Programs from Elliot Page’s production company and the team behind comedy Letterkenny are among Paramount+’s latest Canadian slate.
The streamer’s strategy in Canada was unveiled today at the Banff World Media Festival, with a line-up of four projects in development and an original documentary from documentary filmmaker Dianne Whelan (This Land, 40 Days at Basecamp).
Actor and producer Page’s Page Boy Productions and Canadian producer heavyweight Muse Entertainment are working up Len & Cub, a limited six-part series dramatizing the secret relationship of two young men in rural 20th-century New Brunswick whose story came to light when a box of photos was recently discovered in an estate sale. Lynne Kamm is writing.
Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story is a scripted comedy from New Metric Media, the company behind Letterkenny, about the scandal of the titular Johnson, the former Canadian sprinter who went from “hero to zero in 9.79 seconds.” Johnson broke the 100m world record but was later found to have used performance enhancing drugs. Anthony Q Farrell (The Office U.S.) is writing.
Elsewhere, Carpe Demon is a one-hour genre series based on the book series from Julie Kenner about a frazzled suburban mom who has a massive secret: she used to be a demon hunter. Out of practice and overwhelmed, she has no choice but to get back in the game when her supernatural past comes calling. Emily Andras (Wynonna Earp, Lost Girl) is showrunner and the producers are December Films, Cineflix Studios, Gina Marcheschi and Jon Brown.
They Drive at Night is a dark comedy genre series about best friends, a vampire and werewolf, who go on a road trip across Canadian. Craig Wallace (Murdoch Mysteries) is writing and Black Birds Media is producing.
The doc is 500 Days in the Wild, which will launch in the fall. It follows filmmaker Whelan, who ecorded a solo self-recorded journey travelling across Canada in 2015 after feeling disillusioned with the state of the world. Betsy Carson is the producer with executive producers being Christine Haebler and Whelan for Rebel Sisters Productions. It’s distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.
Also on the slate is The Boy in the Woods, which is billed as “the remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.” It’s based on the memoir of the same name from Maxwell Smart. Lumanity Productions and JoBro Productions are producing in association with Paramount+ and Photon Films is the distributor.
On the acquisitions front, Paramount+ has also bought Canadian feature films Midnight At The Paradise from LevelFILM, currently slated for 2023, along with All The Lost Ones, Café Daughter, Orah and Who’s Yer Father? for 2024.
In Canada, Paramount currently operates the SVoD service and free-TV streamer Pluto TV, which offers 45 dedicated Canadian channels through an ad sales and content partnerships with Corus Entertainment. It also operates networks from Blue Ant Media and The Weather Channel and on July 1 adds three more networks: Truly Canadian, Pluto TV Documentaries and The Red Green Show Channel.
“Paramount+ is known for content that is entertaining. Our strategy includes partnering with the most exciting creators in the country, like we did with this first slate of projects,” said Katrina Kowalski, Vice President, Content, Paramount+ and Pluto TV Canada. “Storytelling captures viewers’ hearts and minds, and Paramount+ in Canada is proud to be working with local partners who are just as passionate as we are.”
”We are proud of today’s announcement which is the result of thoughtful dialog with the Canadian production community. Paramount Streaming has a robust team of Canadians working directly on the business; we know this is the key to our success in the market, and we are proud to give the Canadian creative community an opportunity to shine both at home and around the world,” said Doug Smith, SVP Streaming & Content Licensing, Canada, Paramount Global.