Latest news with #NorthofNorth
Toronto Star
5 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Star
CBC urges stricter CanCon rules for homegrown programming, foreign partners
CBC is urging Canada's regulator to tighten restrictions around what constitutes Canadian screen content, pushing back against foreign streamers seeking looser rules. The public broadcaster says at least 60 per cent of key creative positions should be filled by Canadians, including the top two leads and director, writer and showrunner. Under current rules, productions must earn at least six out of 10 points by filling key creative roles with Canadians — with only one Canadian required as director or writer, and one as a lead actor. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW CBC executives including the head of English services appeared at a CRTC hearing Monday to stress the need for strong Canadian creative and financial control, especially when collaborating with foreign partners. They also say Canadians should own the copyright to Canadian productions. 'We believe that relaxing these rules is a slippery slope that does not serve the interests of the Canadian broadcasting system,' Barbara Williams, CBC's executive vice-president of English services, told the hearing. 'The best way to support the viability and sustainability of our system is a definition that requires Canadian creative control over and the retention of meaningful economic benefits derived from television productions by Canadians.' The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is in the midst of a two-week hearing with key industry players to update the Online Streaming Act, including what obligations should be imposed on foreign streaming giants like Netflix and Prime Video. '(Foreign streamers) have benefited enormously from being here in this country and we look for opportunities through the system to be sure that they pay back and that they contribute and be a partner in a meaningful way,' Williams said. 'And that's not about giving away some of our Canadian control — creative, financial or otherwise. It's about maintaining and holding on to what we have and finding ways for them to be a meaningful participant.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW CBC series 'North of North,' co-produced with APTN and Netflix, was repeatedly cited as a model of successful collaboration. CBC said the series, developed over two years before Netflix joined, proves that strong Canadian-led projects can attract global partners without giving up intellectual property rights and key creative roles. The broadcaster's execs said the show has performed well domestically and abroad. 'Netflix was an important and critical piece of the financing, but we didn't need to compromise being Canadian-owned in every way, shape and form in order to have them be a partner,' said Lisa Clarkson, CBC's executive director of business and rights. CRTC commissioners asked whether looser IP-sharing rules could lead to more collaborations like 'North of North.' Williams responded firmly: 'The simple answer is no.' Rather than relaxing IP ownership to lure foreign involvement, she argued, the better path is to support Canadian creators to develop world-class ideas that attract global partners. Clarkson added that CBC assumes significant risk and cost in early-stage development of programs, long before foreign investors get involved. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW She argued foreign partners receive creative benefits including 'a fully polished script. They don't have to take the risk for that.' Clarkson noted that 'North of North' is just one of 38 drama co-productions the public broadcaster has undertaken with foreign financing partners in the past five years, all while maintaining full Canadian ownership. 'To take away ownership from the Canadian producer is... unwise and unnecessary,' Clarkson said, adding that foreign partners already benefit from incentives like tax credits and public funding. 'Instead of paying 100 per cent, they're often paying 20 to 50 per cent. Those are massive inducements already.' Last week, a group representing major streaming companies told the CRTC that digital platforms shouldn't be bound by the same Canadian content obligations as traditional broadcasters. Speaking at a hearing, the Motion Picture Association-Canada — which represents streamers like Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Paramount — urged the regulator to take a more flexible approach to updating the definition of Canadian content. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Asked by the CRTC to respond to that request, Williams said both the public broadcaster and the regulator must consider their shared responsibility in supporting the domestic creative industry. 'Here in Canada, in this moment in particular, what we are really driven by is the need to support a creative community that can feel it has the opportunity to put its best foot forward and build great content that then they can exploit, that they can own, that they can build a business around,' said Williams on Monday. 'But what we're reluctant to accept is that somehow we need a foreign entity to help us do that. We're very, very capable of doing this on our own and making great projects.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
CBC urges stricter CanCon rules for homegrown programming, foreign partners
