CTV's The Bridge & Global's Pilot Slate

CTV HAS JUST ordered eleven episodes of a new scripted series called The Bridge. From the release:

Based on the insights of veteran insider and outspoken former Toronto police union head Craig Bromell, CTV has ordered 11, one-hour episodes, following the production of a two-hour pilot shot in Toronto last summer. THE BRIDGE provides an unflinching look at the struggle street cops face as they not only battle criminals - but also their own bosses - in order to protect society and, ultimately, themselves.

Produced by Barna-Alper Productions, an Entertainment One company, 990 Multi Media Entertainment Company and Jonsworth Productions, in association with CTV, production of THE BRIDGE is scheduled to begin in 2009.

THE BRIDGE becomes the third, new original drama series to be ordered by CTV in the last year, joining last summer’s breakout hit FLASHPOINT and THE LISTENER, currently in production.

“Craig Bromell is one of the most galvanizing figures in the history of policing in Canada,” said Susanne Boyce, President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc. “We look forward to working with him on THE BRIDGE, and bringing to Canadian audiences a distinct and authentic view of life behind the scenes of a modern police force.”

“We set out to make the most realistic two-hour movie drama about cops ever seen on TV, and it has paid off,” said Craig Bromell, Executive Producer, 990 Multi Media Entertainment Company. “We expose the inner workings of a big city police force - the police, power and politics behind the blue line. It’s something that hasn’t been seen before on TV, and we’re grateful to CTV for this opportunity..”

Written by five-time Gemini Award winner and six-time nominee Alan Di Fiore (DA VINCI’S INQUEST, THE LIFE, THE HANDLER), THE BRIDGE peels away the veneer of a big-city Canadian police force to reveal the political machinations underneath. After the rank and file unanimously vote street cop Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) into office as union head, he begins his quest to put street cops first and clean up the force from the ground up.

But the old boys’ network running the police force and the city’s self-serving politicians are not about to sit idly by while a former street cop makes up his own rules. Frank walks a thin blue line as he battles wiretaps and a concerted campaign to bring him down, letting nothing stop him from fulfilling his unwavering vow that when cops are in trouble, the union will be there.

There's a lot going for this project, starting with DiFiore and Fawcett. They've also assembled a great cast -- Aaron Douglas was the Chief, and usually the heart, of Galactica, as well as Ona Grauer (who was originally in Flashpoint before the role was recast, post-pilot, at CBS' behest) Inga Cadranel (Frannie on Rent-A-Goalie) and Frank Cassini.

I have to admit, I'm a little uncomfortable with the glorification of Bromell. I think it's great that CTV acknowledges that he was a 'galvanizing' force, but that's kind of an understatement.

His tenure as union head of the Toronto force was controversial in the extreme. He headed up the Operation True Blue campaign, and was contemptuous of civilian oversight. Yup, he fought for his cops, and they loved him for it. But there was much about the man's methods that sent a chill through portions of the city.

One time, when I was worked at CityTV, I found myself leaving work one day in the midst of a Bromell-led wildcat strike. As people left the building, they were treated to catcalls by dozens of police -- some in uniform -- waiting outside. It was the single most sinister thing I've ever been invovled with; really, really upsetting. Seriously, you have no idea what it's like to be catcalled and harassed by dozens of cops. Brrr. I've never really felt the same way about the Toronto Police since. (Before that they'd come to my assistance a couple of key times in my life. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, but...man.)

But here's the thing: the writer in me, the TV guy in me, rather than being turned off by that, is attracted to it. Because it's frightening, and edgy, and potentially explosive. And very, very real. I find the prospect of a show with Bromell's involvement incredibly exciting. That impulse, the "oh, man, I don't know about this..." could just be lightning in a bottle. We've seen the "thin blue line" done from the outsider perspective. Here's the opportunity for a show that could be exciting and different. I'll sure as hell watch. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it from being an in-the-tank hagiography of Bromell. If the creatives and Bromell can keep it from being too one-sided, if they allow his Douglas-inspired doppleganger to be the anti-hero he should be rather than an apologia for a misunderstood cop, well, this might just be the most exciting Canadian TV series ever. Imagine the fights in that story department! The discussions, the arguments, the back and forth? We could use our own version of The Shield -- where Mackey is both disturbing and sympathetic. If they can bottle that? Wow.

And imagine the publicity tour.

Meanwhile, Canwest has released new details about those upcoming drama pilots they ordered last week:

The one hour drama Shattered, a Force Four Films Ltd./Blueprint Film and Television Ltd. production to be shot in B.C., will be directed by Bobby Roth (Prison Break). The roster of acting talent confirmed today also includes Callum Keith Rennie (Californication, Battlestar Gallactica, Hard Core Logo) as the series lead, Kyle Logan, an ex-cop with a multiple personality disorder.

