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Industry News

Global greenlights new primetime medical drama Nurses

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From a media release:

Adding to its acclaimed roster of Canadian original series, Global proudly announces new primetime medical drama Nurses (working title), set to premiere on the network in 2019. From independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), the 10×60 series is executive produced by Ilana Frank (Rookie Blue), of ICF Films and Vanessa Piazza (Dark Matter) of Piazza Entertainment, with Adam Pettle named as writer, showrunner, and executive producer, and Tassie Cameron serving as executive producer. The series follows four young nurses working on the frontlines of St. Jude’s hospital dedicating their lives to helping others, while figuring out how to help themselves.

Stationed in every tendril of a busy downtown trauma centre and thrust into frontline medical action, Nurses sees four recent graduates beginning their careers in a high-stakes hospital with pressure cooker training. Forming an inextricable bond, the nurses struggle to find a work-life balance that matches and counters the intensity of their new job. Their interaction with patients, relatives, and staff quickly leads them to the discovery that nursing isn’t just about biology, chemistry, and anatomy, it’s also about psychology, compassion, and romantic complications.

Nurses executive producer, Ilana Frank, appears today on the Corus Entertainment-sponsored panel, The Future of Scripted: Women in Power Tell All. Hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Toronto, the panel takes place during C21 Media’s Content Canada conference, a part of TIFF’s industry offering. With opening remarks from Corus’ Executive Vice President and COO, Barb Williams, and moderated by Divya Shahani, Entertainment Lawyer, Hall Webber LLP, the featured panelists are: Ilana Frank (Rookie Blue, Nurses), Sheila Hockin (Vikings), Tassie Cameron (Mary Kills People), Julia Sereny (Ransom), and Alex Zarowny (Private Eyes). For more information visit www.contentcanada.net.

This newly greenlit series comes on the heels of Global’s recent renewals for Ransom, Mary Kills People, Private Eyes, and Big Brother Canada.

Nurses is produced by ICF Films, in association with eOne and Corus Entertainment, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

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Industry News

Vice Canada names Vanessa Case as senior vice president, head of studio

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From a media release:

VICE Media Canada, Canada’s leading youth media company and digital studio, is pleased to announce senior media executive Vanessa Case as Senior Vice President, Head of Studio, effective immediately.

Vanessa was most recently EVP Content at Blue Ant Media and is a senior media executive with deep expertise in content strategy, delivering business growth, and development and execution for global companies, including owned intellectual property (IP), co-productions and international financing.

With a career spanning two decades, Vanessa has been a critical player in the launch and development of several world-renowned brands landing in Canada, including BBC Earth, HGTV Canada and National Geographic. Prior to her role at Blue Ant Media, having held positions at Shaw, CanWest and Alliance Atlantis, she commissioned hundreds of hours of original content, developed original production slates and led scheduling and acquisition strategies for some of Canada’s top speciality channels.

In her new role, Vanessa will head up all VICE Studios’ productions in Canada including development, production, financing, sales and licensing, as well as overseeing VICE’s production and post-production facilities located in Toronto.

ABOUT VICE MEDIA
VICE is the world’s preeminent youth media company and content creation studio. Launched in 1994, VICE now operates in over 30 countries and distributes its programming to viewers across digital, linear, mobile, film and socials. VICE includes an international network of digital channels; a weekly and daily news programming partnership with HBO; a television and feature film production studio; a magazine; a record label; and an in-house creative services agency.

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Industry News

CRTC requires the production of Canadian original content

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From a media release:

The CRTC responded today to the government’s Order-in-Council to reconsider its decisions regarding large television groups by imposing conditions of licence on them to ensure the continued support of the Canadian creative sector. The government asked the CRTC to re-examine original Canadian French-language programs, programs of national interest in the English-language market and short-form programming, including music. These changes were made to preserve the viability, stability and competitiveness of the creative sector and the Canadian television market.

For the French-language market, the CRTC now requires each group to make significant investments in the creation of French-language programs, representing 75% of its Canadian programming expenditures for original French-language programs starting in 2019-2020. The percentage in 2018-2019 will be 50%, which will enable the groups to adjust to the new requirements and ensure sufficient support for the production of original French-language content for the French-language market.

The CRTC is also increasing expenditure requirements for programs of national interest in the English-language market. The percentage will now be based on historical expenditures, to ensure sufficient investment in the production of these programs and financial contributions according to each group’s financial resources. Therefore, the requirements are increasing from 5% to 7.5% of previous years’ revenues for Bell, and from 5% to 8.5% for Corus, while requirements for Rogers remain at 5%. The CRTC believes this approach will ensure the Canadian production sector continues to play an essential role in the Canadian economy and offer high-quality content to viewers in Canada and abroad.

The CRTC determined that the groups in both language markets will be required to allocate an average of $5.5 million per year to support the production of musical programs (FACTOR and MUSICACTION). These expenditures will be imposed from 2019 to 2022, and will ensure regulatory uniformity among the groups. Continue reading.

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Industry News

Link: N.S. film tax credit gone but not forgotten

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From Jean Laroche of CBC News:

Link: N.S. film tax credit gone but not forgotten
When Stephen McNeil’s government closed the books on the 2017-2018 fiscal year last month, it marked the official end of Nova Scotia’s film tax credit.

The final $5.3-million payout shows up as a single line item on page 297 of a 349-page document issued by the Finance Department, called Volume 3, Supplementary Information.

It’s not the Hollywood ending envisioned by Finance Minister Bernie Boudreau when the Liberal government of John Savage introduced the credit in its 1995 budget. Continue reading.

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Industry News

Enterprise Pictures announces plans and partial slate

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Toronto-based Enterprise Pictures is excited to announce their inaugural television and feature film slate. The company is engaged in ongoing discussions with various U.S. advisors and studios to raise equity in exchange for distribution rights to the company’s robust slate. Stay tuned for additional announcements in the coming weeks. Enterprise Pictures is the brainchild of Matthew Robillard, an ex-investment banker at Osprey Capital who previously developed cable network Channel Canada, and launched multi-platform entertainment brand ComedyLab Entertainment.

Enterprise Pictures is developing eleven television series and fourteen feature films. Highlights listed below:

Television Slate

The Opportunist is a one-hour crime thriller about the Opportunist and his clandestine army of operatives who prey on the criminal super rich by conning them out of their ill-gotten billions. Each season targets a different billionaire operating in an exotic, tax-friendly jurisdiction i.e. Singapore, Monte Carlo, Silicon Valley, Geneva. Season one targets the sociopathic leader of a money-mad, Scientology-like cult that gets exposed, then chased out of the country by the U.S. Department of Justice, with the Opportunist and his team slowly enveloping the target in a web of intrigue, disinformation and misdirection. Pilot written.

Ninja is an action drama about a multi-generational family of Ninja assassin-spies who fight desperately to survive and prosper during feudal Japan’s bloody and treacherous civil war. To be shot on location in Japan utilizing authentic samurai-era historical sites, and starring a cast of English-speaking actors of Japanese heritage. Pilot written.

FunHouse is a comedy drama about six stand-up comics who all eat, sleep, laugh and love in a big, old mansion they call the ‘Funhouse’. Between performing comedy gigs on-stage and holding down hellish part-time jobs, the cast gradually chisel out successful careers in the roller coaster world of comedy. Pilot written.

Treasure Island is a competition reality series about twelve people trapped on an exotic, deserted island. They must compete or co-operate to win a $5.0 million treasure buried somewhere on the island. Physical and augmented-reality clues planted by the ‘Puzzle Master’ host help the cast solve a ‘Genius Puzzle’ that ultimately reveals the treasure’s secret location.

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