‘Tis the season for reflection as we take a short break from our daily newsletter until Jan. 5, 2023.

Thank you for being Playback subscribers and for the hard work and dedication you collectively bring to the industry, providing us with valuable insight and stories that keep our news cycle bustling.

We hope you have a safe and restful holiday season, and we look forward to diving deeply into the innovations and issues that 2023 will bring. Until then, enjoy this highlight of the stories that drove the most clicks in the past year.

Emerging talent

Playback‘s very own 10 to Watch class of 2022 generated a significant amount of digital buzz when they were unveiled this fall. Catch up on the stories behind powerhouse producers Kristina Wong and Ryan Bobkin, multihyphenate creatives Tope Babalola, Josiane Blanc, Sasha Leigh Henry and Adrian Wallace, directing whiz J Stevens, sly scribe Abdul Malik, and up-and-coming production and development executives Mitch Geddes and Kelsey Espensen.

Streaming strategies

The domestic screen industry was abuzz when Netflix unveiled its Canadian content team, led by Danielle Woodrow and Tara Woodbury. The two sat down with Playback Daily earlier this year to lay down their content plans.

Homegrown drama

Cameras kept rolling in 2022, and some of Canadian broadcast television’s new and returning hits attracted a lot of attention this year. Two upcoming CTV dramas have already built online buzz: The Spencer Sisters, produced by Entertainment One and Buffalo Gal Pictures, and Sullivan’s Crossing, executive produced by Reel World Management. Meanwhile, CBC’s Pretty Hard Cases and Global’s Family Law continue to draw interest three seasons in.

People moves

Which big corporate moves made waves with Playback readers this year? Phil King’s retirement from Sony Pictures Television ranked high this year, along with former Bell Media and Muse Entertainment exec Tom Hastings heading to Paramount+ as its head of original programming, and Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos taking the reins of the Ottawa Film Office.

Diverse stories

The industry was abuzz when Bell Media unveiled a historic new project for Crave. The streamer went into development on Festivale earlier this year, which is billed as the first bilingual anthology series created by, and for, Black Canadians, as part of an incubator through the Black Screen Office.