Tag Archives: Great Pacific Media

Thunderbird Entertainment’s Great Pacific Media announces production is underway on new lifestyle series Gut Job starring Sebastian Clovis

From a media release:

Great Pacific Media (GPM), the unscripted division of Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TSXV: TBRD, OTCQX: THBRF), in partnership with Corus Studios, is pleased to announce principal photography has started on HGTV Canada’s Gut Job in Toronto.

Gut Job (8×60) will see the return of fan-favourite Canadian contractor Sebastian Clovis from the popular lifestyle series $ave My Reno. In the new series, Clovis will guide property owners through the biggest home renovations of their lives. Gut Job will air on HGTV Canada in 2022, and casting is underway in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Gut Job was born from Clovis’ years of coaching homeowners through all types of housing and renovation issues. Through this new series, Clovis will use his experience and skills to guide overwhelmed homeowners through the gut-wrenching gauntlet of surprises and decisions that come with renovations. Viewers will have a front row seat watching Clovis help homeowners gut, design, build and beautify problematic properties into jaw-droppers.

For information on Thunderbird and to subscribe to the Company’s investor list for news updates, go to www.thunderbird.tv. Corus Studios will lead distribution for the series internationally.

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Wapanatahk Media, in partnership with Great Pacific Media, announces development deal with the winners of The Amazing Race Canada, Anthony Johnson and Dr. James Makokis

From a media release:

Wapanatahk Media, founded and led by Indigenous producers Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley Mclean, in partnership with Great Pacific Media, is excited to announce a development deal with Anthony Johnson and Dr. James Makokis, Season 7 winners of The Amazing Race Canada.

The couple made television history as the first Two-Spirit Indigenous couple to win the highly popular CTV Series. After receiving a cash prize of $250,000, Johnson and Makokis invested their winnings into their dream property, Nizhoni Acres. A new series featuring the couple and Nizhoni Acres is now in development, as they welcome some lucky Canadians into their home and take them on transformational journeys.

Wapanatahk Media and Great Pacific Media are already in discussion with multiple broadcasters about the series.

In addition to developing and pitching this new series with Johnson and Makokis, Wapanatahk Media is currently in principal photography on their first series this month, Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet. That series has already been sold and will air on APTN and Cottage Life in 2022.

ABOUT WAPANATAHK MEDIA
Wapanatahk Media, in partnership with Great Pacific Media, develops and produces top-quality unscripted, scripted, digital and animated content for broadcasters and streaming platforms, with a focus on telling original and authentic Indigenous stories and providing training and hiring opportunities for BIPOC employees in the television industry. Wapanatahk Media is co-owned and headed by Indigenous producers Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley Mclean, in partnership with Great Pacific Media.

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Wapanatahk Media launches to focus on original and authentic Indigenous stories

From a media release:

Wapanatahk Media, co-owned and headed by Indigenous producers Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley Mclean, launches today in partnership with Great Pacific Media, the Factual and Scripted Division of Thunderbird Entertainment. Wapanatahk Media’s vision is to create an array of top-quality production content, for broadcasters and streaming platforms that tell original and authentic Indigenous stories. The studio also prioritizes the training and employment of BIPOC peoples in the television industry.

Wapanatahk Media’s first green-lit series, Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet, goes into production in April 2021 and will feature a training program to mentor up-and-coming Indigenous filmmakers. The 9×30 series follows the adventures of Métis veterinarian Dr. Savannah Howse-Smith as she keeps rural Alberta’s pet and animal population healthy and thriving, all while learning more about her recently confirmed Métis bloodline. The series will employ Indigenous production staff in Vancouver and Alberta, and sponsor apprenticeships throughout the summer of 2021. The series is scheduled to air on APTN and Cottage Life in 2022.

Tania Koenig-Gauchier is a Métis (Cree) television producer whose family originates from Northern Alberta. She has more than 20 years of experience in broadcasting and independent production. She has worked as a producer for CTV, APTN and CBC, and has a background in business management, marketing and promotions for television. Tania is very excited to be partnered with Great Pacific Media (Thunderbird Entertainment), as they mentor her in the development and licencing of content for mainstream broadcasters and streaming platforms. Tania’s passions are creating opportunities for emerging Indigenous talent and in telling authentic Indigenous stories. Most recently, she spent five years in the position of manager of programming (western region) at APTN.

