Tag Archives: wendy crewson

Headline, Industry News

Movie Central 2007/2008 lineup

Leave a comment

TORONTO, Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central announced today highlights from its 2007/2008 schedule. As the home of HBO and Showtime, compelling original programming and blockbuster films, Movie Central continues to bring Western Canada the best that pay television has to offer.

"With more than a dozen new and returning original HBO programs, a raft of Showtime productions, three original Canadian drama series in the works, as well as the latest Hollywood blockbusters viewers have come to expect from Movie Central, the coming season promises to be very exciting," said Andrew Eddy, Vice President, Programming Strategy and Investment, Movie Central.

"With new premieres every week, as well as access to programming in HD and On Demand, Movie Central provides its audience with a continuous and unmatched selection of exceptional and groundbreaking programming all year round."

NEW PROGRAMMING INFORMATION

BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES

Hollywood blockbuster titles premiering this September include Babel, The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, The Queen, Marie Antoinette and Pursuit of Happiness. Box-office hits coming this October include: Borat!, Casino Royale, Pan’s Labyrinth and Volver.

HBO DRAMA SERIES

Tell Me You Love Me

The highly anticipated, drama/comedy series Tell Me You Love Me focuses on three couple’ connection, or disconnection, between sex and intimacy. They all share a therapist, Dr. May Foster, who counsels the couples in the different stages of their relationships. Jamie and Hugo, in their 20’s, are engaged, but dealing with fidelity issues. Thirty-something’s Carolyn and Palek are frustrated by their inability to get pregnant, and Dave and Katie,

in their 40’s, have a committed relationship but have stopped having sex. This boundary-pushing one-hour series also stars Jane Alexander (Emmy® winner for Warm Springs; four-time Oscar® nominee), Michelle Borth (Wonderland), Tim DeKay (Carnivale), Aislinn Paul (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Adam Scott
(Knocked Up), Kate Towne (Blades of Glory), Sonya Walger (Lost), Ally Walker (Profiler) and Luke Kirby (Slings & Arrows). Tell Me You Love Me premieres

September 9 at 10 p.m. PT

Five Days

This five-part BBC and HBO miniseries explores the disappearance of Leanne, a young mother in a quiet British suburb, and the circumstances that leave her children abandoned far from home. This intricate thriller tracks five 24-hour periods following her abduction. As each episode unravels, it becomes clear that nobody is as they appear to be and the investigation into Leanne’s disappearance provides surprises at every corner. Series stars David Oyelowo, Hugh Bonneville, Janet McTeer, Penelope Wilton, Patrick Malahide and Sarah Smart and premieres in October.

Other new HBO series to join the lineup later in the 2007/2008 schedule, along with season five of the Peabody Award-winning cop drama The Wire and season five of Entourage, are: In Treatment, a serialized comedy executive produced by Mark Wahlberg and starring Gabriel Byrne as a psychiatrist who escapes his own patients by seeing a therapist himself; John Adams, a miniseries about the American Revolution starring Paul Giamatti and executive

produced by Tom Hanks; 12 Miles of Bad Road, starring Lili Tomlin as the matriarch of a wealthy Texas real estate family whose business and outrageous wealth complicate even the smallest family matter; and Generation Kill, a miniseries about a group of young Marines whose unit is part of the first wave of American military assault on Baghdad. The seven-part series is executive produced and co-written by David Simon and Ed Burns, the team behind the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire.

HBO ORIGINAL FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES

Children of God: Lost and Found In this documentary, filmmaker Noah Thompson tells the story of his search for his siblings and other young deserters from the Christian cult "The Children of God" where they were brought up. Premieres on Thursday,

September 6 at 7 p.m. PT

Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq The Sopranos star James Gandolfini returns to the small screen as the executive producer of the documentary Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq, a poignant portrait of the lives of U.S. soldiers upon returning from Iraq.

Premieres on Sunday, September 9 at 7 p.m. PT.

Pinochet’s Last Stand

The HBO original film Pinochet’s Last Stand tells the story of Chilean General Augusto Pinochet’s Amnesty International house arrest in the U.K. for crimes against humanity in his own country and his controversial relationship with former ally and then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Premieres on Tuesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. PT.

Little Rock High: 50 Years Later

The shocking tale of desegregation in 1957 at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and the current state of modern racial divisions 50 years later. Premieres on Tuesday, September 25 at 7 p.m. PT.

All programs are available in Eastern Canada on The Movie Network.

SHOWTIME DRAMA SERIES

As home to Showtime in Western Canada, Movie Central introduces new seasons of the highly acclaimed and award-winning dramas Dexter and Brotherhood this fall, airing back-to-back and day-and-date with the U.S.

Dexter Season 2

Returning for another season of suspense Dexter, based on Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, follows Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a forensic investigator for the Miami Police Department, who takes the law into his own hands by killing the criminal and morally bankrupt who are above the law or who have slipped through the cracks of justice. Joining the cast is award-winning actor Keith Carradine (Deadwood) as Lt. Frank Lundy, Special Agent for the FBI, who is brought on board to investigate a gruesome find of dead bodies in Miami. The series also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Lauren Velez, Julie Benz, Erik King, David Zayas and James Remar and premieres on Sunday,

September 30 at 8 p.m. PT.

Brotherhood Season 2

The old-world code of street justice and loyalty rule in this mobster drama about two brothers living on "The Hill," an Irish-American neighbourhood in the port city of Providence, Rhode Island. The second season of this critically-acclaimed series, recently honoured with a prestigious Peabody Award and called a "masterpiece" by the Associated Press, brings Tony®Award-winning actor Brian F. O’Byrne on as a series regular for season two. O’Byrne will play Colin Carr, a cousin of the Caffee brothers who comes to Providence from Ireland and gets involved in the criminal world on The Hill. The series also stars Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke, Annabeth Gish, Ethan Embry, Kevin Chapman, Fiona Erickson and Fionnula Flanagan and premieres on Sunday, September 30 at 9 p.m. PT.

CANADIAN ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES

Recognized as a major force in producing world-class dramatic series for pay TV, with visionary projects, strong creative teams, exceptional writing and cinematic production values, Movie Central is proud to announce its lineup of upcoming original productions. All three original series are produced in collaboration with and broadcast on The Movie Network in Eastern Canada.

ZOS: Zone of Separation

Debuting in early 2008 and produced by Whizbang Films (H2O and Men with Brooms) the eight-part series ZOS: Zone of Separation explores the life-and-death struggle to enforce a United Nations-brokered ceasefire, as peacekeepers face the harsh reality of living in a violent Zone of Separation.

The Weight

This eight-part series tells the story of Max and Donny, two cops who are often as morally ambiguous as the criminals they pursue. Created and written by critically-acclaimed playwright/screenwriter George F. Walker (This is Wonderland and Criminals in Love) and Dani Romain (This is Wonderland) and produced by The Nightingale Company, the story is told from a cop’s point of view. Series premieres in 2008.

ReGenesis Season 4

ReGenesis returns to the schedule for a fourth season in 2008. Exploring the threat of science on society the award-winning drama has been sold to over 100 countries around the world including the U.S. and stars Peter Outerbridge and Wendy Crewson.

Front Page, Industry News

Movie Central and the Movie Network present season three of ReGenesis

Leave a comment

TORONTO, – Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (western Canada) and Astral Media’s The Movie Network (eastern Canada) present season three of the Gemini Award-winning series ReGenesis with two back-to-back episodes premiering on Sunday, April 1 at 7 p.m. PT on Movie Central and 8 p.m. ET on The Movie Network.

Six months after an explosion that nearly destroyed the NorBAC (North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission) lab, David Sandstrvm (Peter Outerbridge, Detective Murdoch Mysteries) and his team of scientists struggle to rebuild and recover. With key members of NorBAC killed in the explosion, a new virologist, Rachel Woods (Wendy Crewson, Criminal Instinct: The Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries) has joined the team as it attempts to unravel a myriad of global threats, including bacteria that has evolved into an explosive compound; a mercury contamination that threatens California’s water supply; and bio-terrorism that has landed on North American soil.

Also new to the cast this season is Geraint Wyn Davies (Slings & Arrows)as Carlton Riddlemeyer, the new U.S. science czar – and former husband of Rachel Woods – who threatens to pull U.S. funding for NorBAC unless the team can prove its value. Guest-starring as the mysterious Olivier Roth in the season’s final episode is Victor Garber (Alias).

