High-tension law enforcement and a young paramedic with a dose of ESP are on CTV’s new list of series. The network has officially ordered 13 hour-long episodes each of Sniper and The Listener — both scheduled to start production in the spring under the likes of Christina Jennings and Bill Mustos.

The series were part of CTV’s first venture into pilot production in summer 2007, and marked the first time the net had ordered pilots as part of its development of new domestic shows.

Sniper — known as Critical Incident during the pilot phase — is an hour-long drama about one of Canada’s elite police forces, the Strategic Response Unit. It is written and created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, and executive produced by Anne Marie La Traverse (Hunt for Justice: The Louise Arbour Story) for Pink Sky Entertainment and by former CTV exec Bill Mustos for Avamar Entertainment. Mustos was previously the network’s SVP of dramatic programming, but left in the fall after a year-long sabbatical to ‘pursue another challenge.’

Sniper stars Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon (Durham County) and David Paetkau (Whistler).

Meanwhile, The Listener, from Shaftesbury Films, is a fast-paced drama about a young paramedic who can read people’s minds. Craig Olejnik (In God’s Country) stars, alongside Ennis Esmer, the former host of local late-night program The Toronto Show.

The Listener was created by Michael Amo (Blessed Stranger) and the pilot was directed by Clement Virgo (Poor Boy’s Game). It is executive produced by Shaftesbury boss Jennings (ReGenesis).

Both shows are produced in association with CTV.

From Media in Canada