From You’ve Been Hooked:
Link: 5×5 With The Hook: Hugh Dillon
“The writing on that show was so good it transcended language barriers/cultural differences and has stood the test of time. And it is amazing how we can drop all the walls we put up when we recognize the truth and beauty in the stories. Sometimes it’s a song a show or even a sport that provides that moment of connection, and life is good and you’re in the moment and you’re connected; can’t beat it!” Continue reading.Â
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
Women Behind Canadian TV: Stephanie Morgenstern
“We don’t set out with a quota, it just in a very basic and fundamental way feels wrong if there aren’t a lot of females in the company. It just makes no sense. As a creative person, it’s a no-brainer to me that the ideal writing room has a balance between men and women. As an employer–that’s a hat that’s still pretty new to me–I’m seeing this isn’t so simple. The reality that keeps colliding with the ideal is that the available talent pool is rarely a 50-50 split. Same goes for lots of behind the scenes jobs as well, like directing. So what do you do when about five times more résumés or scripts come from men than from women?” Continue reading.
It’s a story that has never been told on the small—or any—screen before. The dramatic scripted tale of the role Canada played during the Second World War by training spies in Southern Ontario for missions behind German lines. That history is re-told in X Company, debuting Wednesday on CBC.
“This is an idea that we had 14 years ago, and we couldn’t believe it hadn’t been told,” co-creator Mark Ellis recalls. “And whenever we would tell the story to other people, they couldn’t believe it either.” Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern—who co-created a little drama called Flashpoint—now get their chance.
Starring Jack Laskey (Endeavour), Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black), Dustin Milligan (90210), Connor Price (Being Human), Warren Brown (Luther) and Flashpoint alum Hugh Dillon, X Company spotlights Camp X, the secret base located east of Toronto where the British and Canadian governments trained spies on surveillance, burglary, interrogation, close combat and killing.
Inspired by real-life tales, Wednesday’s debut begins in 1942, with the Germans in control of Europe. Viewers are introduced to Alfred Graves (Laskey), a Brit with an intriguing medical condition: synesthesia, which has fused all five of his senses together. The result? A man bombarded by his senses all of the time … and the perfect spy because he has nearly perfect memory. Along for the ride are the rest of the team in Aurora Luft (Brochu), a half German/half-French Canadian woman; Harry James (Price), a munitions expert; Neil Mackay (Brown); and propaganda expert Tom Cummings (Milligan) who are under the watchful eye of Duncan Sinclair (Dillon), their commander.
“This is an angle we haven’t seen before,” Morgenstern says. “We’ve seen the epic battlegrounds, but this is about ordinary people who didn’t have a life vocation to save the world but each has a very special skill.”
Ellis describes it as a coming-of-age story about Alfred, a man discovering who he is and, ultimately, a hero. Wednesday’s bow is full of drama and gorgeous cinematography. Sinclair’s squad is dispatched to small-town France to not only assassinate German commanders but destroy a bridge, cutting off an important artery in the Nazi transport route. There is tension, violence, fear and jubilation packed into the tightly-wound, highly entertaining hour.
“We want to pay homage to the truth of what it was to be behind those enemy lines, what the ethical choices were and the shades of grey that you had to live in,” Ellis says.
The long-awaited story starts tonight.
X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
Credit Flashpoint with re-energizing Amy Jo Johnson. The American actress–she’s currently working on getting her Canadian citizenship–had moved to Montreal and was giving up on acting for good. Then her agent called with an audition that changed and made her fall in love with acting again.
CTV’s Flashpoint ran for five seasons, garnering critical and fan acclaim and turning Johnson, Hugh Dillon, Michael Cram, Enrico Colantoni, David Paetkau and Sergio Di Zio into household names. Johnson says the experiences on Flashpoint gave her the confidence and education to head down the path she’s currently on, writing and directing her own projects. The latest, The Space Between, stars Cram and Sonya Salomaa as Mitch and Jackie, a couple who are desperately trying to get pregnant with no success. The movie recently launched an Indiegogo campaign to amass funding in advance of a spring 2015 shoot.
Before we talk about The Space Between and what’s coming up for you, let’s go back in time to Flashpoint.
Amy Jo Johnson: OK, I like going back to that.
Flashpoint was a multiple award-winning drama that really ushered in a new group of great dramas in this country. What was it like to be a part of that while it was happening?
