, the end of Bitten and the results of the Favourite Canadian TV Shows of 2015 poll. Finally, we discuss the sweeping changes happening over at CHCH, where hundreds were let go and deep programming cuts took place. For more details, read Steve Faguy’s post from Dec. 11.

Want to contribute to the discussion? Post links and discussion topics on our Reddit page.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

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First Generation Films developing Essex County for CBC

From a media release:

First Generation Films (FGF) announced today it has optioned Jeff Lemire’s critically acclaimed and best-selling graphic novel ESSEX COUNTY to adapt into a scripted television series. Writer Aaron Martin has been signed to pen the pilot script and showrun the series currently in development with the CBC.

Based on award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire’s much-loved graphic novel trilogy, published by Top Shelf Productions, this series intricately weaves the genealogy of a family’s origins across generations. The novel is an intimate study of an eccentric community and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation.

Ted Adams, Chris Staros, Jeff Lemire and Aaron Martin will Executive Produce along with Christina Piovesan of First Generation Films.

ESSEX COUNTY has won multiple literary awards including the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Doug Wright Award, and the Joe Shuster Award.

New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire is currently writing Marvel Entertainment’s “The Extraordinary X-Men”, as his original graphic novel series “Descender” is being adapted into a major motion film by Sony Pictures.

Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Martin’s previous credits include CTV’s “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, CBC’s “Being Erica”, CTV’s “Killjoys” and most recently Super Channel’s Slasher”.

Today’s news comes less than three months after FGF announced the launch of the television division.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail