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Banff World Media Festival and Netflix announce 2026 Diversity of Voices: Elevate participants

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From a media release:

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF), in partnership with Netflix, is pleased to announce the 10 selected participants for the 2026 Diversity of Voices: Elevate, who will be attending the 47th edition of the Festival on June 14-17, 2026, at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Originally launched in 2018, Diversity of Voices has helped to take down barriers at scale, providing 800 opportunities to Black, Indigenous and People of Colour Canadian producers and creatives.  The program has played a vital role in supporting mainly emerging and early-career Canadian writers, directors and producers from racialized communities, helping to build a more inclusive and sustainable industry. As the program and its alumni have matured, BANFF and DOV partners identified a critical next gap: ensuring diverse producers and creators at established levels have the promotion, marketing and strategic access opportunities to advance their companies and projects on a national and global scale.

For 2026, the program has now been reimagined as Diversity of Voices: Elevate, designed to deepen career momentum, prestige and industry visibility for participants. This next evolution focuses on amplifying recognition at a pivotal stage in the participants’ professional trajectory, when meaningful global exposure, access to high-level decision-makers, and strategic industry connectivity can have the greatest impact. As one of the world’s leading media marketplaces, BANFF provides a unique platform for the industry to connect directly with domestic and international buyers, partners, and financiers, making it an ideal environment to scale careers and secure financing and partnerships for new projects. Following consultation with stakeholders, partners, and past DOV Initiative alumni, this year’s cohort will serve 10 mid-career and established industry participants, providing a tailored experience that will promote and shine a global light on some of Canada’s most exciting producers, directors and writers. Supporting partners of the program include: Reelworld, the Black Screen Office (BSO), the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), and the Disability Screen Office (DSO).

The 2026 Diversity of Voices: Elevate participants are (listed alphabetically):

Brishkay Ahmed, Digital Warriors Productions Inc.

Jamie Bourque-Blyan, Infinity Studio 8

Karen Chapman, Smallaxx Motion Pictures

Sean Devlin, Beb Bingo Entertainment

Damon D’Oliveira, Conquering Lion Pictures

JP Larocque, JP Larocque Productions

Jessica Tatum Meya, Gut Punch Productions

Kaveh Mohebbi, d’scribe Pictures

Arnold Pinnock

Ann Shin, Fathom Films

A key new component of the 2026 program is the launch of the DOV: Elevate Podcast, spotlighting the participants and their current projects while exploring the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s screen industry.

“Over the past eight years, Diversity of Voices has helped cultivate an extraordinary pipeline of talent, and I know firsthand the difference that nuanced and tangible support makes,” said Vanessa Mitchell (featured image above), Producer, Fellowship Programs at the Banff World Media Festival. “With Elevate, we’ve poured that insight into a new direction, ensuring producers and creatives of colour don’t just enter the industry, but have sustainable careers within it. We are building in togetherness and ensuring there are always seats ready at the highest levels. This format allows us to champion our participants via a concerted marketing campaign, strategic visibility, and celebrating the recognition they’ve earned, helping them reach the next defining milestone in their careers.”

Diversity of Voices supports established Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour professionals who are Canadian residents and working on Canadian film and TV projects with third-party development funding already attached. In response to direct feedback from past participants and industry stakeholders, the 2026 program significantly increases financial support, including an enhanced travel stipend designed to help remove economic barriers and ensure participants can fully access the opportunities the Festival provides. The program also provides participants with a robust marketing and promotional campaign, complimentary full-access Festival pass as well as advance access to BANFF’s networking programs enabling meaningful engagement with Canadian and global buyers, partners and decision-makers.

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Featured, Finding Her Edge

Jeff Norton on Netflix’s Finding Her Edge, and showrunning

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By Scott Campbell

Netflix subscribers were quick to respond to a little soapy teen drama called Finding Her Edge, set in a world of competitive figure skating and featuring love triangles.

Based on Jennifer Iacopelli’s 2022 novel, interest in the show boosted book sales by the January 22 release on the streamer. The series, produced by Canadian company WildBrain, features Canadians in the cast and was filmed in Ontario.

Netflix renewed the show for a second season, 12 days after the premiere.

Showrunner Jeff Norton was thrilled with the news.  

“To be embraced around the world,” he said during the Zoom interview from Burlington, Ont. “Particularly in places where I wasn’t sure it would be. It was the No. 1 show, almost out of the gate in places like Brazil, Central Europe, and some places in the Nordics. It’s amazing.”

The eight-episode season highlights three sisters in a struggling figure skating family. Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys) trains for Worlds with new partner Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic) but still has feelings for her former partner Freddie O’Connell (Olly Atkins).

“I actually read [the book] as a manuscript,” said Norton. “And there are two things I loved about it. The first is I loved this set of characters. I really thought these were a special group of people, and I loved that these were characters that we met at a time in their lives where things were not going particularly well.

