Vancouver hosts Masters of Horror

Vancouver – The first season (13 x 60) of Masters of Horror, a new anthology series to be broadcast on Scream and Showtime in the U.S., is filming in Vancouver until late September.

Produced by Corus Entertainment, the show brings together some of the biggest names in horror and suspense. Masters of Horror includes episodes directed by Roger Corman, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero and Dario Argento (Suspiria).

Scream general manager and VP Michael Harris says the show is even scarier than it sounds. ‘It’s hard to scare an audience these days, but I promise you, Masters of Horror will do just that,’ he says. ‘This series gives some of the very best horror filmmakers the opportunity to tell the dark, twisted stories they have always wanted to tell with full creative freedom.’

The Carpenter episode, for instance, concerns a man who is consumed with finding a mythical and supposedly deadly film.

The series will debut in late October with a Halloween tie-in. Each ep is booked at about $1 million.

Writers contributing to the first season include Steven Weber, Drew McWeeny, Scott Swan and Stephen Romano working, in some cases, with original stories by Bruce Jones, Bernie Wrightson and H.P. Lovecraft. Matthew Hays

ET Canada launches on Global

Toronto – Two weeks after its unveiling, the Canadian version of Entertainment Tonight makes its debut this week on Global – looking to lure viewers away from CTV’s eTalk Daily while talking up the merits of Canuck musicians, filmmakers and other glitterati.

Exec producer Zev Shalev says the daily Toronto-shot magazine is looking to distinguish itself from eTalk with more breaking news, and by building on the considerable strengths (‘the archives, the access, the brand’) of the original ET, now in its 25th season.

It will also, he insists, treat Global shows and stars on the same terms as others – an interesting distinction, given eTalk’s hand-in-hand relationship with Canadian Idol.

In the east, ET and ET Canada take up the 7-8 p.m. timeslot, directly opposite eTalk at 7 p.m. Shalev says a weekend version is also being discussed.

Global mainstay Cheryl Hickey fronts the show, joined by newly poached on-airs Rick Campanelli (formerly of MuchMusic), Rosey Edeh (eTalk and CNN), Kim D’Eon (CBC’s The Hour) and Roz Weston (Toronto 1’s The A-List). Their segment producers are Anna Ceraldi, Jodie Davis, Travis Dhanraj, Catherine Stockhausen and Jessy Tse.

The show will focus on ‘Canadian stars… and the people behind the scenes who make Canadian entertainment,’ adds Linda Bell Blue, ET exec producer and advisor to the Canadian version.

Shalev joined Global in June – following his boss Barbara Williams, now the net’s SVP of programming and production ­- from Toronto 1, where he produced its troubled news magazine Toronto Tonight and The A-List. Before that he was at Canada AM and U8TV: The Lofters. Sean Davidson