New York-headquartered Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Ever Deadly, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)-produced feature-length documentary featuring avant-garde Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

Kino Lorber has set a theatrical release for later this year, followed by a home video release as well a digital release on all major platforms, said a news release issued Friday (May 12).

Ever Deadly made its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and is Tagaq’s directorial debut. Toronto-based Chelsea McMullan (My Prairie Home) is the co-director, and Lea Marin, Kate Vollum, and Anita Lee are producers. A spokesperson tells Playback Daily the film will stream on TVO.org on June 1, before airing on TVO on June 3. On June 16, it will air on the Documentary Channel and will be available to stream across Canada on the NFB site and CBC Gem.

Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell negotiated the distribution deal with Oscar Rangel for the NFB.

Filmed in Nunavut, Ever Deadly mixes concert footage, hand-drawn animation by Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona with the personal reflections of Tagaq, a member of the Order of Canada and a Polaris Music Prize and Juno Award winner.

WildBrain Television

Shaftesbury’s live-actioner Ruby and the Well has been renewed by WildBrain Television for a third season (8 x 60 minutes) that’s currently filming in Toronto for a fall premiere on Family Channel. The family-skewing series centres on a tween who discovers an enchanted wishing well.

Global distributor WildBrain has also sold seasons one and two to AMC Networks International (Spain) and YLE (Finland). Prime Video (Germany), Showmax (Africa), TVNZ (New Zealand) and MBC Mauritius (Africa) picked up season one, and SIC (Portugal) and Radio-Canada’s streamer ICI Tou.tv EXTRA have reupped for season two.

Kartoon Channel!

Genius Brands International has acquired 2D-animated series Jeremy & Jazzy from Toronto-based Vérité Films for Kartoon Channel!

The preschool series (55 x 2 minutes) launched May 12 on the AVOD platform and showcases different musical instruments as it explores how emotions can turn into songs.

CBC Kids commissioned and premiered Jeremy & Jazzy in September 2022, and renewed it for a second season (28 x 2 minutes) in February. The GBI deal marks the series’ U.S. debut. It has also been picked up by Tiny Pop in the U.K.

Bravo Charlie

SND, the film distribution and audiovisual rights subsidiary of France’s M6 ​​Group, has acquired the worldwide distribution rights (excluding Canada) to Quebec filmmaker Sophie Dupuis’ queer romance drama Solo.

Solo will be released in Quebec on Sept. 15 and the rest of Canada on Oct. 6, a publicist tells Playback Daily.

Montreal-based distributor Axia Films is the Canadian distributor of the film, which is written and directed by Dupuis and produced by Montreal-based Bravo Charlie. Théodore Pellerin and Félix Maritaud star in the story of a rising star of the Montreal drag queen scene.

OUTtv

Vancouver-based LGBTQ+ network OUTtv has launched a channel on Amazon’s Prime Video in the U.S., expanding on its partnership with Prime Video in Canada and Australia, where the channel has been available since 2021.

The service was launched on May 9 and is available to Prime Video subscribers as an add-on for subscribers for $3.99 a month with a seven-day free trial, according to a news release.

The channel has a number of OUTtv originals, including Hot Haus, Behind the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant Competition Award Contest Competition, For the Love of DILFs, and the new competition series Sew Fierce.

OUTtv’s CEO Brad Danks in a statement said the network is looking to new territories while also expanding its “consumer touchpoints in existing markets.”

OUTtv is also available in the U.S. via OUTtv.com and the OUTtv App, the OUTtv Apple TV Channel and OUTtv on The Roku Channel.

CBC Gem, Radio Canada 

CBC Gem has acquired the Australian crime series Savage River (6 x 60 minutes), with Radio Canada picking up the French-language version of the show.

The sales were announced by the series’ Los Angeles-based distributor Dynamic Television on May 10.

Savage River is produced by Aquarius Films in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The series was the number one new show on ABC Australia in 2022 and was nominated for Best Miniseries by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, according to a news release.

With files from Kidscreen

Image from Ever Deadly courtesy of the NFB