The Roku Channel has picked up season two of Children Ruin Everything (pictured). The ad-based streamer acquired the U.S. rights to the half-hour CTV comedy, produced by New Metric Media in association with Bell Media, last October and will debut season one for free on The Roku Channel south of the border on May 13.

CTV announced a second season order with an increased 16 x 30-minute episodes — double from its eight-episode first season — this past February.

The family series, created by Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning Kurt Smeaton (Schitt’s Creek), begins production on season 2 in Toronto and Hamilton, Ont., this spring.

Mythic Productions, Farpoint Films

The Canada-Italy copro feature From the Vine by Canadian director Sean Cisterna has been sold to A Contracorriente Films in Spain. The acquisition took place during the MIA Market in Rome, with the film rights sold by Minerva Pictures Group.

The 2019 drama is produced by Cisterna’s banner Mythic Productions of Richmond Hill, Ont., Kyle Bornais’s Winnipeg-based Farpoint Films and Francesco Papa’s Italy-based Pointmedia Italia.

Based on Kenneth Canio Cancellara’s 2012 novel Finding Marco, the film stars Joe Pantoliano (pictured), Wendy Crewson, and Marco Leonardi in a story of a downtrodden man who revives his Nonno’s old vineyard in southern Italy. Degrassi alum Paula Brancati is also a producer and actor on the project.

East Side Games Group

Netflix has acquired Dragon Up from Vancouver-headquartered East Side Games Group (ESGG), a free-to-play mobile game studio. ESGG says a premium version of Dragon Up will be available to play exclusively on Netflix in May and will have no ads or in-app purchases.

The mobile game will be included with a Netflix subscription as the streamer makes further inroads in the mobile game space, which it entered in November 2021.

Blue Ant Media

Blue Ant Media’s free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel Homeful has launched on The Roku Channel in the U.S. and Canada. The Toronto-based producer, distributor and channel operator announced the lifestyle-focused FAST channel in February, when it premiered on free, ad-supported streaming service XUMO in the U.S.

The Roku Channel now carries Blue Ant Media FAST channel brands including Love Nature in the U.S. in both English and Spanish; HauntTV in the U.S. and Canada; TotalCrime in the U.S., and its sister channel CrimeTime, in Canada.

Image courtesy of Bell Media