I was worried that Global might get scooped on this because of My Own Worst Enemy. But that Slater-vehicle on NBC doesn't look like it's lighting any fires, so maybe there's hope for this. I love Rennie. I'm really enjoying him in Californication right now.

EDIT: a commenter below says he's read Drew's script for Shattered and it's great. Awesome! Now all they have to do is not screw up the execution somehow!

David Wellington (Would Be Kings, The Eleventh Hour) directs the House of Films Inc./Four Seasons Productions Inc. drama Clean, to be shot in Toronto. Ben Bass (The Eleventh Hour, Law and Order, Queer as Folk) is cast in the lead role Bobby Gould, an addiction counselor with Tom McCamus (Shake Hands with the Devil, Queer as Folk, Slings and Arrows) confirmed as a series regular, Dr. Wilson McKenna, CEO of Happy Valley Treatment Facility. Sonja Bennet (Young People F(*)cking, Control Alt Delete) plays Caroline, one of Bobby’s colleagues.

This pilot shot out of the same Production Office complex as The Border. Wellington's a good Director, and the script is by a really interesting playwright named Adam Pettle who's branching into TV. I'd need to see this one I think. Could be great, could be depressing and airless. If it's funny, I'll like it better. This one's all about the execution.

Luke Kirby (Tell Me You Love Me, Slings and Arrows, Mambo Italiano, upcoming feature Labor Pains) takes on the role of the lead character, insurance adjuster Jimmy Burns, in the Whizbang Films Inc production of Lawyers, Guns & Money.

Clark Johnson (The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, also an Emmy nominated director on The Shield), joins the production as Walker Hearn, a retired cop and Jimmy’s unofficial mentor alongside Carole Cave (The L Word, Regenesis) as Angela, a company lawyer. Steve Bacic (The Guard) is Pavel Korkov, an ambitious local gangster who clashes with Jimmy. Ken Girotti (Mayerthorpe, Rescue Me) takes the directorial helm of this production which will be shot in Hamilton, Ontario.

I ran into Girotti at the Geminis, night 3 (ohgod) just as he was winding down prep for this shoot. He was stoked -- and extremely happy being able to shoot The Hammer for the Hammer, which I am all over. It's a GREAT locale for a story like this. Johnson's a get, and though I haven't read it, I hear the script by Malcolm MacRury -- who's also picking up buzz for the upcoming ZoS. Wonder what they're going to do about Bacic if this gets picked up -- I don't imagine both The Guard and this show, shooting thousands of miles apart, would be able to juggle shoot schedules so he could appear in both. (Besides the fact that it also extends the "same 10 actors in every Canadian show" problem...)

There's also another pilot called The Prodigy, that also has John Fawcett attached, but no other info.

One quibble about the Global release. They've been talking up the need for strong showrunners -- they even established a showrunner training program -- but guess who gets left out of the release? Sigh.

Still, point is, all of these shows sound promising. Of course, a million things could go wrong in the production process. Such is the nature of our collaborative medium. Still, I'm pretty juiced to see every one of these.

Could this be a taste of better things to come?

Stay tuned, citizens.

Thanks to TV, Eh for the releases.

CORRECTION: 01/10/09 - an earlier version of this story identified John Cassini (Robson Arms, Intelligence) as part of the cast. The Bridge actually stars Frank Cassini, his brother. Apologies for the error.

Canwest Global Takes A Major Step Forward At Banff

A VERY INTERESTING announcement came through this morning from the Banff TV Festival:

The Banff World Television Festival and Canwest partner to support the Canadian television industry with the launch of two ground-breaking programs

     TV Creative Executive Tecca Crosby named Director of the Canwest Emerging
     Writers and the Canwest Showrunner Training programs

   TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - The Banff World Television Festival and Canwest
announced today two programs that aim to build a solid foundation for the
development and future success of innovative home-grown television series. The
Canwest Emerging Writers Program and the Canwest Showrunner Training Program -
developed to enhance, nurture and encourage writers and producers to grow the
television series business in Canada - will launch at the 29th Banff World
Television Festival, taking place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in
Alberta, Canada, June 8 - 11, 2008.

   "We are very excited to announce this extraordinary initiative that will
have its launch at BANFF, a pre-eminent industry event," says Barb Williams,
Executive Vice President, Content, Canadian Broadcasting. "Canwest is
committed to growing the television series business in Canada, and this
partnership with the Banff World Television Festival will ensure that the
country's most talented writers and producers remain working in the Canadian
broadcasting industry."

    The Canwest Emerging Writers Program offers Canadian screenwriters the
unprecedented opportunity to gain significant insight into the demands of
writing for series television. Up to five writers will participate in a
professional development program that will help them hone their creative
skills and introduce them to a wide range of industry professionals working in
series television. The successful applicants will be invited to attend the
Banff World Television Festival where they will have access to all events
offered at BANFF as well as attending seminars, pitch sessions and master
classes designed especially for them. After the festival, they will meet with
story teams working on existing Canadian series productions to better
understand the workings and expectations of writing on Canadian series.