In the opening episodes, Sandstrvm and Bob Melnikov (Dmitry Chepovetsky,Man of the Year) are called to investigate a lab explosion in Utah; was it an accident or is someone trying to shut down another lab? The NorBAC team delves into the lab’s groundbreaking work, which would have had a huge environmental impact. Meanwhile, Rachel studies the DNA of her godson’s alleged killer, whose crime was caught on tape but whose DNA isn’t a match.

This season, Carlos Serrano (Conrad Pla, The Terminal) investigates a deadly strain of c.difficile that has killed many people, including an old friend; Bob deals with an injury sustained in the blast that threatens his ability to continue to work at NorBAC; Mayko Tran (Mayko Nguyen, Mysterious Ways) copes with the physical and emotional scars left in the wake of the bomb blast; Wes Field (Greg Bryk, A History of Violence) becomes the interim director at NorBAC, and must also deal with the pregnancy of his 12-year-old niece who claims to be a virgin; and Owen (Michael Seater, Life With Derek) considers experimental gene therapy that could cure his addictive behaviour.
"The international success of Canadian pay-TV’s flagship series, ReGenesis, is proof that there’s an appetite for the kind of sophisticated, thought-provoking dramas that Canadian Pay delivers," said Shelley Gillen, Head of Creative and Business Affairs, Movie Central. "Our original programming strategy is built on the assumption that our series can rival the world’s best. ReGenesis has met that challenge and demonstrates that the future of high-quality Canadian dramatic story-telling is pay-TV."
"ReGenesis has generated a loyal fan base both here at home and abroad, and we’re thrilled to see it enter its third season which we believe is the strongest yet. Great performances, superior production values, and current storylines are just a few of the things that make this series a pay-TV success story," said Michelle Marion, Director, Canadian Independent Production, The Movie Network.

New this season, ReGenesis fans can access an exclusive weekly video blog (Vlog) at www.moviecentral.ca and www.themovienetwork.ca. The Vlog is posted by NorBAC’s bioinformatics researcher Mayko Tran (Mayko Nguyen), who shares her thoughts regarding the reconstruction of the lab, her life and everything that’s affected the team in the past six months. The series is also supported online by an award-winning Web presence at www.regenesistv.com where a virtual tour of the NorBAC lab or link to the "Facts behind the Fiction" of every episode is available, courtesy of the Ontario Genomics Institute.

Headline, Industry News

Wendy Crewson Actra Award

Leave a comment

Toronto, December 15, 2006 – ACTRA Toronto Performers announced today that Wendy Crewson will receive ACTRA Toronto’s 2006 Award of Excellence. 

“Wendy Crewson is so deserving of this honour for her ongoing contributions to our film and television industry – both as an award-winning actor and as a star who graciously leads the fight for our culture,” said Karl Pruner, President of ACTRA Toronto Performers. “I’m very pleased that at the ACTRA Awards next February we will pay tribute to Wendy by presenting her with our 2007 ACTRA Award of Excellence.”

Ms. Crewson enjoys a successful career in both Canada and the U.S. She has eight Gemini nominations, four of them wins, and she won a Gemini Humanitarian Award in 2002 for her charitable work for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). She has portrayed multiple Canadian newsmakers including Sue Rodriguez (At The End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story), Jane Doe (The Many Trials of One Jane Doe), and Louise Arbour (Hunt for Justice). Selected credits include Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, The Man Who Lost Himself, Sex Traffic and Perfect Pie, Air Force One, 24, all three installments of The Santa Clause, Niagara Motel and Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride. Ms. Crewson recently joined the cast of ReGenesis.

A passionate advocate for Canadian culture, Ms. Crewson has been outspoken in calling for more homegrown dramas on television and increased exposure for Canadian films. She is a key player in ACTRA’s efforts to demand action from politicians and the CRTC to fix the Canadian television drama crisis. She continues to be determined and willing to speak out for Canadian artists.

The annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto recognize outstanding performances by ACTRA Toronto members and celebrate accomplishment and excellence in our industry. Three juried awards will be presented in addition to the Award of Excellence: two ACTRA Awards for Outstanding Performance, male and female, and for the first time, an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Performance, voice. The 2007 ACTRA Awards in Toronto take place on Friday, February 23, 2007, at The Carlu.

ACTRA Toronto Performers is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 13,000 of Canada’s 21,000 professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven organization that continues to secure the rights and respect for the work of professional performers.

