From Erin Chew of YOMYOMF:
Link: Canadian Asian actor Simu Liu is all talent with a side of eye candy
“Before I got into acting I did what any stereotypical Chinese son would do – I became an accountant, even though I have always wanted to try acting. At the time I was laid off and unemployed and thought it was either now or never with regards to trying acting.” Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
ACTRA Toronto is proud to announce the winners of its 15th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto.
Outstanding Performance – Female
Jean Yoon (Umma) Kim’s Convenience, “Gay Discount†(Thunderbird Films)
Outstanding Performance – Male
Joey Klein (Bobby) We’re Still Together (Achromatic Media)
Outstanding Performance – Voice
Linda Kash (Gina Falcone) Fugget About It, “Vagina’s Got Talent†(9 Story Media Group)
The members’ choice Series Ensemble Award went to Kim’s Convenience.
Joel Keller presented ACTRA Toronto’s 2017 Award of Excellence to Yannick Bisson.
The ACTRA Toronto Stunt Award was presented posthumously to Joel Harris. His widow, stunt performer Alicia Turner, accepted.
The newly-elected President of ACTRA Toronto Theresa Tova said, “Canada has been reflected by ACTRA’s professional performers for fully half of Canada’s 150-year history. Linda Kash, Joey Klein, Jean Yoon, Yannick Bisson, Joel Harris and Kim’s Convenience, and all the nominees, personify the extraordinary talent of our professional acting community.â€
The 15th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto were presented at a live show and gala tonight at The Carlu. The show was hosted by Aurora Browne, Carolyn Taylor and Jennifer Whalen from the Baroness Von Sketch troupe with live music by the 11-piece Wintergarten Orchestra with singer and actor Ted Atherton. The evening sported a theme to honour Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
The 15th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto were sponsored by: DIAMOND: Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society, ACTRA Recording Artists’ Collecting Society. PLATINUM: Bell Media, SAG-AFTRA. GOLD: CBC, CMPA, Deluxe, IATSE 873, Rhombus Media, Shaftesbury, United Steelworkers. POST-SHOW RECEPTION: eOne. SILVER: Cavalluzzo, Directors Guild of Canada (Ontario), RBC Royal Bank. BRONZE: Addenda Capital, Creative Arts Savings & Credit Union, Canada Film Capital and Entertainment Partners Canada, Don Carmody Productions, Frantic Films, Grant Thornton, HUB International, New Real Films, Serendipity Point Films, Take 5 Productions, Thunderbird Entertainment, TriBro Studios, Universal Promotions, Writers Guild of Canada.
ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 15,000 of Canada’s 23,000 professional performers working in recorded media in Canada. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven union that continues to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers.
Is Saving Hope the same show as Code Black on the CBS network in the U.S., only renamed?? —Tom
Well! I did a marathon watch of Pure, Season 1, Episode 1-6, Well done CBC, well done. I look forward to more of Noah and family and Bronco, et al. This show was well scripted and well done. Right up there with Banshee. —Jon the Yooper from Down Under
OK, so after I invested all of this into the series and Googled things to learn more … that’s how they end it? There bloody well better be a Season 2 or that was just the worst ending ever!!!! —Chelan
Not sure how a second season would work: might be similar to Justified with a new bad guy each season. Could be Anna created a monster when she manipulated Joey Epp into murdering his “brooda.†But the main theme hanging out there from the final episode is Noah recovering his faith. That is such an internal story line that they will need something else to externalize his struggle. I hope Michael Amo is up to the task. —J Hess
Loved this show. I’ll be waiting for Season 2. —Sharon
[Kim’s Convenience] is one fantastic and truly hilarious funny show. Each character is well thought out and works utterly great with each other. I can not simply stop gushing over this unique family show. Thank you for bringing finally a clean, lovable sitcom to our home. I am 58 years old and have seen for over five decades of TV series. This is the only show that I can watch over and over and find it truly wonderful. Again, my thanks to all who have given us a great show. —Leslie
Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.
From a media release:
CBC today announced the renewal of its breakout hit comedy series KIM’S CONVENIENCE, following an acclaimed first season (13 x 30) that is drawing an average audience of 933,000 per episode to date (2+ AMA), with 39% of viewers in the 25 – 54 demographic.* A CBC original series produced by Thunderbird Entertainment (Thunderbird) in association with Soulpepper, the series will return with Season 2 (13 x 30) in fall 2017.
Based on the Soulpepper production of Ins Choi’s award-winning play, KIM’S CONVENIENCE is the funny, heartfelt story of The Kims, a Korean-Canadian family who run a convenience store in downtown Toronto. The series centres around Mr. and Mrs. Kim (‘Appa’ and ‘Umma’), who immigrated to Toronto in the ’80s to set up shop near Regent Park, and their two grown kids, Jung and Janet. The world of Kim’s Convenience is real, colourful and urban – a diverse landscape of people and places – with the Kim family at its core, as they find humour in their everyday lives running the store.
KIM’S CONVENIENCE airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC and is also available to stream online at http://www.cbc.ca/kimsconvenience/. The series’ first season finale will air at a special time at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on Tuesday, December 27, featuring two back-to-back episodes.
Produced by Ivan Fecan and co-created by Ins Choi and Kevin White, KIM’S CONVENIENCE stars Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Shoot The Messenger, Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Appa, Jean Yoon (Orphan Black, The Expanse) as Umma, Simu Liu (Blood and Water, Taken) as Jung, Andrea Bang (Camp Death III: The Final Summer) as Janet, Andrew Phung (Adventures of a Pizza Guy) as Kimchee, and Nicole Power (Anne of Green Gables) as Shannon.
The series is executive produced by Ivan Fecan, Tim Gamble, Alexandra Raffé, Leslie Lester, Albert Schultz, Ins Choi and Kevin White, with Sandra Cunningham and Robin Cass (Strada Films) serving as supervising producers.
From Hermione Wilson of The TV Junkies:
Kim’s Convenience’s Amanda Brugel on diversity on Canadian TV
“I think the explosion of the consciousness of the lack of diversity, particularly on social media, has really helped push things along. The younger generation especially is demanding that they are reflected on TV. I don’t think we’re near where we should be, but it’s progress.” Continue reading.
