Toronto-headquartered Blue Ant Media has brought its pet-focused FAST channel to Samsung TV Plus in the U.S. and Canada.

The family-friendly channel Love Pets focuses on the stories of animals and their emotional connections with people around the world, and launched in the U.S. in 2023. It includes series such as The Bizarre Pet Vets (6 x 45 mintues; pictured), Vet on the Hill (55 x 60 minutes) and Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet (22 x 30 minutes).

Love Pets previously launched in the U.K., the Netherlands and the Nordics in October 2023 on Samsung’s service and, in March 2024, launched on Roku in Canada.

One Day This Kid wins at SXSW

The short film One Day This Kid (Wallop Film, Boldly) from Vancouver-based writer-director Alexander Farah has won the Narrative Short Competition at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.

The film, produced by Joaquin Cardoner, tells the story of a first-generation Afghan-Canadian who aims to create an identity of his own, in the shadow of his father. It premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was later selected for TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten.

“An intimate portrait that illustrates the desires and burdens we carry, offering an evocative glimpse into the life of an Afghan-Canadian,” said the jury in a statement. “The director is a timeless visionary who is reshaping the journey of what it means to claim and accept one’s own identity.”

Additionally, Edmonton-born actor, writer and director Grace Glowicki was named the winner of the NEON Auteur Award for Uncompromising Visionary in the Visions Section at SXSW.

Her film, Dead Lover, recently had its North American rights picked up as part of a joint distribution venture between New York-based prodcos Cartuna and Dweck Productions.

“This year’s Auteur Award goes to a tremendously original film that could only come from this particular filmmaker’s curious, creative and exciting mind,” said the jury.

Jerome Yoo selected for the CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund

Vancouver and Seoul-based Jerome Yoo, the writer-director of Mongrels (Masubi Arts), has been selected for the second CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund.

The initiative, launched in September 2023, is a collaboration between the CJ Cultural Foundation, established by major Korean media group CJ; TIFF and the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). The program supports Korean-Canadian and Korean-American filmmakers that are developing their first or second feature film.

Yoo, who was selected among seven other writers or writer-directors with his project Flock and Murmur, will participate in a four-month story development process with guidance from Seoul-based CJ Entertainment and Merchandising. Three of the projects will be awarded $10,000 to further their features and careers.

Mongrels, Yoo’s feature debut, premiered at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival where Yoo won the Horizon Award for an emerging Canadian director. The film later won the FIPRESCI prize at Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. It is distributed in Canada by Game Theory Films.

Image courtesy of Blue Ant Media