Highball TV

Canadian-based subscription-based streaming platform Highball TV has acquired a slate of films that will air throughout June to celebrate National Indigenous History Month in Canada. The Wapikoni collection consists of 25 films exploring a range of Indigenous perspectives. Established in 2004, Wapikoni works with indigenous youth within their communities to provide filmmaking resources and education.

One of the goals of the initiative is that revenues generated from views on the film collection will go directly toward helping foster a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers, according to Highball TV.

The company has been expanding its content offerings in recent months and plans to roll out a number of other collections in the months ahead, including an LGBTQ-focused collection to celebrate Pride month in June.

LevelFILM 

The worldwide rights to the anti-racist short film Black Bodies have been acquired by levelFILM.

Directed by Toronto Film Critics Association Jay Scott Prize winner Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, Black Bodies won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival – where Fyfe-Marshall won TIFF’s inaugural Changemaker Award this past September – and a Sundance Festival launch in January 2021.

Black Bodies, inspired by Fyffe-Marshall and friends’ encounter with a California woman who called the police because she believed the trio were burglarizing their car rental, will be released in Canada on June 15 on digital, VOD and eventually, select theatres along with five-time CSA Award winner Akilla’s Escape, directed by Charles Officer.

Black Bodies is produced by Tamar Bird and Sasha Leigh Henry. The rights deal was negotiated by levelFILM’s Hudakoc and Daniel Quinn, and the production team of Henry, Bird and Fyffe-Marshall.

Fyffe-Marshall is currently in pre-production on her first feature film, When Morning Comes, as part of Telefilm Canada’s Talent Fund Project.

Blue Ant Media’s Love Nature Launches on Telenor Sweden

The Blue Ant Media-Smithsonian Networks joint venture Love Nature is expanding its Nordic region impact.

The wildlife and nature brand debuted this week on Telenor Sweden on both the linear channel and the platform’s HD-and-4K VOD service over the next three years. Programming highlights that have been localized in Swedish include the 5 x 60-minute series Dogs With Extraordinary Jobs and the 5 x 60-minute New Kids In The Wild.

The Telenor Sweden debut follows the channel’s fall 2020 rollout on Telenor Norway. According to Blue Ant, Love Nature reaches 300 million households around the world via branded linear and online platforms in over 135 countries.