Tag Archives: Insight Productions

Blue Ant Media unveils biggest-ever slate of new original programming for its Canadian channels

From a media release:

Blue Ant Media, an international content producer, distributor and channel operator, announced today its new, original production slate to air across its channels in Canada, including Cottage Life, Makeful and T+E. The company’s largest-ever commissioning order includes two new series to premiere on Makeful, including a second season of Crazy Beautiful Weddings and Blown Away, a brand new glass-blowing competition series, co-produced with Netflix. For T+E, there’s a trio of paranormal series including My Worst Nightmare, Haunted Hospitals and Paranormal 911 as well as Intervention Canada, the fifth season of the critically acclaimed hit docu-series, in partnership with U.S.-based A+E Networks. New Cottage Life programming includes the brand new series, The Weather Files, a second season of Lakefront Luxury, the ninth season of Hope For Wildlife and the previously announced Great Canadian Cottages docu-series with Scottish design stars Colin and Justin.

Blue Ant Media’s original programming slate includes:

Blown Away (10×30’; HD) is a co-production with Netflix that sees a group of talented and creative artisans from all over North America compete over the course of the series in the highly skilled art of glass blowing. In each episode the glass blowers create beautiful works of art, which are assessed by a panel of expert judges. One artisan is eliminated each week until a winner is announced in the final episode. Blown Away is a co-production between Blue Ant Media and Netflix and was created by and will be produced by marblemedia. The series will premiere exclusively in Canada on Makeful in Spring 2019.

Crazy Beautiful Weddings, Season 2 (10×30’; HD) The second season of Crazy Beautiful Weddings follows indie wedding planner Lynzie Kent as she continues to create jaw-dropping celebrations that are inspired by the unique love stories of her clients. Each episode sees Lynzie and her team design and craft atypical wedding celebrations that feel like art installations or music festivals. The series is a co-production by Blue Ant Media and UP TV and is set to air on Makeful in Fall 2018. It will be available for international licensing by Blue Ant International.

Intervention Canada (10×60’; HD) is the fifth installment of the Canadian version of the hit, Emmy Award-winning A+E docu-series that gives an unflinching glimpse at the horrifying reality of the life of an addict and the gut-wrenching toll their addiction takes on family and friends. With the help of professional interventionists, each one-hour episode culminates in a dramatic real-life intervention where someone must make a life-or-death decision: continue their descent to rock bottom alone, or accept the offer of a clear path to recovery in one of Canada’s top addiction facilities. Blue Ant Media is partnering on the format with A+E Networks. Toronto’s Open Door Co and Insight Productions, which produced the previous four seasons, will also produce the fifth season. Intervention Canada will premiere in Canada on T+E in March 2019.

My Worst Nightmare (10×60’; HD) explores harrowing recurring nightmares and brings them to life in vivid detail. With cinematic nightmare dramatizations, captivating true accounts and distinct expert analysis from dream interpreters and psychoanalysts, each episode attempts to decode the meaning and mystery behind the dream and provide insight into these intrusive nightmares. My Worst Nightmare is produced by Pixcom for Blue Ant Media and will premiere on T+E in spring 2019. The series is available for international licensing by Blue Ant International.

Haunted Hospitals (10×60’; HD) tells the chilling stories of paranormal activity inside hospitals, nursing homes and morgues. In each episode, doctors, nurses and patients give first-hand accounts of deceased patients who come back from the grave, doctors who insist on tending to their patients, even in death, and spirits who stalk corridors to warn of impending danger. As the personal stories unfold, the mysteries behind the troubled souls and hauntings are brought to life. Haunted Hospitals is produced by Bristow Global Media for Blue Ant Media and will premiere on T+E in fall 2018.

Paranormal 911 (13×60’; HD) is a gripping, docu-drama series with harrowing first-person accounts that thrusts viewers into the terrifying encounters of victims and emergency responders who lived through terrifying paranormal encounters. Paranormal 911 is produced by Bristow Global Media for Blue Ant Media and is set to premiere on T+E in spring 2019.

Lakefront Luxury, Season 2 (10×30’; HD) continues with even more stunning views, gorgeous waterfronts and serene sunsets. With unlimited budgets and endless wish lists, each episode takes viewers on a tour of three opulent properties with potential buyers, as they weigh their options and ultimately decide which home is the one for them. Lakefront Luxury is produced by Architect Films for Blue Ant Media and will premiere on Cottage Life in spring 2019. The series is available for international licensing by Blue Ant International.

Hope for Wildlife, Season 9 (10×60’; HD) is back with an impressive season of episodes that follow fan-favourite nature advocate Hope Swinimer and her team as they rescue animals at her Halifax-based wildlife refuge and release them back into the wild. In this season, viewers will meet a whole new generation of volunteers, a new, on-site vet team and an exciting new partnership with an expert rescue crew. Produced by Arcadia Content for Blue Ant Media, the series will premiere on Cottage Life in Spring 2019. The series is available for international licensing by Blue Ant International.