Shirley Mclean is a talented and respected storyteller, who has strong links to the creative communities of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, crew and producers. She is of Tlingit and Tagish descent from the Dakl’aweidi Killer Whale clan and is a member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in the Yukon. Her extensive history in broadcasting spans two decades. Currently, she is working on various productions at Great Pacific Media as a series producer, director, story editor and story producer. Prior to this, she spent eight years with APTN as a national reporter/producer in their Whitehorse bureau. Throughout her career, she has worked as a story producer, director and reporter for Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon, CBC North, and the national news magazine series called First Story for CTV in Vancouver.

ABOUT WAPANATAHK MEDIA
Wapanatahk Media develops and produces top-quality unscripted, scripted, digital and animated content for broadcasters and streaming platforms, with a focus on telling original and authentic Indigenous stories and providing training and hiring opportunities for BIPOC employees in the television industry. Wapanatahk Media is co-owned and headed by Indigenous producers Tania Koenig-Gauchier and Shirley Mclean.

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Production underway on Thunderbird’s Mud Mountain, a second spin-off from the hit Highway Thru Hell franchise

From a media release:

Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TSXV: TBRD) (OTC: THBRF) (Thunderbird or the Company) announced today that production is currently underway on  the new original factual series, a second spin-off of the global hit Highway Thru Hell franchise. Bell Media’s Discovery has ordered eight one-hour episodes of Mud Mountain (working title).

Mud Mountain (wt) is set in the high mountains of British Columbia, just down the road from the Highway Thru Hell, where giant logs and bigger pay days beckon men to take huge risks. And no one is willing to go deeper in the mud than the Lebeau brothers, Craig and Brent, who are third generation family loggers, with very different styles, and separate operations. Now, wicked weather, and an even more frigid economy, has forced the brothers to bury the hatchet, and work together to survive road building, logging and brotherhood on the steepest, muddiest mountains anywhere.

Thunderbird has implemented strict health and safety cultures on all of its shows, which has enabled the Company to remain fully operational throughout COVID-19. These protocols and measures were key to the safe development and production of the new Mud Mountain series.

Mud Mountain will be distributed around the world by Bell Media.

The series is produced by Great Pacific Media, Thunderbird’s factual division, and Bell Media Studios. Executive Producer is Mark Miller. The Series Producer is Jeff Kinnon.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Preview: Cut-off Canadian communities rely on High Arctic Haulers

I’ve made no bones about the fact I love to watch documentary series about folks doing unique jobs in the most inhospitable of climates. Great Pacific Television produces some of the best, including Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue: 401.

Now Great Pacific Television is back with a new series called High Arctic Haulers. Debuting Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC, the seven-episode adventure heads north, way north, to spotlight the people who bring goods to Canadians via ship. How far north are these communities? So far that food and the necessities of life come once a year. It’s imperative the ships and their cargo get through in the short summer months.

Filmed in Nunavut, High Arctic Haulers kicks off in the ice-choked Ungava Bay, where the Sedna Desgagnés is trapped. Surrounded by icebergs and growlers, Captain Michel Duplain and his first mate, Simon Charest, attempt to shake free of the ice.

Meanwhile, over on the Taïga Desgagnés, Captain Olivier Nault is having issues of his own. Steaming through the Foxe Basin north of Hudson Bay, shallow water, high winds and unpredictable conditions could spell disaster. Awaiting the Taïga is the community of Hall Beach, population 748. Built in 1957 as a military base to detect Soviet Union bombers at the height of the Cold War, the community is relying on the Taïga to deliver critical items like septic tanks, plumbing, housing materials, vehicles, clothing and food. But with screaming winds coming across the bow, it may be too dangerous to use the crane to offload items to the ship’s tug boat and barges.

Next up for the Taïga is the town of Igloolik, where citizens converge to gather supplies and send items south. Among them are sculptures by Bart Hannah, destined for spots in art galleries in Ontario.

The secret to the success—and why I watch—series like High Arctic Haulers is the focus on what the ships and their crews mean to the communities they serve. I learned more about Nunavut from one episode of High Arctic Haulers than I ever have in a Canadian history class. I look forward to learning more.

High Arctic Haulers airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Image courtesy of CBC.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail