Dilla
Senior Member
New CTV show to air on CBS
Americans liked idea of cop show set in 'sexy' Toronto, Flashpoint executive producers say
Jan 30, 2008 04:30 AM
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter
CTV has scored a major coup with its upcoming new series Flashpoint, which will air on a major U.S. network – CBS – at the same time it runs on a Canadian network.
"It's very exciting for the production community and for CTV," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's president of creative content and channels.
"This is the first time since 1994 that a Canadian-produced and owned series is on a main American network. I call it great news on a dull January day," Boyce said, referring to the CTV series, Due South, which starred Paul Gross as a Mountie working in Chicago.
The network has previously scored similar successes on smaller U.S. networks with shows, notably Degrassi: The Next Generation and Corner Gas.
Even more exciting for executive producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos is that the series will be set in Toronto – an unusual move for a U.S. network – and a "sexy" Toronto at that.
"This is something that we have been working our whole careers to accomplish. So it feels really amazing," Mustos said.
"I think Toronto looks beautiful and it's also an incredibly sexy location the way we've shot it. I think (CBS executives) really, really responded to the aesthetics of the show and to the fact that Toronto is, yes, a sexy, beautiful city," La Traverse said, referring to the pilot, which was filmed here last summer.
Production ramps up in Toronto in April for a 13-episode run of the series, which stars Enrico Colantoni (of Veronica Mars, Just Shoot Me), Hugh Dillon (Durham County) and David Paetkau (Whistler).
While Canadian series and movies shown in the U.S. are rarely identified as taking place north of the border, La Traverse and Mustos said CBS executives welcomed the idea.
"When Anne Marie and I were in the meeting in L.A. with the CBS execs, they thought that it would be really interesting for their audience to see Toronto. For their audience, having the opportunity to see a kind of fresh location like Toronto – not Toronto disguised as Chicago but Toronto as Toronto – would actually make for a fresh way into a dramatic series," Mustos said.
Boyce agreed that kind of U.S.-centric thinking is disappearing. "I think we've grown up a bit about that stuff. They bought this series on the basis that they liked the scripts and the pilot."
The series – written by newcomers Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern as part of the network's Writer Only drama development program – is inspired by the real-life exploits of the Toronto Police Service Emergency Task Force dealing with high-risk situations involving firearms and hostages.
Unlike most cop shows, Flashpoint will have a stronger "emotional" heart, La Traverse said.
"What we wanted to examine in a really compelling way is what happens to those people who are heroes and what is the personal cost of what they do? What is the human cost of heroism?"
Nina Tassler, CBS president of entertainment, said that pitch is what hooked the network.
"The particular theme ... which we thought was so extraordinary and really appealing, was that the show would explore the human cost of heroism. That really resonated with us," Tassler said.
Tassler expressed confidence that U.S. audiences will be comfortable with a series set outside their borders.
She added that the strike by the Writers Guild of America played no part in the network's decision to greenlight the series.
CBS has been "aggressively combing the world" for new formats and ideas and is developing projects from other countries, including the U.K. and Israel. "It was about exploring and looking for new business models. We said that this was the year that we were really going to focus on finding new methods, new ideas, and this is what turned up," Tassler said.
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We're sexy! I can already visualize the helicopter shots of the skyline. It's always interesting to see T.O. in film, but it could be a lot more interesting if there's a good budget for this, and they don't have to pretend it's not Toronto (i.e., they can film at Queen's Park, City Hall, etc, without having to hide them).
Americans liked idea of cop show set in 'sexy' Toronto, Flashpoint executive producers say
Jan 30, 2008 04:30 AM
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter
CTV has scored a major coup with its upcoming new series Flashpoint, which will air on a major U.S. network – CBS – at the same time it runs on a Canadian network.
"It's very exciting for the production community and for CTV," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's president of creative content and channels.
"This is the first time since 1994 that a Canadian-produced and owned series is on a main American network. I call it great news on a dull January day," Boyce said, referring to the CTV series, Due South, which starred Paul Gross as a Mountie working in Chicago.
The network has previously scored similar successes on smaller U.S. networks with shows, notably Degrassi: The Next Generation and Corner Gas.
Even more exciting for executive producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos is that the series will be set in Toronto – an unusual move for a U.S. network – and a "sexy" Toronto at that.
"This is something that we have been working our whole careers to accomplish. So it feels really amazing," Mustos said.
"I think Toronto looks beautiful and it's also an incredibly sexy location the way we've shot it. I think (CBS executives) really, really responded to the aesthetics of the show and to the fact that Toronto is, yes, a sexy, beautiful city," La Traverse said, referring to the pilot, which was filmed here last summer.
Production ramps up in Toronto in April for a 13-episode run of the series, which stars Enrico Colantoni (of Veronica Mars, Just Shoot Me), Hugh Dillon (Durham County) and David Paetkau (Whistler).
While Canadian series and movies shown in the U.S. are rarely identified as taking place north of the border, La Traverse and Mustos said CBS executives welcomed the idea.
"When Anne Marie and I were in the meeting in L.A. with the CBS execs, they thought that it would be really interesting for their audience to see Toronto. For their audience, having the opportunity to see a kind of fresh location like Toronto – not Toronto disguised as Chicago but Toronto as Toronto – would actually make for a fresh way into a dramatic series," Mustos said.
Boyce agreed that kind of U.S.-centric thinking is disappearing. "I think we've grown up a bit about that stuff. They bought this series on the basis that they liked the scripts and the pilot."
The series – written by newcomers Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern as part of the network's Writer Only drama development program – is inspired by the real-life exploits of the Toronto Police Service Emergency Task Force dealing with high-risk situations involving firearms and hostages.
Unlike most cop shows, Flashpoint will have a stronger "emotional" heart, La Traverse said.
"What we wanted to examine in a really compelling way is what happens to those people who are heroes and what is the personal cost of what they do? What is the human cost of heroism?"
Nina Tassler, CBS president of entertainment, said that pitch is what hooked the network.
"The particular theme ... which we thought was so extraordinary and really appealing, was that the show would explore the human cost of heroism. That really resonated with us," Tassler said.
Tassler expressed confidence that U.S. audiences will be comfortable with a series set outside their borders.
She added that the strike by the Writers Guild of America played no part in the network's decision to greenlight the series.
CBS has been "aggressively combing the world" for new formats and ideas and is developing projects from other countries, including the U.K. and Israel. "It was about exploring and looking for new business models. We said that this was the year that we were really going to focus on finding new methods, new ideas, and this is what turned up," Tassler said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We're sexy! I can already visualize the helicopter shots of the skyline. It's always interesting to see T.O. in film, but it could be a lot more interesting if there's a good budget for this, and they don't have to pretend it's not Toronto (i.e., they can film at Queen's Park, City Hall, etc, without having to hide them).
