FOUNDING PARTNERS
Episode 14: (Re)making a difference
Does Canada have a formats problem? Media Headquarters CEO and exec producer Robert Cohen and Proper Television co-president Cathie James reflect on why the country’s producers create first-class remakes, but struggles with originals.
Episode 27: The Ottawa affair
At the 25th annual Prime Time in Ottawa conference, Adam Benzine spoke to attendees and gathered reactions to the publication of the landmark BTLR report, which proposed sweeping reforms for Canada's broadcasting, telecoms and VOD landscape.
Episode 26: Making a list, checking it twice
Adam Benzine sits down with media critics Tina Hassannia and Norm Wilner to discuss the greatest TV shows of the decade, and the prospects for Canadian television in 2020 and beyond.
Episode 25: The backstage conversation, vol. 2
Continuing the green-room roundtables recorded at our 2019 conference, Adam Benzine talks family co-viewing with execs from Marblemedia, Corus and the Shaw Rocket Fund, before examining the growth of niche streaming services with execs from Crunchyroll and Topic.
Episode 24: Backstage with the buyers
Adam Benzine sits down with Rogers Media’s Nataline Rodrigues and Bell Media’s Pat DiVittorio, as well international buyers and commissioners from A&E, Lifetime and Discovery Kids Latin America, to discuss the types of TV programming they’re looking for.
Episode 23: The Big N
Adam Benzine recaps the month’s big news, and showrunner Michael MacLennan interviews Netflix’s director of original series Lisa Hamilton Daly, to discuss the best ways for Canadian producers to work with the streamer.
Episode 22: The messenger
With the 20th annual ImagineNative festival starting next week, Adam Benzine sits down with Alanis Obomsawin, Canada’s foremost Indigenous filmmaker, to discuss the First Nations issues that have formed the backbone of her five-decade career.
Episode 21: Tait modern
Fifteen months into her tenure as president and CEO of Canada’s national public broadcaster, CBC head Catherine Tait talks to Adam Benzine about battling fake news, the upcoming general election, the need for international partnerships, and her beef with Netflix.
Episode 20: The diversification game
In the first instalment of our Spotlight series, recorded live at the 2019 Content Canada conference, Adam Benzine talks to Sean Cohan, president of Wheelhouse Entertainment, about the firm’s multi-tiered approach to content production.
Episode 19: The backstage conversation, vol. 1
In the first of our green-room roundtables, recorded at the 2019 Content Canada conference, Adam Benzine discusses building an international business with execs from eOne, Electus and Boat Rocker, before talking podcasts with creatives from Viacom, Propagate and Serial Box.
Episode 18: Welcome to Toronto
Ahead of our second annual Toronto conference, Content Canada CEO Ferne Cohen and editor Adam Benzine offer an overview and select some highlights in store for next week's two-day event.
Episode 17: The festival of festivals
With the 44th Toronto International Film Festival kicking off next week, programmers for TIFF’s Special Presentations, Contemporary World Cinema and Canadian Features strands tell Adam Benzine what to expect from this year’s event.
Episode 16: Corus line
Following this month's Corus Entertainment Upfront, EVP Troy Reeb and the showrunners for Prodigal Son, Carol’s Second Act and The Unicorn talk Content Canada through the drama and comedy acquisitions heading to Global this fall.
Episode 15: Upfront and personal
At the CBC Upfront in Toronto, a variety of network execs, producers, creatives and talent tell Adam Benzine what to expect from the public broadcaster's forthcoming winter/fall programming.
Episode 13: In the Hot seat
With the Hot Docs festival kicking off next week in Toronto, industry programs director Elizabeth Radshaw and director of programming Shane Smith tell Adam Benzine what to expect at the 26th annual non-fiction event.
Episode 12: And the winner is…
Ahead of seventh annual Canadian Screen Awards Gala this Sunday, the Canadian Academy’s CEO Beth Janson and chairman Martin Katz tell Adam Benzine how the awards show and the organization are evolving to better reflect the state of the industry.
Episode 11: Pen to paper
Screenwriters Caitlin D. Fryers, Julia Puckrin and Christopher Roberts sit down with Adam Benzine to discuss their WGC award-nominated screenplays, as well as the opportunities and the state of the industry for screenwriting in Canada.
Episode 10: Park City powwow, pt. 2
In the second of two round-table discussions recorded at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, the directors of three Canadian-financed documentaries talk to Adam Benzine about the global challenges facing non-fiction filmmakers.
Episode 9: Three Canadians walk into a bar…
At the PrimeTime in Ottawa conference, New Metric Media president Mark Montefiore and Vérité Films president Virginia Thompson – the creative forces behind shows such as Letterkenny and Corner Gas – spoke to Adam Benzine about the state of comedy in Canada.
Episode 8: Park City powwow, pt. 1
In the first of two round-table discussions recorded at last week’s Sundance Film Festival, three episodic creators sit down with Adam Benzine to discuss the challenges of making independent TV content.
Episode 7: Canadians get jiggy in Miami
As NATPE kicks off in Florida, Content Canada talks to buyers from Netflix, Blue Ant Media, Radio-Canada and ZoomerMedia about the changing landscape for rights and deal-making.
Episode 6: A woman’s place
Mary Kills People executive producer Tassie Cameron and Saving Hope exec producer Ilana Frank discuss the changing landscape for women working in the Canadian and international television industry.
Episode 5: Pre-sale predicaments
At AFM in Santa Monica, Storyboard Media’s Elisabeth Costa de Beauregard and Brightlight Pictures’ Shawn Williamson break down the rapidly shifting pre-sales market for movies and minis.
Episode 4: Transition moments
Barbara Williams, Corus Entertainment’s outgoing exec VP and COO, reflects on the shifting Canadian landscape, while YouTube’s Jon Wax discusses his drama strategy.
Episode 3: Broken news
CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta discusses the challenges for 21st century journalism and the hazy line between celebrities and career politicians.
Episode 2: The state of Canadian documentaries
Canadian documentarians Ric Esther Bienstock, Liz Marshall and Charles Officer discuss the state of the country’s non-fiction business.
Episode 1: Kidding around
In the first episode of the Content Canada podcast we hear from David Holstein and Judy Greer about Showtime’s new original series, Kidding.
