Crave’s original series The Office Movers is the culmination of years of collaboration between creators Jermaine “Jae” Richards and Trevaunn “Trey” Richards and Bell Media.

Production on the 6 x 30-minute comedy series kicked off in Etobicoke, Ont. on Monday (March 4), with principal photography taking place throughout March.

The Office Movers is produced by Toronto’s Counterfeit Pictures, with Anton Leo, Dan Bennett, and Shane Corkery serving as executive producers. Clara Altimas (Kim’s Convenience) is the series showrunner and Sebastian Cluer (Still Standing) directs all six episodes. Allana Reoch (Strays) rounds out the writer’s room.

Jae and Trey star in the series alongside cast members Lucas Lopez-Vilet, Hassan Phills, WatswithAndy and Jack Innain. YouTube creator Jesse Sebastiani will also be making a cameo appearance.

“Crave is delighted to be working with talented digital curators and storytellers Jae and Trey Richards, along with our partners at Counterfeit Pictures, to bring their hilarious, original vision to audiences,” said Justin Stockman, Bell Media’s VP, content development and programming in a statement to Playback Daily. “We’re excited to be in business with some of Canada’s funniest, content creator trailblazers like Jae and Trey, Jasmeet Raina, and Boman Martinez-Reid to produce Crave original comedies that are uniquely Canadian, yet universally appealing and relatable.”

The series is based on Jae and Trey’s personal experience becoming first-time employees at their father’s office moving company.

Jae tells Playback that they were approached by Bell Media to develop an original 30-minute comedy series for Crave. The two have worked with Bell Media since 2015 under their 4YE banner to create YouTube content, including the 2019 web series Judge Tyco. He says they quickly realized what story they wanted to tell with the longer-form episodes.

“It was a world that nobody was thinking about, and was just full of colour and character, from the clients that we’d be working for, to the people coming in to buy furniture, to the actual movers who came from a diverse background, people of all races,” says Jae. “There’s so much to get into and, bottom line, we just saw so much comedy.”

Once they determined the concept, the duo met with a number of production companies to find a producing partner. Trey says the two immediately felt a level of comfort, camaraderie and trust when they met Counterfeit partners Leo and Corkery.

“Bell Media trusted us with a lot of ideas we put forward, and having that relationship with the production company was super important to us,” he says. “Once I felt out the vibe with Anton and Shane, and everyone at Counterfeit, we knew it was a perfect match.”

“They’ve got a great voice, they have lots of ideas, and what they needed was a production company to help them realize what they wanted to make, as opposed to trying to mold, shape, or redirect them in some other way,” adds Leo.

Once Counterfeit came on board, they brought in Altimas as showrunner, who Jae says was an immense support.

“We weren’t sure if we were prepared to take on writing a TV show,” he says. “We have so much experience writing short sketches and shorter videos online, but we weren’t exactly sure how to … create a 30-minute episode. Clara helped us tie things together, understand the arc of the season and form the beats and the overarching story.”

Leo says The Office Movers will be largely shot across two studio locations in Etobicoke. “We’re shooting this in a similar style to a feature in that we’re going to block shoot the whole show,” he adds, noting that bringing in Cluer as the sole director of the series made both logistical and creative sense for the production.

“We want to have a little bit gritty, little bit run-and-gun feel to the show, and he knows how to do that really well,” says Leo. “Having that singular voice for us, as a director, we thought was really important.”

The Office Movers is at a mid-range budget level, according to Leo, which he says is on par with other Crave comedies such as Late Bloomer and Bria Mack Gets a Life. The series is partially financed through the Canada Media Fund and tax credits.

While leading the creation of a 30-minute comedy has been one of the duo’s biggest challenges to date, Jae says it’s one they’ve been preparing for a long time.

“We feel comedy comes from an authentic, real place that people genuinely feel every day. It’s multicultural, like Toronto is, it’s very true to home, and I think [The Office Movers] is happening at the right time,” he says. “We’ve been groomed and we’ve been exercising in the gym, and now we’re ready to go show our talents.”

Image courtesy of Bell Media