Canwest orders up fifth pilot by Kate Taylor
Source : Globe & Mail
November 27, 2008
CanWest Global Communications Corp. will announce today that it is commissioning a pilot for a fifth drama, adding a show set in a used-car dealership to a slate of pilots it has already ordered as it hunts for Canadian content for both Global Television and its recently acquired specialty channels.
The Dealership is described as a "darkly funny" series about a fighting family and their dysfunctional car dealership, with a father and daughter going head to head over how the struggling business should be run.
The pilot will be produced by Vérité Films, a co-producer on CTV's Corner Gas series; its script is written by the successful show runner Andrew Wreggitt (Mayerthorpe, Shades of Black.)
Today's announcement follows one in October in which CanWest outlined four pilots it has commissioned. Only two of the five will likely get the green light to become series next year; meanwhile, CanWest has yet to decide where these shows might sit, whether on its main Global network or on Showcase, the drama channel it acquired last year when it took over Alliance Atlantis Communications.
Although CanWest is struggling with the debt load from that acquisition and recently announced layoffs, government approval for the 2007 deal requires the broadcaster to produce $143-million in "tangible benefits." CanWest proposed spending most of that money on programming.
© Globe and Mail
The Dealership is described as a "darkly funny" series about a fighting family and their dysfunctional car dealership, with a father and daughter going head to head over how the struggling business should be run.
The pilot will be produced by Vérité Films, a co-producer on CTV's Corner Gas series; its script is written by the successful show runner Andrew Wreggitt (Mayerthorpe, Shades of Black.)
Today's announcement follows one in October in which CanWest outlined four pilots it has commissioned. Only two of the five will likely get the green light to become series next year; meanwhile, CanWest has yet to decide where these shows might sit, whether on its main Global network or on Showcase, the drama channel it acquired last year when it took over Alliance Atlantis Communications.
Although CanWest is struggling with the debt load from that acquisition and recently announced layoffs, government approval for the 2007 deal requires the broadcaster to produce $143-million in "tangible benefits." CanWest proposed spending most of that money on programming.
© Globe and Mail
