News

The Roku Channel has picked up the Canadian streaming comedy Bria Mack Gets a Life for North America, the U.K. and Mexico.

The licensing deal is for the six-part series that follows Bria McFarlane, played by Malaika Hennie-Hamadi, as a 25-year-old black woman navigating adulthood in a predominantly white world. That’s made all the more difficult, yet more tolerable, by Black Attack (Hannan Younis) being her invisible hype girl.

As Bria balances being the most educated family member and her overdue credit card bill, Black Attack expresses her inner thoughts that reveal who Bria wants to be, but doesn’t believe she’s allowed to. And just as Bria moves back home and her mother looks to retire, she has to assemble her life — friends, dating, a place to live, and most importantly, a job to fund it all — before time runs out.

Malaika Hennie-Hamadi, Hannan Younis, Sasha Leigh Henry...

Coming off another year marked by uncertainty and conflict, ordinary, unlikely heroes take center stage in a slew of new shows. While crime especially the Nordic-inspired kind is not going anywhere, and there are quite a few spectacles waiting around the corner, including Mipcom world premiere “Concordia,” intimate stories about families and friends butting heads but ultimately trying to come together continue to dominate the market stage. There are also more portrayals of strong, complicated women who dare to dream big today or in the past. The following is a list of some of the buzziest titles at Mipcom.

“After the Party”

(ITV Studios)

Penny Wilding (played by Robyn Malcolm) likes to keep herself very busy: she is a science teacher, basketball coach, environmental activist, mother and grandmother. Famously outspoken and suffering no fools, she alienates many in her close-knit community. But Penny is perfectly fine with that.

She is harboring a painful memory,...

Click here to read the full article.

Malaika Hennie-Hamadi and Hannan Younis have grabbed the lead roles in the Canadian streaming TV comedy Bria Mack Gets A Life.

Hennie-Hamadi has TV credits with Age of the Living Dead, The Handmaid’s Tale and the Fear Thy Roomate crime drama. Younis’ small screen credits include Ruby and the Well, TallBoyz, Firestarter and The Boys.

The cameras will start rolling this week on the half-hour comedy from creator and showrunner Sasha Leigh Henry; New Metric Media, the producer of Letterkenny and Shoresy; and the Crave streaming TV service.

Hennie-Hamadi will play Bria “Mack” McFarlane, a 25-year-old Black woman and university graduate in a mainly white world, a journey made both difficult and tolerable by Black Attack, her invisible hype girl played by Younis who helps her navigate life’s frustrations and hurdles.

As Bria balances being the most educated family member and her overdue credit card bill,...

The 2022 jury and special award winners of the 29th SXSW Film Festival were unveiled on Tuesday night out of Austin, Texas. Feature films receiving jury awards were selected from the narrative and documentary competitions. Juried awards for shorts, design, and Xr experience were also announced.

Special awards announced included: Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, Adobe Editing Award, Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award, Zeiss Cinematography Award, the Mailchimp Support the Shorts Award, and the Fandor New Voices Award.

All 2022 film categories will be eligible for category-specific audience awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter. Online screenings and audience award voting will conclude 9 a.m. Ct on Monday, March 21. Winners will be announced via sxsw.com that week.

“It was extraordinary to gather together in person again after so long and we are so grateful to the filmmakers and audience who joined us at SXSW 2022 in...

“Schitt’s Creek” and “Blood Quantum” were the big winners in the television and film categories, respectively, at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards.

“Schitt’s Creek” led television honors with eight awards for it’s sixth and final season, including best comedy series; best direction, comedy for Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy; and the sixth win in a row for Catherine O’Hara as best lead actress in comedy. “Canada’s Drag Race” follows with five wins, including best reality/competition program or series.

Jeff Barnaby’s “Blood Quantum” topped film honors with seven Canadian Screen Awards, including Michael Greyeyes in the performance by an actor in a leading role category. Tracey Deer’s first feature “Beans” won best motion picture, while Deepa Mehta was awarded best achievement in direction for “Funny Boy.” Michelle Pfeiffer won actress in a leading role for “French Exit.”

Recently departed Canadian thespian Christopher Plummer was the recipient of best...

Fifty percent of selections directed by women.

Telefilm Canada announced on Tuesday (August 18) the 16 filmmaker teams and first feature and narrative web projects selected for 2020-21 Talent To Watch programme.

Telefilm and Talent Fund will invest more than Usd $1663,000 (C$2.2m) in the English- and French-language work. Thirteen of the 16 teams are culturally diverse, with one who self-identifies as gender diverse. Fifty percent of the stories are directed by women.

For the first time, feature film projects will receive Usd $113,389, up from Usd $94,490 in support. Talent Fund is backed by private donations and launched in 2012 and to date has raised...