“And to me, that was a really interesting way into a family drama and to a romance, and Finding Her Edge is both of those two things.”

Norton remembers drawing a diagram of two intersecting triangles with Adriana in the middle. The triangle of her sisters, the familial one, and that love triangle which is Adriana, Freddie and Brayden.

The second thing Norton found appealing about the novel? “Jennifer had built Finding Her Edge in the modern world of elite figure skating on this incredibly strong foundation of a Jane Austen novel.”

Norton is involved in an upcoming Netflix series titled Crew Girl. He also plugged Netflix’s Geek Girl, which he worked on, too. But Finding Her Edge is his first show as a showrunner.

Jeff Norton

“Somebody gave me a piece of advice before I started showrunning,” he recalls. “Which is that my most critical job is to be the keeper of the tone of the show, and I take that very seriously. And, for me, the role of the showrunner is that there are thousands of decisions to make, all of which roll up into a vision for what is the show you want the audience to experience.”

Norton gave one example of looking for a particular tone of timeless romance. Early in the season, Adriana runs after Brayden when he’s on a train.

“I wanted to have something that felt like it was from another era,” he said. “So I challenged our production design team and our locations team
to find something that felt that way… and we ended up filming in a train museum, the Simcoe County Railway, and that’s an old 1926 rail car that’s sitting outside in the freezing cold, that we filmed in.”

Filming for the season took 80 days at various locations. The Russo house is on Shanty Bay in Barrie, Ont., the main street in the fictional town of Wentworth, where the skaters live, is downtown Orillia. A Wasaga Beach arena was used for qualifiers, the CAA Centre in Brampton stood in for a Paris arena for Worlds, and some scenes were actually shot in Paris, France.

It’s no coincidence either, that the Winter Olympics were happening around the same time as the show’s release.

“It was very deliberate,” said Norton, when the show was pitched in the autumn of 2024. “We will have a drama on the platform at the same time as people are excited about the sports at the Winter Olympics, particularly ice dance and figure skating.”

Norton gives much credit to the cast and crew, and since there is only one book, he is already sketching ideas for the second season.

“I’ve been working very diligently on a plan for Season 2 and an outline for all of the characters, which really follows the trajectory that we started in Season 1. Now, I don’t want to spoil anything…”

Season 1 of Finding Her Edge is available on Netflix.

Featured image courtesy of Netflix.

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Featured, North of North

APTN, CBC and Netflix renew North of North

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From a media release:

APTN, CBC and Netflix have renewed NORTH OF NORTH for a second season. Series star Anna Lambe announced the renewal on social media tonight. This news comes on the heels of the comedy series’ successful first season launch on APTN, CBC and Netflix, having instantly captivated audiences in Canada and around the world.

NORTH OF NORTH stars Lambe (True Detective, Trickster, The Grizzlies) as Siaja, a young Inuk woman who dreams of reinventing herself in her tiny Arctic community of Ice Cove, a town where everybody knows your business. After a spontaneous — and extremely public — exit from her marriage, Siaja finds herself navigating the unpredictable, and often hilarious, highs and lows that come with relationships, motherhood, a new job, and finding your way. The first season also features actors Maika Harper, Braeden Clarke, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jay Ryan, Zorga Qaunaq, Bailey Poching, Kelly William, Keira Belle Cooper and Nutaaq Doreen Simmonds.

The series first premiered in Canada on APTN and CBC in January 2025 and then globally on Netflix in April 2025. NORTH OF NORTH was the most-watched new series on CBC Gem since the launch of the streaming platform.* Additionally, the comedy was one of the most-watched programs on CBC among the A25-54 demographic.** On APTN, NORTH OF NORTH was among the top-performing new scripted shows during the Winter 2025 season and the top new program on APTN lumi. Globally NORTH OF NORTH debuted at No. 9 on Netflix’s global top 10 for English-language television series the week of its Netflix release on April 10. The series also broke into Netflix’s top 10 in 27 countries.

An APTN, CBC and Netflix original series, NORTH OF NORTH is produced by Red Marrow Media and Northwood Entertainment. The series is created, executive produced and written by writer and producer Stacey Aglok MacDonald (Qanurli, The Grizzlies) and filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Angry Inuk, The Grizzlies) of Red Marrow Media and executive produced by Miranda de Pencier of Northwood Entertainment (Anne with an E, Beginners, The Grizzlies). Anya Adams (Yellowjackets, Ginny & Georgia), Susan Coyne (Mozart in the Jungle, Daisy Jones & The Six) and Garry Campbell (The Kids in the Hall, Less Than Kind) also executive produced the first season.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Marblemedia’s critically-acclaimed Netflix hit competition series, Blown Away is set to return this fall for Season 4 with Blown Away: Extreme Heat

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From a media release:

Blown Away is back and things are about to get EXTREME. We’re going bigger, badder, and bolder than ever in North America’s largest hot shop. Ten incredible glassblowers will try and brave the heat in a grueling competition to see if they can push their creative limits enough to win the largest grand prize in the history of the series.

