Tag Archives: Insight Productions

Casting for Season 10 of CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada now open

From a media release:

Following THE AMAZING RACE CANADA’s landmark 100th episode and Season 9 finale, and the Season 10 renewal announcement, CTV has confirmed that casting is now open for the upcoming season. Beginning today, aspiring competitors can apply for their chance to experience the adventure of a lifetime at CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada.

Those looking to experience this unforgettable adventure are invited to pair up with a teammate – a friend, sibling, parent, grandparent, partner, or anyone else they share a relationship with – and submit their application for this once-in-lifetime opportunity. Further casting details, including instructions on how to submit an application, are available at CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada, with additional updates on the show’s official accounts on FacebookX, and Instagram

Customized and wholly integrated brand partnership opportunities are currently available for Season 10 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA. 

Hosted by Olympic gold medallist Jon Montgomery, Season 9 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is the most-watched program of the 2022/23 broadcast year among total viewers and the key A25-54 demo with an average audience of 1.7 million viewers. The series is also the Top Summer Program and the most-watched Canadian Program for the 2022/23 broadcast year among total viewers and in all key demos, and ranks in the Top 5 on CTV.ca and the CTV app. 

Previous seasons of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA are available for streaming on CTV.ca, the CTV app, and Crave.

THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is produced by Insight Productions Ltd. (a Boat Rocker Company) in association with CTV. John Brunton is Executive Producer and Mark Lysakowski is Executive Producer and Showrunner. 

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CBC, Insight Productions and The Gurin Company announce Season 2 of Canada’s Ultimate Challenge

From a media release:

CBC, Insight Productions, and The Gurin Company today announced production details for the second season of the original reality competition format CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, with Canadian broadcaster Brandon Gonez on board to host. Shooting this September and October, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE (7×60) turns the entire country into a giant obstacle course with challenges taking place from coast to coast. Kicking off in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the series is set to premiere on CBC Gem and CBC in 2024. More details, including the Players and locations, will be announced in the coming months.

Each episode of CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE takes place at an awe-inspiring location where the Players – 20 people from across the country competing in teams of four – compete in spectacular team challenges that put their skills to the test.

Brandon Gonez Bio
Brandon Gonez is one of the country’s most beloved broadcasters and the CEO/Founder of Gonez Media (GMI), Canada’s fastest-growing online news and entertainment company. Prior to the launch of GMI, Gonez was a reporter and anchor at CP24 and Your Morning and began his career in Northwest British Columbia as a video journalist for CFTK-TV News. Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, ON, Gonez is a graduate of York University with a B.A. in Communications and has a certificate in Television and Radio broadcasting from Seneca College.

Commissioned by CBC, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is executive produced by Erin Brock, John Brunton, Mark Lysakowski, and Jeff Thrasher for Insight Productions (A Boat Rocker Company) and Phil Gurin for The Gurin Company.

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Canada’s Ultimate Challenge renewed by CBC for second season, nationwide casting call currently underway

From a media release:

It’s Game time! As announced on Thursday by CBC as part of its programming slate announcement, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, the reality competition series that transforms the country into an epic obstacle course, will return for a second season. The national public broadcaster has kicked off a nationwide search for energetic Canadians seeking the adventure of a lifetime. Aspiring competitors who love adventure and testing their limits are encouraged to apply online now at cbc.ca/canadasultimatechallenge for the chance to participate in the upcoming season. Casting will be open until July 23, 2023. Produced by Insight Productions and The Gurin Company, season two will shoot on location across Canada this fall.

The inaugural season of CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE saw teams, coached by legendary Canadian athletes, compete in incredible challenges at awe-inspiring locations including: Whistler, BC; Squamish, BC; Hinton, AB; Whitehorse, YT; Kelowna, BC; Sudbury, ON; Thousand Islands, ON; Québec City, QC; and the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In the end, Team Black won the entire competition and claimed the ultimate prize – a trip to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to cheer on Team Canada. Audiences can catch up on all the action from the first season on CBC Gem.

CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is a competition reality format that turns the entire country into a giant obstacle course. Superstar coaches guide and mentor teams of everyday Canadians at site-specific challenges in a unique competition structure. Each episode takes place at an iconic Canadian location where teams compete in spectacular Solo, Tandem or Team challenges that test them physically and mentally. Throughout the series, the coaches make strategic decisions and motivate their players to victory.

A CBC original series, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is executive produced by John Brunton, Erin Brock, Mark Lysakowski, and Jeff Thrasher for Insight Productions (a Boat Rocker company) and Phil Gurin for The Gurin Company.

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Chef David Zilber on Top Chef Canada’s landmark Season 10: “It is a litmus test for the state of gastronomy in this country”

Top Chef Canada is celebrating its landmark 10th season this year, and the homegrown version is celebrating in style.

First, the season is being dubbed Top Chef Canada X, and is rife with newer, bigger challenges, devious twists and a new face on the judging panel in Chef David Zilber. Zilber, originally from Toronto, has worked in some of the top kitchens around the globe, most recently as head of the Fermentation Lab at the revolutionary three-Michelin-star restaurant NOMA in Copenhagen, ranked as the top restaurant in the world.

Returning Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada, the first challenge for the chefs—the traditional showing off of knife skills—has its stress and energy level upped because they’re doing it outside in front of a crowd of people, host Eden Grinshpan and judge Janet Zuccarini. It only gets better from there.

As in past seasons, Top Chef Canada‘s casting team deserves a gold star for landing a diverse crop of chefs from across the country, serving up dishes celebrating their regions and backgrounds.

We spoke to David Zilber—who joins Grinshpan, Zuccarini, Mijune Pak, Mark McEwan and Chris Nuttall-Smith—ahead of Monday’s return.

How did you end up on Top Chef Canada as a judge?
David Zilber: I was a guest judge on Season 8 and I enjoyed it. It was fun and pretty inspiring and I meshed well with all of the other judges—some of them I had known before—and it was an honour to come back.

What are your thoughts on the Top Chef franchise overall?
DZ: It’s become a household name. It has launched whole careers. So many chefs from the U.S., Canada, and overseas, capture the hearts of a nation and become the next generation in food television or opening restaurants. In that regard, it’s a catapult for all of these people. The talent is real. It’s not like a reality TV show where they are getting the craziest personalities; these are the people with the chops to actually cut it. The number of former co-workers who have been on Top Chef Canada that I have worked alongside, I’ve looked up to or have taught me things, is extensive. It becomes a colosseum for culinary talent that champions a worthy contestant in the best sense.

What was the experience like being alongside the Top Chef Canada judges more long-term?
DZ: I’ve known Mijune for years, cooking for her in Vancouver and then at NOMA before I was ever a judge; Chris Nuttall-Smith I’ve known through his food writing and he did a profile on me years ago; I’ve cooked in Mark McEwan’s restaurants and he has cooked at places where I was a sous chef… there is actually a lot of culinary history in Canada. I say big country, small industry. So, I didn’t feel intimated, they knew me. [Laughs.] Sometimes on my good behaviour and sometimes on my not-so-good behaviour. Kitchens are heated places, what can I say?

On the judging panel, there are a lot of voices vying for a position, if you will. There are a lot of opinions. [Laughs.] It’s understanding what angle to take and what one’s specialty is. Mark might be looking more for the classical technique if that’s there. Mijune is super-poetic with her words. Chris is super-witty. That was the learning curve for me. What is my voice and how do I contribute to this in a way that is true to myself and not stepping on anyone else’s toes?