Headline, Industry News

Stars demand action from CRTC

Leave a comment

Ottawa – Canadian stars including Wendy Crewson, Sonja Smits, Fiona Reid, and R.H. Thomson spoke out today about the Canadian TV drama crisis during the first day of CRTC public hearings. ACTRA has been sounding the alarm about the crisis in Canadian television drama for years, and demands that the CRTC fix its disastrous 1999 Television Policy.

“Our culture defines us as a nation yet we can’t hear or see ourselves when regulations encourage Canadian broadcasters to show American drama series and movies,” said ReGenesis star Wendy Crewson. “Canadian broadcasters are filling their prime-time slots with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of U.S.-made drama programs. We’ve been shut out of our own home.”

The CRTC commenced its review of the regulatory framework for Canadian over-the-air television on November 27, 2006. ACTRA formally presents before the CRTC on December 4, 2006.

“These hearings are crucial for fixing the destructive policy that removed spending requirements for Canadian broadcasters as they continue to spend an all-time high on American programming,” said October 1970 star R. H. Thomson. “Canadian stories and dramas are being marginalized more than ever on our public airwaves. We are pleased to see that CRTC has recognized the problem and hope that they will now address it.”

ACTRA’s submission calls for regulations requiring Canada’s private broadcasters to spend at least 7% of their advertising revenues on new Canadian English-language drama programming and to schedule at least two hours more of new Canadian dramas in real prime-time (Sunday to Thursday, 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.).

ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is a national organization of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 21,000 members across Canada – the foundation of Canada’s highly acclaimed professional performing community.

Headline, Industry News

Canadian stars send wake-up call

Leave a comment

TORONTO – Canada’s star performers including Sonja Smits, Fiona Reid,Sarah Polley, Gordon Pinsent, Eric Peterson, Wendy Crewson and Tom McCamus gave producers a wake-up call today, saying they won’t accept producer proposals or work with producers on the terms presented to ACTRA during negotiations for a new film and television agreement (IPA).

In response to producer rollback demands, the performers have signed a letter saying, "We won’t accept these proposals or anything like them.

We won’t accept engagements with producers on these terms. We demand to be treated with the dignity and respect we deserve. We want our bargaining committee to do whatever is required to win a fair new contract, with our support."

The performers have a message for their Canadian actor colleagues. Their letter, sent to 21,000 ACTRA members across the country, says, "If you don’t want to take a 10-25% pay cut, or see your residuals dwindle and working conditions deteriorate – then we urge you to join us in rejecting these proposals. That means committing to refuse engagements on these unacceptable terms, no matter what happens in the months to come."

November 2, 2006

Dear fellow performer,

We the undersigned are colleagues of yours. We’re fellow actors, and fellow members of ACTRA.

We want to share with you our support for ACTRA’s negotiating committee. And we want to urge you to stand strong and united with ACTRA against the producers’ proposals that would gut the Independent Production Agreement – the main ACTRA agreement we all work under.

Here’s what’s going on.

On October 23 and October 24, ACTRA’s bargaining committee met with negotiators representing the producers. The producers want:
• Pay cuts of 10% to 25% on substantially every Canadian production.

• They want to attack our residuals system—including lengthening the term from four years to seven years before you receive residuals.

• They want to take huge steps backwards on working conditions – including regressing to a ten-hour turnaround.

• They want free rein to use and re-use performers’ work on the Internet, in mobisodes, and other digital media however they see fit, with no additional pay to performers.

• They proposed numerous other steps that would take us back fifteen years.

Our bargaining committee has told the producers’ associations they won’t accept these proposals. They asked for our support and our opinion.

Here’s what we said…We won’t accept these proposals or anything like them. We won’t accept engagements with producers on these terms. We demand to be treated with the dignity and respect we deserve.

We want our bargaining committee to do whatever is required to win a fair new contract, with our support. We want to send our fellow ACTRA members a letter, so here it is. And here’s what we’d like to say

to you:

If you don’t want to take a 10-25% pay cut, or see your residuals dwindle and working conditions deteriorate – then we urge you to join us in rejecting these proposals.

That means committing to refuse engagements on these unacceptable terms, no matter what happens in the months to come. As individual performers we are strong. But together – as a union of performers – we will win this battle. We are second to none.

ACTRA and the CFTPA/APFTQ began negotiations for a new film and television agreement (IPA) on October 23. ACTRA has filed for conciliation. A mediator has been appointed and the two sides next meet on November 14. The current IPA expires December 31, 2006.