   The goal of the Canwest Showrunner Training Program is to better position
Canada's television writers to take on the responsibility of the showrunner.
Up to ten experienced series writers will be chosen to participate in a
program that will provide further insight into producing series television
from the best in the business, both here and from abroad. Successful
candidates will have their own shows to pitch at the Banff World Television
Festival. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to attend master
classes and be part of case study sessions with renowned showrunners. At the
end of the program, these writers will travel to Los Angeles for a week to
meet with a variety of story teams on existing US series.

   The winners will be selected by a Jury consisting of three jurors: Tecca
Crosby, Director of the programs, a representative from Canwest, and one
representative from the Banff Television Festival Foundation.

   Tecca Crosby began her career at Saturday Night magazine where she worked
as assistant to the editor, then head researcher and finally as an associate
editor. In 1986 she went to the newly formed Ontario Film Development
Corporation as the senior development officer, and in 1992 assumed the post of
Executive Coordinator, Production and Development with direct responsibility
for numerous feature film and television production investments, including
such titles as Exotica, Million Dollar Babies, and Dance Me Outside. From 1995
to 1998, Tecca worked as a freelance production consultant. During that time -
as story editor in residence at the Canadian Film Centre - she helped
establish the Professional Screenwriting Programme and also worked with Susan
Coyne and Rhombus Media to create and develop the acclaimed television series
Slings & Arrows. In 1998 Tecca went to work at CTV as director of dramatic
programming, where she supervised the development slate for original Canadian
drama and worked as a production executive on a variety of award-winning
movies, miniseries and dramatic series. Tecca is currently an independent
production executive.

   "We are thrilled that someone of Tecca's calibre will be at the helm of
these programs," says Jennifer Harkness, Executive Director, BANFF. "The
knowledge she brings will enrich the experience for participants, providing
incredible access to some of the top creative minds in television today."

It has been a particularly brutal few months for the creative side of the Canadian TV industry, with new obstacles seemingly flung onto shoulders that could barely support the weight of all the nonsense that had come before.

It's not hard to find cynicism on this blog. I try to be positive as much as I can without being polyanna, but it's just been so difficult to do that. So an announcement like this comes out and one has to simply say: Well done, Canwest.

This is the right program, the right way to organize it, at the right time.

Canwest Global has slowly been trying to rebuild the years of cynical distaste it earned in the eyes of the creative community, where it spent very little on development. This isn't going to fix the problems like shows that bounce around the schedule, or shows that are underfunded, but it does make a couple of bold steps in a positive direction.

• First, it positions Banff as a festival that isn't about sellers talking to sellers, or the establishment talking to the establishment, as it's sometimes seemed in the past.

• Second, it boldly sketches out, and buys into the idea of the writer-showrunner, the hands-down best model for generating quality drama series. It helps to promote the bridge from experienced writer to showrunner.
  
  
• It allows, finally, for a view of professional development that does not proceed from tax credits and the deal first. It acknowledges the fundamentally central position of the creative as the heart of the development process.
  

The Emerging Writers Program is a bit of a build toward things we've seen before. Both the NSI and the CFC train new writers. And let's face it, the real problem in this country hasn't been helping new writers to get their first job. There always seems to be some job scheme to encourage that -- it's the second, and third job, that moves someone up the ladder of experience that sometimes seems unattainable. But to run these programs in tandem is a very, very positive thing.

This also builds upon a worthy Apprenticeship opportunity that Canwest Global began last year at Banff, where they sponsor a new writer to work in a story department as an apprentice for four weeks. Sounds like this may be a refinement of that idea.

What's eminently practical about this approach is that Canwest seems to have fully embraced the idea of what makes for a well-run show. Giving shows to new writers is not the answer. Neither is allowing for the continued split of writers who are subordinate to non-writing producers who -- if they're not careful -- commit to changes that seriously affect the quality of the show without knowing how or why. But giving new writers a way to see how the job works by allowing them on-the-job experience, and empowering more senior writers to act as fully vested creative partners in a show will simply result in better shows. It's almost a miracle -- a bold, wonderful miracle -- to actually hear a Canadian network admit this.

This may not buy a pass for all the realities yet to come. But it shows that someone is thinking about the real issues in the Canadian industry.

A couple weeks ago, people grumbled a bit at Canwest's submission before the CTF hearings at the CRTC. Today, Canwest had a much, much better day.

I held off to end of day to see if the applications would be put online. So far they're not. But when they are, presumably you'll be able to access them on the Banff2008 site.

Deadline for submitting to these new programs is April 18th.