Tag Archives: Hollywood Suite

Slasher: Flesh & Blood in production for Shudder and Hollywood Suite

From a media release:

Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, announced today that it has teamed up with award-winning production company Shaftesbury to make a new eight-episode installment of the hugely popular horror series, Slasher. Hailed by Bloody Disgusting as “top-notch horror storytelling”, Slasher: Flesh & Blood will stream exclusively on horror platform Shudder in the US, Australia and New Zealand in 2021. Shudder will also be the streaming home for Flesh & Blood in Canada, the UK and Ireland following its linear premieres in those countries. The series will be broadcast exclusively on Hollywood Suite in Canada. Production is underway now in Ontario, Canada.

Slasher: Flesh & Blood follows a wealthy but dysfunctional family gathering for a reunion on a secluded island. Their old wounds and competitive rivalries flare up when the family realizes a masked killer is on the island, intent on cruelly picking them off one by one. As with the past installments of the series, Slasher: Flesh & Blood will combine elements of traditional murder mystery with the intense horror and bold kills that audiences have come to expect.

Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg has joined the cast for the new season, which will also continue Slasher’s trend of bringing back cast members in new roles. Returning from previous seasons are Paula Brancati, Jefferson Brown, Patrice Goodman, Sabrina Grdevich, and Christopher Jacot. New faces this year include Rachael Crawford (Heartland), Jeananne Goosen (The Walking Dead), Sydney Meyer (Departure), and Alex Ozerov (The Americans).

Slasher is developed and produced by Shaftesbury and created by Aaron Martin. Slasher is executive produced by Aaron Martin, Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, David Ozer, Thomas P. Vitale, and Ian Carpenter, who also serves as showrunner; Adam MacDonald is director.

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Hollywood Suite original A Year in Film salutes key years in cinema

I was seven years old in 1978. The year before, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind had rocked my world, leaving an indelible mark and cementing my love of movie theatres.

But back to 1978, when films like Days of Heaven, Dawn of the Dead, The Deer Hunter and Saturday Night Fever came out. I was too young to watch any of them then—but since have, many ironically on Hollywood Suite—but they left equally important marks on those who saw them in a darkened cinema. Now, thanks to Hollywood Suite—and its first-ever original series—the movies of that year are celebrated.

A Year in Film: 1978, debuting Friday at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite 70s—all of the Hollywood Suite channels are in a free preview this month—explores those movies while also giving background into what was happening in the world at that time. In 1978, there was a lot, including three popes, serial killer culture and the height of disco.

There to help explain society, and cinema in 1978, are Hollywood Suite film and content specialist Cameron Maitland, Drunken Cinema’s Serena Whitney, author and film critic Geoff Pevere, Brendan Ross and film curator and historian Alicia Fletcher. They break down why a movie like Grease existed in the first place, the height of John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It’s Friday. They also analyze how The Deer Hunter and Coming Home explored the impact of the Vietnam War, how groundbreaking Halloween and Girlfriends really were and how Canadian tax shelters led to The Silent Partner, starring Christopher Plummer, being made.

Each half-hour episode is informative and educational, and really helped me understand why these films were made in the first place, and how they influenced those to come.

Future instalments include A Year in Film: 1978 with Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, The Big Chill, Videodrome and The Dead Zone; A Year in Film: 1992 with El Mariachi, Reservoir Dogs, Malcolm X and Wayne’s World; and A Year in Film: 2007 featuring There Will Be Blood, Zodiac, No Country For Old Men, Juno and Away From Her.

A Year in Film: 1978 airs Friday at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite 70s Movies. A Year in Film: 1983 debuts Friday, Dec. 15 at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite 80s Movies. A Year in Film: 1992 debuts Friday, Dec. 22 at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite 90s Movies. A Year in Film: 2007 debuts Friday, Dec. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite 00s Movies.

Image courtesy of Hollywood Suite.

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Hollywood Suite mourns the death of founder Jay Switzer

From a media release:

Canadian media industry legend and Hollywood Suite co-founder, Jay Switzer, died peacefully in Toronto on January 29, 2018 with his family at his side, after a too short, but courageous battle with brain cancer.

