Tag Archives: Natasha Henstridge

Diggstown creator Floyd Kane breaks down Season 2’s shocking opening scene

The first minutes of Diggstown‘s second season debut will leave you on the edge of your seat. As “Amazing Race” swells, a woman’s body is thrown through the air in a slow-motion dance that ends in tragedy. It’s a shocking return for the CBC legal drama.

Returning Wednesday at 8 p.m., Diggstown follows lawyer Marcie Diggs (Vinessa Antoine) and the team at Halifax Legal Aid, lead by Colleen MacDonnell (Natasha Henstridge). Fellow lawyers include Pam MacLean (Stacey Farber), Reggie Thompson (C. David Johnson), Doug Paul (Brandon Oakes) and Iris Beals (Shailene Garnett).

We spoke to creator Floyd Kane about those emotionally draining opening moments.

One of the things that have set Diggstown apart for me is the dialogue. I’ve listened to so many shows where the dialogue between characters seems really forced and Diggstown doesn’t feel like that. Another CBC series, Coroner, feels natural as well. Is that hard to write dialogue to make it sound natural?
Floyd Kane: It’s very hard, but I give a lot of credit to our actors, they kind of put a little bit of their own dust on it. But for me, it’s always interesting because when I’m trying to write, especially for communities that I don’t know, you’re always trying to get the voice in your head. That’s the thing that it’s the most challenging part is just making sure that you’ve got that voice in your head properly.

Before we talk about Season 2, let’s go back a bit into Season 1. Were there some takeaways for you, things that worked in Season 1, things that maybe you thought you could have done a little bit better moving into Season 2?
FK: Definitely. I think that every season of the show you’re learning something more. I think in the first season you’re learning certain things like what actors could handle what. Who can you give more to? These are all things that come up.  Our show is a procedural and in the first season, there were very few continuing elements. And so this season what we did is we incorporated some continuing storylines. Viewers want a contained story, but they also want to be able to get some bits of character that they can pull on too.

It would appear that in the very first episode you hint at what may be a season-long story with Avery being handled the case and taking out the photo of Marcie in there. I’m assuming that’s going to last more than a couple of episodes. 
FK: For sure. Episode 4 of Season 2 is actually a big episode for Marcie and Avery and Pam in terms of their relationship to one another.

You start out the season in slow motion, with an accident and ‘Amazing Grace’ being played. It’s very effective. Why did you decide to start off like that?
FK: We had written … I think there was a full-blown sequence involving cars and kids crossing the street, a high-speed chase. We are not a $4 million show. I sat with the director and we started noodling, ‘Well how do we do this?’ And he had an idea and then I kind of said, ‘Well something I would really want us to try to do, and see if it works, is play that from the point of view of the person who’s been hit by the car and have them falling through the air, and we’re seeing what they’re seeing. That’s where that came from. It just was really trying to figure out, ‘What’s the cool visual way to stage that?’

It’s interesting to have the police officer be Asian and being defended by Marci because you were able to have her community turn against her. Was that always the way that you wanted to go for that main storyline?
FK: Here’s where that all came from. We wanted to do a cop killing involving a black person this season. We had written on the board, it was going to be a white woman shooting an unarmed black person. And we knew that we wanted it to be a single mom who was killed. I watch a lot of television and I’m like, every show is doing the black person being killed by a white cop.

I don’t want to do this. There has to be a different way. And that’s when we sat in the writing room and it was like, ‘OK, it’s not going to be a shooting, it’s going to be a high-speed chase and they’re going to kill this black woman. That was where that came from. And then, I wanted the cop to the Asian because I just wanted to have that conversation. I want people, when they watch the episode, to think about the relationship that exists between the black communities in this country and the Asian communities in this country. I think these are communities that don’t necessarily talk as much as they should.

What type of writer are you? Are you the type of writer that likes to be in a room quiet and quietly when you’re writing? Do you prefer a coffee shop with a lot of noise around you? 
FK: I love the coffee shop. My wife says I have undiagnosed ADHD so I have a hard time when I’m alone, getting down to brass tacks with the writing. But if I’m in a coffee shop … because I have all of this noise around me, and I have my headphones in so I’m listening to a podcast or something. I can just like blaze through. That’s how I work.

Diggstown airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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CBC’s Diggstown tackles the legal world in a new, and compelling, way

Vinessa Antoine describes lawyer Marcie Diggs as “very vulnerable and flawed and messy.” And the actress wouldn’t have it any other way. Debuting Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC, Diggstown—created by Floyd Kane—takes the well-worn legal drama genre and presents it in an interesting new way.

When we catch up with Marcie Diggs (Antoine), she’s struggling with the death of her aunt (Karen LeBlanc). But legal cases are waiting, people need her help. Marcie’s co-workers—including boss Colleen MacDonnell (Natasha Henstridge), Pam Mclean (Stacey Farber), Reggie Thompson (C. David Johnson) and Doug Paul (Brandon Oakes)—work with the community finding justice in cases that explore racism, gender bias and poverty.