The Weather Files (8×60’; HD) is a new documentary series that shines a spotlight on extreme weather patterns. The series travels across North America chronicling severe weather phenomena and features riveting first-person testimony and original video backed by leading scientific insight to give viewers an in-depth look at the unpredictability and danger that extreme and mysterious weather brings. The Weather Files is produced by Blue Ant Media and set to air on the Cottage Life channel in August 2018. The series is distributed internationally by Blue Ant International.

Previously announced, Great Canadian Cottages (8×30’; HD) brings renowned design duo Colin and Justin back to the channel with a documentary series that explores unique Canadian cottage architecture. Produced by Architect Films, the series will delve into the fascinating stories of Canadians who live in extraordinary cottages and cabins built in the Canadian wilderness. Great Canadian Cottages is set to premiere exclusively this fall on the Cottage Life channel. The series is available for international licensing by Blue Ant International.

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Link: ‘Orphan Black’ maker buys majority stake in ‘SCTV’ reunion co-producer Insight

From Etan Vlessing of The Hollywood Reporter:

Link: ‘Orphan Black’ maker buys majority stake in ‘SCTV’ reunion co-producer Insight
Orphan Black producer Boat Rocker Media has nabbed a majority stake in rival Canadian producer Insight Productions.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Insight’s founder and CEO John Brunton will continue to lead the company under the Boat Rocker banner. Continue reading.

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Martin Scorsese to direct SCTV special for Netflix

From a media release:

Netflix today announced that Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter Martin Scorsese will direct an untitled Netflix original comedy special exploring the enduring legacy of Emmy-winning sketch comedy show SCTV.

Scorsese will reunite comedy legends and former SCTV co-stars Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Dave Thomas in front of a live audience for An Afternoon with SCTV, moderated by Jimmy Kimmel. To be held at Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre on Sunday, May 13 at 3 p.m., the filming will be part of the Netflix special, produced by longtime SCTV Producer Andrew Alexander of Second City, Emma Tillinger Koskoff of Sikelia Productions and Lindsay Cox of Insight Productions.

Canadian classic SCTV aired for six seasons between 1976 and 1984, quickly becoming one of pop culture’s touchstone comedies. The series’ stars include some of the most beloved and celebrated names in laughter, including the late John Candy and Harold Ramis.

Photo credit: Cara Howe for Netflix

 

 

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Big Brother Canada returns Wednesday, March 7, on Global

From a media release:

#BBCAN fans can finally mark their calendars as Global announces broadcast details for juggernaut reality series Big Brother Canada, premiering Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. With three recent Canadian Screen Award (CSA) nominations – including Best Reality/Competition Series – the perennial fan favourite returns three nights a week on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT, Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global. Building off of the powerful response from #BBCAN fans, viewers can expect Season 6 to deliver big twists, staggering challenges, and of course, lots of drama.

Once again in Season 6, Big Brother Canada selects a group of hand-picked strangers from their homes, sequesters them from the outside world, and places them inside a house outfitted wall-to-wall with cameras and microphones that capture their every move. Competing for a grand cash prize, each week the houseguests battle in a series of challenges that give them power or punishment, voting each other out until the fate of the final two is decided by a jury of fellow houseguests.

Also returning this season is host Arisa Cox who is currently up for the CSA’s Audience Choice Award. Beginning tomorrow, fans can continue to place their vote by clicking here.

Leading up to the premiere on March 7, fans can get their Big Brother fix during a new episode of Big Brother: Celebrity Edition tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global. Viewers can tune in four nights a week over two-and-a-half weeks until the winner is crowned during the finale on Sunday, February 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Additional details about Big Brother Canada Season 6, including this season’s houseguest reveal and the grand prize, will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

 

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Steve Nash, Insight and CBC team to develop basketball drama

From a media release:

Insight Productions has partnered with Steve Nash of Meathawk Productions to develop Hardwood at CBC, a one-hour, character-driven drama series set in the world of youth basketball, Shannon Farr, Vice President & Supervising Producer, Insight Production Company Ltd., announced today.

Hardwood (working title) follows a flashy, big-city entrepreneur who opens an elite youth basketball academy in a sleepy farming town in exurban Toronto. Skander Halim (Pretty Persuasion, 18 To Life) created the series and is writing the pilot.

Farr (Falcon Beach and The Jon Dore Television Show) recently opened Insight’s Los Angeles office – a move that is part of Insight’s strategy to increase its scripted development and production slate as it looks to grow the company and expand its global business.

Hardwood is executive produced by Insight Production’s John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby, alongside Steve Nash and Ezra Holland of Meathawk Productions and Skander Halim. Shannon Farr is Supervising Producer.

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