It was amazing. I had actually just sort of quit acting before I got the show. I had moved my life to Montreal and was trying to decompress and sort of switch gears. And then I got a call for an audition for Flashpoint the same moment I learned that I was pregnant. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll go if they know I’m pregnant.’ And they were like, ‘Yup, we love her, we want her on the show.’ I came to Toronto to shoot and I got a look at the original pilot and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I just hit the jackpot. This is an amazing show.’ I fell back in love with acting again. Those five years were just amazing. I sort of found my confidence and found my new home as well. I love Toronto.
When you say you regained your confidence … does that mean you had lost it?
I think so. I was turning 35, I was living in L.A., I was single, I was starting to panic about not having a family and children yet. I found the environment in L.A. … that I was constantly comparing myself to the people around me and it was destroying me. I needed to get out of that. I thought that I didn’t like acting. I thought that I was quitting acting, but I was just letting go of that part of my life.
I constantly hear from actors and actresses about the grind that pilot season is. Now it’s a year long thing and it must be a grind.
I can’t stand it. I’m driving my agents nuts right now because I’m so focused on The Space Between. I had an audition for Suits today. Who wouldn’t go in for an audition for Suits? Guess what? This girl is not going in. [Laughs.]
Why not audition?
Right now it’s because it’s taking every second I have to get The Space Between off the ground while balancing being a mom and having the time for that. And then also, honestly, I think I’m in a transition period in my life too. Getting older, the heartache that you go through getting yourself ready, putting yourself out there that way is so draining. In your 20s it’s fine and it’s fun, but now … [Laughs.]
Well, if you’re in control of your own stuff, writing and acting in projects that you’ve created…
Exactly. That’s fun and amazing. I did Covert Affairs earlier this summer and that was really fun. They offered me the part and it was so amazing of them to do that. That was a little blessing.
Was it hard to shake off the character of Jules Callaghan after playing her for five seasons?
No, it wasn’t hard. I miss wearing the tactical uniform!
Working with the show’s creators, Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis, was kind of your eduction for what you’re doing now.
I certainly found it incredibly inspiring. They made this fantastic show and they were actors before and started writing and now they’re doing their second show. They were very, very inspiring.
OK, let’s shift gears to The Space Between. You’ve already written and directed shorts … how did the idea for this one come about?
The first short I did was called Bent and that was about lifelong friends and there was a part in Bent where this pregnant woman confessed during the story that she had slept with somebody else and the baby wasn’t her husband’s. That’s where I got the idea and the characters in The Space Between are based off of Jackie and Mitch from Bent, but it’s a different story because it’s a departure. In The Space Between they’re trying to get pregnant and can’t because of infertility on Mitch’s part. She goes and gets pregnant with somebody else who happens to be a red-headed university kid. She does this behind Mitch’s back and the beginning of the movie is him finding out the baby is not his. It’s a comedy.
Let’s talk about the Indiegogo campaign for The Space Between. How important is it for a budding writer and director like yourself to have a community that helps you create your own projects?
For me, it’s the only way at this point to create this new career for myself. It gives the film a life and a following even before it’s been made, which is such a gift. It’s nice to have the supporters, the people who have followed my career through the years, come on this journey with me as well. Through the campaign there are ways for people to become part of the film and be a part of the process. I like creating a community around the movie before it’s even made.
Is your goal to ultimately use these smaller, community funded projects as a stepping stone to bigger things?
It’s definitely a stepping stone for so many reasons. It’s proving to me that I can do this and it’s giving me practice. I have a script called Crazier Than You which is really may baby and the one that I’ll do maybe after The Space Between, but it’s the one that I wrote about my mother’s life and I can’t wait to make that film. But I want that to be a $5 million budget. So, we’re going to make my first feature and prove that I can direct and make a good little film with a much smaller budget.
Check out Johnson’s Indiegogo campaign for The Space Between and make a donation.
(photos by Derek Langer)
I spent last Sunday night in the press room at the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards. It was quite the night for Canada. The Sony Centre in downtown Toronto was at capacity with Canadian celebs, writers, directors and producers. The two hour broadcast aired on CBC in staggered time slots across the country, with a half hour of red carpet hosted by Shaun Majumder.
This was followed by an hour and a half of Martin Short singing show tunes and cracking one-liners. Oh yeah, I think we gave away a few awards in there too.