We spoke to Vinessa Antoine and Natasha Henstridge late last year about Diggstown and what makes it different from other lawyer series.

Can you break down how this first season of Diggstown will roll out? How is it structured?
Vinessa Antoine: We follow two cases [per episode]. There’s always the case that Marcie is working on and then the case that one of the other lawyers or all the other lawyers is working on. In the first episode, we also learn a little bit about Marcie’s past in terms of her family and the tragedy that happened. And a little bit of her guilt in connection to what happened to her aunt and feeling the struggle of, ‘Where is my place in this world and am I doing the right thing? Does the justice system actually work? Am I the problem or am I the solution?’

As you were reading the scripts and you just mentioned about where’s my place in the world and is the justice system fair? What conclusion did you come to yourself? Do you know your place in the world as Vinessa?
VA: I do. Absolutely. I know that I came to this planet for a certain reason and bring certain gifts that are, I think, to be helpful. I try to use that the best way I can. I think we all think about those things. What is the path that we pick and is it actually helping anyone at the end of the day? I think that’s also Marcie as well. Is she doing this for the money or is she actually trying to help people? I know she really wants to help people, but the justice system is so flawed.

It’s so complicated. It can literally mean the difference between using the wrong word in a sentence and now you’ve completely changed someone’s life.

I assume, Natasha, you did some research into the legal system too and saw how really flawed it can be. 
Natasha Henstridge: I’m reading a book right now that’s so about that. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. It’s about a lawyer and it’s about an underprivileged woman. It’s about a black woman who was a nurse who something goes wrong with the baby in the hospital and sort of where the justice system takes her. I have friends that are lawyers and I have not, luckily, been involved too much in the justice system in my real life. Although I meant to get arrested once. One time. I think there’s a lot of nuances, obviously, and whether it works or not, it’s not perfect by a long shot. These characters are doing the best that they know how within the confines of the system.

What attracted both of you to the project? I’m going to ask specifically about Floyd Kane in a second, but what attracted you to this?
VA: Well, for me, being able to be the lead of a show, to drive the narrative. That was obviously important, but when I start to read more into the character and talk more with Floyd, I realized how important this character is for Canada and for other countries as well. Just to see, not necessarily, a black woman in a leading role because we’ve seen that before for sure in the States with Kerry Washington and Viola Davis. Marcie isn’t necessarily a tough ball buster kind of lawyer that we usually see with main characters.

Especially with black women. Now, there’s an angry sense sometimes with some of these characters which are usually very valid and plausible, but I think this is a different way of looking at a black woman who is very vulnerable and flawed and messy and doesn’t always go for the ball busting to get her point across. She’s not necessarily cracking the whip and everybody falls into line. She’s the one breaking down crying and doesn’t understand why the system isn’t working.

NH: Such a great point. Such a great point. Very true.

What about you Natasha? What attracted you to the project?
NH: I have to say I read the script and I literally was like, ‘I need to get this role.’ They had me in mind. I went and auditioned. I loved the audition scenes, but then when I went and read the script. It was just the best thing that I’ve read and that was the bottom line for me and had nothing to do with anything else. I wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture at all, to be honest with you. Which now is super meaningful having done the six episodes. I just thought, ‘Wow this is really well written and well put together.’

Then I met Floyd and [executive producer] Amos [Adetuyi] at the audition. To see someone’s attention to detail and to care so much about these characters. To collaborate and be in a situation where it’s very collaborative. Where you felt like someone wanted you to understand and where he’s coming from. I just thought, ‘Wow this man really cares. It makes you care that much more.’ I’m playing an openly gay character. I thought that was super meaningful. I have a lot of gay friends that were closeted as kids and I feel so much for their plight that they’ve been through. Although it’s only touched on so far in the beginning in the show thus far. That to me was super meaningful as well.

I’m getting the sense that it’s somewhat rare to find a showrunner that is willing to be that collaborative. Sometimes they’ve just written in stone what I’ve got is my idea for the characters the way it’s going to be. It sounds as though Floyd isn’t necessarily like that.
VA: Not at all. He’s so … even before I tested for the role he and I had a conversation with the director, Kelly Makin, on the phone. It was a really weird conversation because it was like a three-way. I dialled this special number. I think there was like, maybe a half-second delay and Floyd already is a pretty quiet gentle soul himself. There were questions that I was asking and there would be a long pause. And then he would talk and we spoke, I feel like, for a good 20 to 30 minutes. Which is unheard of I think for me, as an actor, to sit down and actually conversate with the person that created this role. I had a billion questions to ask and he answered every single one of them. Even to the degree where he said, ‘You’ve actually made me go back and question some things that I wrote about the character and try to develop that even more.’