CBC is urging Canada's regulator to tighten restrictions around what constitutes Canadian screen content. The public broadcaster says at least 60 per cent of key creative positions should be filled by Canadians, including the top two leads and director, writer and showrunner. Under current rules, productions must earn at least six out of 10 points by filling key creative roles with Canadians — with only one Canadian required as director or writer, and one as a lead actor. CBC executives including the head of English services appeared at a CRTC hearing this morning to stress the need for strong Canadian creative control, especially when collaborating with foreign partners. They also say Canadians should own the copyright to Canadian productions. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is in the midst of a two-week hearing with key industry players to update the Online Streaming Act, including what obligations should be imposed on foreign streaming giants like Netflix and Prime Video. CBC series 'North of North,' co-produced with APTN and Netflix, was repeatedly cited as a model of successful collaboration. CBC said the series, developed over two years before Netflix joined, proves that strong Canadian-led projects can attract global partners without giving up intellectual property rights and key creative roles. '(Foreign streamers) have benefited enormously from being here in this country and we look for opportunities through the system to be sure that they pay back and that they contribute and be a partner in a meaningful way,' Barbara Williams, CBC's executive vice-president of English services, told the hearing Monday. 'And that's not about giving away some of our Canadian control — creative, financial or otherwise. It's about maintaining and holding on to what we have and finding ways for them to be a meaningful participant.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
CBC urges stricter CanCon rules for homegrown programming, foreign partners
CBC is urging Canada's regulator to tighten restrictions around what constitutes Canadian screen content. The public broadcaster says at least 60 per cent of key creative positions should be filled by Canadians, including the top two leads and director, writer and showrunner. Under current rules, productions must earn at least six out of 10 points by filling key creative roles with Canadians — with only one Canadian required as director or writer, and one as a lead actor. CBC executives including the head of English services appeared at a CRTC hearing this morning to stress the need for strong Canadian creative control, especially when collaborating with foreign partners. They also say Canadians should own the copyright to Canadian productions. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is in the midst of a two-week hearing with key industry players to update the Online Streaming Act, including what obligations should be imposed on foreign streaming giants like Netflix and Prime Video. CBC series 'North of North,' co-produced with APTN and Netflix, was repeatedly cited as a model of successful collaboration. CBC said the series, developed over two years before Netflix joined, proves that strong Canadian-led projects can attract global partners without giving up intellectual property rights and key creative roles. '(Foreign streamers) have benefited enormously from being here in this country and we look for opportunities through the system to be sure that they pay back and that they contribute and be a partner in a meaningful way,' Barbara Williams, CBC's executive vice-president of English services, told the hearing Monday. 'And that's not about giving away some of our Canadian control — creative, financial or otherwise. It's about maintaining and holding on to what we have and finding ways for them to be a meaningful participant.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
Globe and Mail
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
The music of the Netflix comedy series North of North is getting exposure
One of the hottest new television shows of the year is North of North, which just got renewed for its second season on CBC, APTN and Netflix. The Nunavut-set comedy stars Anna Lambe as Siaja, a plucky, young Inuk mother. In a supporting role is the show's soundtrack, which mixes originals songs and Inuktitut covers by Inuk artists with classic pop recorded by Britney Spears, Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette and more. North of North music supervisor Michael Perlmutter, who just won a Canadian Sync Award for best soundtrack in a comedy series, spoke to The Globe and Mail about the unique role the music plays in connecting north and south. You collaborated with North of North show runners Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril on the show's music concept. Can you talk about those early discussions? Early on, it felt like music was going to be a character. It wasn't an afterthought. They wanted to work with Inuk artists, and show the Inuit music world to the rest of the world. We also wanted to show that an Inuit community was still connected with the rest of world. So, we used songs by Britney Spears, Caroline Polachek, Alanis Morissette, the list goes on. What about using music to support characters, such as the lead, Siaja? The idea was to create a fun, upbeat, female-centric mix. Siaja is an independent Inuk woman, super fun and super driven. We were connecting a lot of dots through her character. So we have Riit's cover of Dua Lipa's Levitating and Angela Amarualik's cover of Kelis's Milkshake. And you're probably familiar with Elisapie, who covers Stevie Nicks's Dreams. I did notice a character wearing an Elisapie T-shirt. Her Inuktitut version of Dreams was previously recorded, but, elsewhere, you had Inuk musicians recording covers specifically for the show. How common is that? I don't know if it's standard in the business, but in the last five or ten years I think you're seeing it a bit more. For