Jay was beloved and respected in both his business and personal life, and a dedicated, loyal, and loving husband, son, son-in-law, brother, and friend to many.

Jay was born to a life in television, raised with his dear sisters by two loving parents, both of whom were legends in the Canadian TV industry. Jay’s first introduction to the business came when his mother Phyllis asked her 13-year-old son to attend a CRTC hearing in Trois Rivières and bring back a report for her regulatory newsletter. When Phyllis co-founded Citytv in September 1972, 16-year-old Jay’s first full-time job was on the station’s switchboard. This was followed by regular Saturday nights as floor director assembling the boxing ring with his high school classmates on Citytv’s live “Fight Night” broadcasts. The pay was $1.50 an hour but he got to clean George Chuvalo’s spit cup.

After getting his MBA from the University of Western Ontario, Jay returned to Citytv on a full-time basis as Program Manager, the job that was truest to his calling, and one he never really let go of. His passion for great TV and film was contagious, and led to Citytv, and its offspring MuchMusic, Bravo!, FashionTelevision and many other CHUM channels, expanding across Canada and around the world. Jay rose through the ranks at CHUM over the years, ultimately being appointed CEO in 2002.

In 2010, Jay co-founded Hollywood Suite, where he served on the Board of Directors as Chair of the Canadian independent, privately owned broadcasting company.

Jeff Sackman, Hollywood Suite co-founder and current Chair of the Board of Directors says: “Jay defined friendship, loyalty, fairness, selflessness, and basic human decency. He will be proud to know that these traits have been passed on to so many others who will pay it forward, ensuring that Jay’s legacy is intact and the world will be a better place. Thanks for all you did for me! Love!!”

Catherine Tait, Hollywood Suite co-founder and Director says: “Amongst Jay’s many qualities was his unwavering support to women in an industry which has often turned a blind eye. He tirelessly promoted and encouraged so many of us – and we hold him in our hearts forever, in gratitude.”

David Kines, Hollywood Suite co-founder and President says: “On behalf of the staff, directors and investors of Hollywood Suite, we want to express our most heartfelt condolences to Jay’s wife, Ellen Dubin, and the Switzer family. Jay was a supportive and encouraging leader whose commitment and belief in the mission and people of Hollywood Suite never faltered, despite the many headwinds facing the broadcast business. His certainty in our success will be sorely missed by both myself and the staff and our industry.”

Jay’s quiet contributions and commitment to community and country have been recognized with awards including the Friend of Women in Film and Television (Toronto) Award (1994), the Queen’s Jubilee Medal (2002), and the Human Relations Award (2005) from the Canadian Centre for Diversity. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in December 2017.

Jay is recognized by his peers as a media business and cultural leader, leading major broadcasting entities, mentoring emerging talent—both individuals and organizations—and advancing the quality and success of the Canadian broadcasting sector. As a mentor to countless independent producers and creators of Canadian works for the screen, Jay is celebrated as a champion of independent Canadian feature film and television production having supported more than 200 projects throughout his career.

Jay was an active board member serving organizations including the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Banff Television Festival, the National Association of Television Program Executives, and the Toronto Film Board. He served as Chair of the board of GlassBOX Television from 2009-2011, and most recently served on the boards of: OUTtv; Shaftesbury Films Inc.; and Comweb Corporation. He was also a long-time supporter of Ryerson University, serving on the Advisory Board for the Faculty of Radio and Television Arts since 2012.

Funeral service details will be available here: http://www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca/. A public Celebration of Life will take place in the spring. Details will be announced at a later date.

Donations in Jay’s memory may be made to The Canadian Film Centre (http://bit.ly/CFCSwitzer or call 416-445-1446, x227) or to The Phyllis Switzer Memorial fund at Ryerson University (http://bit.ly/RyeUniSwizer or call 416-979-5000, x6516).

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Link: Jay Switzer invested with the Order of Canada

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: Jay Switzer invested with the Order of Canada
Switzer built his reputation in the TV business from the bottom up. He started, at 16, on the Citytv switchboard. According to the colourful bio passed along by his Hollywood Suite corporate partner, David Kines, Switzer did everything during those early days at City, even the daring job of wiring up notorious Dutch madam Xaviera Hollander with a lav mic. Continue reading.

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