It was such a nice collaborative experience with him and then he was there so much on set. Was able to be in my ear a little bit to keep me on the right path with the character because you shoot out of sequence sometimes and you’re all over the place and the rewrites come in. I want to keep on the journey so that the viewer can follow Marcie and the story from the beginning to the end. He was so available for that.

NH: But he’s very very clear on who the people are and what they want. Which is amazing because you need the captain of the ship who actually keeps things in line and keeps you clear because it’s easy to get lost. He knows the show. It’s his show. It’s his life.

Diggstown airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC and streams on CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Natasha Henstridge named Golden Maple Awards host

From a media release:

The Academy of Canadians in Sports & Entertainment – Los Angeles (ACISE-LA) announced today the master of ceremony, the award presenters and an additional Maple of Excellence honoree for the 2016 Golden Maple Awards.

The 2016 Golden Maple Awards will be held on July 1, 2016 in Los Angeles, on Canada’s Day.

Among Missy Peregrym and Nick Bateman, 2016 Golden Maple Awards honorees, is Pop President Brad Schwartz, who will receive the 2016 Maple of Excellence for Outstanding TV Executive. Pop is a cable television network seen in over 80 million homes and owned by CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF).

Mr. Schwartz led the high profile, award-winning rebrand of TV Guide Network to Pop, which debuted in January 2015. Under Mr. Schwartz’s leadership, Pop has launched critically acclaimed original programming, delivered nine quarters of year-over-year ratings growth, increased its distribution with launches on AT&T U-Verse and Cablevision, attracted over 125 new advertisers, and in 2015 delivered its best primetime in six years.

Throughout his career, Mr. Schwartz has rebranded and/or launched six cable networks and has served as a top executive for Fuse, CTV (Canada) and MTV. At Fuse, he led an award-winning (PROMAX/BDA Gold) rebrand campaign, delivered Fuse’s highest quarterly, weekly and daily ratings in the network’s history, as well as critically acclaimed programming including the Emmy Award nominated “Billy on The Street,” Image Award winning “The Hustle,” and GLAAD Winning “Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce.” Prior to Fuse, Schwartz served as General Manager of a suite of eight music and pop culture cable networks in Canada, including MTV Canada, MuchMusic, MTV2 and MuchMore, launching Gemini-winning “MTV Live,” North American-wide hit “The Hills Aftershow” and winning the PROMAX/BDA “Judges Choice” award for best-in-show marketing & creative. He merged MTV and MuchMusic into one business that reached more than 48% of all young Canadians every week, driving double digit increases in ratings and revenue, while leading MuchMusic to its highest rated year ever, which included the highest rated non-sports cable program on television “The MuchMusic Video Awards” and Peabody & Emmy-winning “Degrassi.”

From Toronto, Canada and a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schwartz began his career working for Lorne Michaels at “Saturday Night Live.” He has been listed among Broadcasting and Cable’s Next Wave Of Leaders, The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation, CableFax’s Top 100 Power Players In Cable, and named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 leaders. He is a member of PROMAX/BDA’s Board of Directors.

The 2016 Golden Maple Awards will be hosted by Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge, known for her role in GHOSTS OF MARS, SPECIES, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS and ELI STONE, and starred more recently in Sony’s HOME INVASION.

Canadian talent Amanda Crew, Emily Hampshire, Meaghan Rath, Enuka Okuma and Keltie Knight will be awards presenters at the 2016 Golden Maple Awards on July 1, 2016.

Previously announced on May 16, 2016, the Golden Maple Award nominees are:

Best actress in a TV series broadcast in the U.S.:

  • Amanda Crew – Silicon Valley, HBO
  • Britne Oldford – Hunters, Syfy
  • Emily Hampshire – 12 Monkeys, Syfy
  • Emily Hampshire – Schitt’s Creek, PopTV
  • Erin Karpluk – The Riftworld Chronicles, Geek & Sundry
  • Laura Vandervoort – Bitten, Syfy
  • Lindy Booth – The Librarians, TNT
  • Natalie Brown – The Strain, FX

Best actor in a TV series broadcast in the U.S.:

  • Ben Hollingsworth – Code Black, CBS
  • Brandon Jay McLaren – Graceland, USA
  • Byron Mann – Hell On Wheels, AMC
  • Christopher Heyerdahl – Hell On Wheels, AMC
  • David Sutcliffe – Proof, TNT
  • Giacomo Gianniotti – Grey’s Anatomy, ABC
  • Jonathan Keltz – Reign, The CW
  • Ricky Mabe – Gigi Does It, IFC

Newcomer of the year in a TV series broadcast in the U.S.:

  • Amanda Crew – Silicon Valley, HBO
  • Ennis Esmer – Red Oaks, Amazon Studios
  • Christopher Heyerdahl – Hell on Wheels, AMC
  • Giacomo Gianniotti – Grey’s Anatomy, ABC
  • Gregory Smith – Rookie Blue, ABC
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