What are your thoughts on the 11 competitors this season?
DZ: I was supremely surprised at how good some of these cooks were. They were putting out two-star Michellin dishes in the time trials. There was a lot of talent. Early on, I could see who wasn’t going to last based on some of the Quickfire’s and lo and behold it turned out to be true. The chaff fell to the wayside quickly and what we were left with was strength on strength. And there were some sleepers; people who I thought wouldn’t last that long who ended up in it for the long haul.

It really is a litmus test for the state of gastronomy in this country and it’s a positive test at that because the contestants really show Canada’s mettle.

Top Chef Canada airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Image courtesy of Food Network Canada.

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CBC, Insight Productions and The Gurin Company announce details for new original competition series Canada’s Ultimate Challenge

From a media release:

CBC, Insight Productions and The Gurin Company today announced production details for their new original Canadian factual competition format CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, with sports broadcaster Nikki Reyes and professional snowboarder and CBC Sports analyst Craig McMorris onboard as hosts. Shooting this summer, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE turns the entire country into one giant obstacle course with challenges in Whitehorse, YK; Squamish, BC; Kelowna, BC; Hinton, AB; Sudbury, ON; Thousand Islands, ON; and Québec City, QC; culminating with the finale on the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and PEI. The series (8×60) is set to premiere on CBC and CBC Gem in winter 2023.

As hosts, Craig McMorris and Nikki Reyes anchor the show, bringing their energy, humour, insight, and impressive broadcast credentials to bear, while connecting viewers to the heart of the action and guiding them through the entire competition. McMorris and Reyes call the play-by-play and interview the players as they experience the agony of defeat and the joy of victory, capturing all the drama of this unique competition series.

Each episode of CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE takes place at an awe-inspiring location where the players – 24 Canadians from across the country – compete in spectacular solo, tandem, or team challenges that put their skills to the test. Six iconic Canadian athletes coach and mentor six teams of four through physical and mental challenges, making strategic decisions and motivating their players to victory.

Craig McMorris is a 2019 X Games medallist as well as the only snowboarder to ever compete in an X Games real snow competition and free ride world tour event in the same year. He has worked as an analyst for CBC Sports since 2014, providing snowboarding commentary at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Olympic Winter Games and serving as cultural commentator for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. In 2017, McMorris hosted the CBC Sports series ‘Good Times with Craig McMorris’ in which he engaged with some of Canada’s most interesting action sports athletes. He is currently the star of a self-produced snowboard film, ‘Fixin.

For the past two decades, Nikki Reyes has worked as a sports television anchor, reporter, and producer. Prior to CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, she anchored TSN’s flagship show Sportscentre, was a sideline reporter for Toronto Raptor’s broadcasts and was the co-host of Raptors Game Day on TSN 1050, providing commentary and analysis during the pregame/halftime/postgame broadcasts. Reyes was also an anchor and field reporter at Sportsnet and NESN in Boston covering the NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL. Quick on her feet, Reyes has extensive experience interviewing athletes at critical moments during competitions.

CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE Coaches:

Donovan Bailey – sprinting legend, two-time Olympic champion, and recent Order of Canada recipient

Waneek Horn-Miller – co-captain of the Canadian water polo Olympic team in Sydney; gold medal winner at the Pan Am games; the first Mohawk woman from Canada to compete in the Olympics; and advocate for Indigenous sport

Clara Hughes – six-time Olympic medallist in cycling and speed skating; mental health advocate; the only athlete to have won multiple medals in both summer & winter Olympics

Gilmore Junio – three-time Olympian in speed-skating; won his first ISU World Cup event in 2014 in Salt Lake City

Jen Kish – former captain of Canada’s Olympic bronze medal-winning rugby sevens team; her team won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games held in Toronto in 2015

Luke Willson – NFL Super Bowl Champion with the Seattle Seahawks and competitive cyclist

A CBC original series, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is executive produced by John Brunton and Mark Lysakowski for Insight Productions (A Boat Rocker Company) and Phil Gurin for The Gurin Company; Jeff Thrasher is the series producer for Insight Productions.

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