The artists must create jaw dropping works of art if they want to avoid elimination and impress Resident Evaluator and Glass Master Katherine Gray. Hosted by Hunter March, Blown Away: Extreme Heat promises to be a fiery competition like no other.

About the new host:
Currently, Hunter is hosting the fourth season of Netflix’s BLOWN AWAY: EXTREME HEAT, a one-of-a-kind glassblowing competition. Most recently before this, Hunter was the host of E!’s late-night talk show NIGHTLY POP, where he and co-hosts Morgan Stewart & Nina Parker attacked top headlines and juicy gossip without the boundaries of daytime television. For over 650 episodes, their snarky banter and humorous anecdotes often veered from the unexpected to completely outrageous. March also served as host of Netflix’s wildly popular competition show SUGAR RUSH, which pits best-in-class bakers against one another. Prior to that, Hunter served as the witty host of the comedic gameshow EMOGENIUS for GSN. Finally, Hunter also hosts his own weekly relationship advice podcast, FRIENDS WITHOUT BENS, with co-host Alex Ovadia.

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Industry News, Tall Pines

Netflix announces new limited series Tall Pines with creator and co-showrunner Mae Martin

From a media release:

  • Netflix today announced a limited series order for TALL PINES, a thriller from Mae Martin. Martin will also play a leading role in the show.
  • Logline: TALL PINES is a thriller set in a bucolic but sinister town that explores the insidious underbelly of the “troubled teen industry” and the eternal struggle between one generation and the next.
  • Format / Episodes: 8 episode Limited Series
  • Creator / Co-Showrunner / Executive Producer: Mae Martin (Mae Martin: SAP, Feel Good, The Flight Attendant)
  • Co-Showrunner / Executive Producer: Ryan Scott (Servant, Treadstone, Fear The Walking Dead)
  • Executive Producers: Ben Farrell, producing through his company, Objective Fiction (Feel Good, The Gold), Hannah Mackay (Peep Show, Year of the Rabbit), Jennifer Kawaja (Sort Of, The Porter, Cardinal), Bruno Dubé (Transplant, The Sticky)
  • Production Company: Sphere Media
    • Mae Martin: “Tall Pines is a story I’ve been dying to tell for years, and I’m beyond excited for people to see what we have in store! It’s going to be an insane roller coaster and so different to anything I’ve done before. Very very grateful to Netflix for supporting it, and I can’t wait to get going.”
    • Ben Farrell, Chief Creative Officer, Executive Producer, Objective Fiction: “Tall Pines is a truly gripping, intergenerational mystery thriller. Objective Fiction is delighted to be partnering with Netflix and Sphere Media to bring Mae Martin’s latest creation to the screen.”
    • Jennifer Kawaja, President English Scripted, Executive Producer, Sphere Media: “This is a fantastic project and Sphere is thrilled to be part of the team, with Netflix and Objective Fiction, producing work with a unique Canadian voice at its center.”
    • Danielle Woodrow, Director, Content – Canada, Netflix: “Tall Pines is a wildly entertaining story that explores the complex and sometimes twisted relationship between teens and adults. We’re thrilled to be working with a singular talent like Mae and bringing their unique voice to one of our first commissions for Netflix Canada.”

About Sphere Media

Sphere Media is one of Canada’s preeminent scripted content companies. In current release are several multi-award award-winning series – half hour Peabody notable dramedy Sort Of (CBC/HBO Max/Sky/Viaplay), currently nominated for a Rockie award and multiple Canadian Screen Awards; Primetime Emmy and Indie Spirit nominated 1920s period drama The Porter (CBC/BET+); and International Emmy nominated Transplant (Bell Media/NBC/NBCU), both also nominated for multiple CSA’s.  Other recent credits include Variety Top 25 Trickster (CBC/Sky/ AMC), critically acclaimed Cardinal (Bell Media/BBC/Hulu) and 19-2 (Bell Media). They are currently in production with new seasons of Sort Of, and Transplant as well as The Sticky, a limited half hour series with Blumhouse and Amazon. 

About Objective Fiction

With bases in London and Los Angeles, Objective Fiction is a leading producer of distinct and celebrated scripted stories for the screen. Productions include multi-award-winning Feel Good for Netflix; Year of the Rabbit for IFC; Toast of Tinseltown, Eric, Ernie and Me and Witless for BBC; The Larkins for ITV; Peep Show, Toast of London, GameFace and Fresh Meat for C4, and via Tannadice Pictures, The Gold for BBC/Paramount+. Objective Fiction is part of Objective Media Group, an All3Media company.

Image courtesy of Joseph Sinclair.

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