The biggest question surrounding the event has perhaps been what to nickname the actual award. While some felt that a nickname would present itself as Canadians talked over the event, others believed a nickname should be chosen and presented to the media as the “official nickname” of the awards. Twitter was ablaze with suggestions and theories over what the nickname should be. When I asked the winners and presenters I heard everything from the obvious “Screenie” to the more imaginative “Candy,” “Geminini,” “Ceesah,” “Huggy,” and “Awardy.” It’s safe to say that by the fifth broadcast one nickname will have broken ahead of the pack.
This was the first year that the film-based Genies and the TV-based Geminis merged into one meta-broadcast. While the ratings were up from last year’s Geminis by over 75%, there was some question about whether the separate ceremonies should have been combined at all.
With two industry galas preceding the main event, a plethora of the awards were given out earlier in the week, saving some of the audience favorites for the televised broadcast on Sunday night. While the members of the Academy worked hard to pare down the categories into a manageable amount, they didn’t quite cover everything. Writer/director Sarah Polley requested categories for crew contributors at next year’s event.
On the subject of combining the two awards shows, Kevin O’Leary (Dragon’s Den) was all for it. He agreed that combining film and tv was the smartest thing to do, creating a wider audience, building ratings and  inspiring a higher level of awareness for Canadian productions.  Spoken like a true Dragon.
A show this big doesn’t happen without its fair share of controversy. This year’s malcontent came courtesy of several decisions that surprised the audience and ruffled a few feathers. The hot-button issue was CBC’s choice to stagger the broadcasts across different timezones. While this is a classic fight between coasts, staggering this event handcuffed media to one of two realities: hold off on live tweets, announcing the winners, and posting photos until the last broadcast was airing, or spoil the results for those further west. I didn’t see anyone doing the former, especially since audience members were offering digital congratulations during the awards.
Another piece of controversy arose when the award for Best Comedy Series was given in the off-air pre-show. Taken by Less Than Kind, the award was given out to an almost empty theatre, while the attendees snagged one last cocktail before the live broadcast. A compromise was made when a pre-taped segment of the Less Than Kind winners on stage was spliced into the broadcast (the same with Brian Williams who won for Best Sports Host).
LTKÂ showrunner Mark McKinney had positive words down in the press room. “I don’t hold it against the Academy, as they’ve done a lot of things right and done their job for year one. But next year, they won’t get away with the same thing.”
Despite the controversy, attendees of the awards were in high spirits. The red carpet was bustling with celebs and a wild scrum of photographers before the event. The post-show cocktail party was so popular that it continued until staff from the Sony Centre hustled everybody out to the after-party several blocks away.
The audience engaged with Martin Short, and the spirit of camaraderie was evident in the theatre as well as the press room where not only winners appeared, but nominees and attendees also showed up to hobnob with the media vultures and test out the press room food.
Martin Short proved not only to be a nominee and talented comedian but a true entertainer as well, when he busted out a song I’ve dubbed “Marty’s Night” about his chances at winning an award. When he lost in both categories, he kept his good humour, maintaining that his “rock bottom is everyone else’s dream.” Short wasn’t afraid to press a few buttons, poking fun at Cheryl Hickey’s pregnant “ice cream” belly, and critiquing the Housewives’ collective intelligence level. He also brought back some beloved characters from the past.
Jiminy Glick (The Martin Short Show) joined Majumder during the red carpet broadcast, embodying Joan Rivers and bringing life to the pre-show. Some of the major presenters during the awards included Catherine O’Hara (SCTV), Adam Beach (Arctic Air), Kristin Lehman (Motive), Allan Hawco (Republic of Doyle), Allan Thicke (Growing Pains), Sarah Canning (Primeval: New World), Rick Mercer (Rick Mercer Report), Meg Tilley (Bomb Girls), Jody, Ronnie and Mary (The Real Housewives of Vancouver), Gerry Dee (Mr. D), Enrico Colantoni (Flashpoint) and many more.
The last award of the night was given out for Best Dramatic TV Series. Unsurprisingly the final award went to the team from Flashpoint, making them the big winners. This was undeniably a big honor after wrapping their fifth and final season by their own choosing. The series finale aired in December last year.
Flashpoint also took home awards for acting, writing, and the team was honoured for their achievements in television at the industry gala on Thursday night.
The Five Best Things About the Canadian Screen Awards:
The Top Five “Opportunities” for Improving the Canadian Screen Awards:
And just for good measure, here’s my buddy Strombo looking steeped (yep, I’m bringing it back!):
What were your favorite moments? What would you change?Â