each one, we find the right artist, we find a producer and we have a creative conversation on how we want it to sound. Riit's Levitating turned out to be super cool. There are time constraints as well, right? It's a creative choice, if you have the time. And we had it. That's the key. But it all depends on the project. With this show, it was hand in glove Using a song is one thing, covering it in a different language is another. How hard was it to secure the rights for the songs? We wrote the rightsholders long letters about what we were doing and what the show is about. We also sent lyrics in Inuktitut that had been translated. In the case of Levitating, we had to get Dua Lipa's approval and also the approval of the other songwriters. They were really excited about the idea. Did the Netflix money allow you to afford all these songs? How big was the song licensing budget? That's a state secret. I would say that there was a budget. Because we had incredible support from all three networks involved, we were able to afford these songs. The cost is not as astronomical as you may think. We let them know we have X amount of dollars. We negotiate with them. We explain what the show is about. This was a project people could get behind. You say people. Do you think the Dua Lipas and Alanis Morisettes are involved in the process, or is it their managers, labels and publishers? We know Dua Lipa saw the request. We think Alanis knew about it. Caroline Polachek's camp seemed excited by it. Now that the show is a hit and has been renewed for a second season, does the dynamic shift? Are you getting pitched by publishers now? Publishers, labels, mothers, daughters, dog walkers, friends, cousins, they all want to be on a successful show. I've had emails already, suggesting a playlist for the second season. I'm not really responding to those just yet. Let's discuss the creative thinking behind a couple of the songs, starting with Levitating, in the first episode. You're coming into the show. You're seeing the North for the first time and it's beautiful. We wanted something that reflected Siaja's state of mind. She's full of hope and full of love. She wants to celebrate life. How about the string quartet cover of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know? Siaja has what might be a fever dream. She's running toward a man, and we have this beautiful, romantic piece supporting that scene. We're having a little fun with it, but it's not necessarily ironic. The show's use of music reminds me of Northern Exposure. But where that show had a theme song, yours doesn't. Why not? What Stacey and Alethea wanted to do was use a different theme song every episode, whether it plays for five seconds at the beginning or whether it rolls into the next scene for another 15 seconds. It's all to give it a different flavour and a different feel. Not that there's anything wrong with the same 30-second song every episode. We just wanted a surprise of some kind. You don't know what you're going to get. This interview was edited and condensed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix Orders Adult Animated Comedy ‘Mating Season' From ‘Big Mouth' Team
'Big Mouth' may be ending, but the team behind the show is staying in business with Netflix. Variety has learned that the streamer has ordered the adult animated comedy series 'Mating Season' from Brutus Pink, the company that produces 'Big Mouth.' The new series will debut in 2026. Per the official description, 'Mating Season' is 'set in the animal world starring a cast of bears, raccoons, deer, foxes and a host of other horny, lovable forest critters, as they navigate love, sexual relationships and the universal need to hook up and find a partner.' More from Variety Netflix Sets 'Mad Unicorn' Thai Drama on Express Delivery Startup Saga 'North of North' Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix Netflix to Stream Alfred Hitchcock Film Collection ''Big Mouth' broke new ground in the world of adult animation with heart, humor and total chaos — they took the awkwardness of adolescence and turned it into something universal and deeply human,' said John Derderian, vice president of animation aeries at Netflix. 'Working with Nick Kroll and the brilliant minds at Brutus Pink over the course of eight seasons has been legendary. Now, with 'Mating Season,' they'll bring that same bold and hilarious creativity into the animal kingdom. We're beyond excited to unleash this next chapter together.' 'Mating Season' is created and executive produced by Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg and Nick Kroll with Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina serving as executive producers for Titmouse. 'After eight incredible seasons telling stories about growing up, we're excited to tell stories about actual grown-ups. Who happen to be animals. Who are also cartoons,' the Brutus Pink team said. The eighth and final season of 'Big Mouth' debuts on May 23. Ahead of the premiere, Kroll and others from the show will be going on what has been dubbed the 'Big Mouth Swallows America Farewell Tour.' The tour will see the gang screening new episodes while also dropping exclusive merchandise. Tickets are now available. 'There is no better way to celebrate a global phenomenon like 'Big Mouth' than driving a yellow van from Dallas to Tampa to Chicago and all points West,' the Brutus Pink team said. 'Honestly though, it is exciting to give audiences around the country the chance to get a special first peek at the final season of 'Big Mouth' before it's unleashed on the rest of the globe.' Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in May 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in May 2025
