Kelly Townsend

Kelly Townsend is the editor at Playback, with previous experience in B2B and entertainment journalism. Before joining the Playback team in 2018, she worked in the editorial, marketing and communication departments at B2B publisher Dovetail Communications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from York University and is a graduate of Humber College’s journalism program. Her byline has appeared in IndieWire and she spent several years covering Canadian TV as associate editor of The TV Junkies.

Posts by Kelly Townsend

Corus expands StackTV’s reach in Canada

Sports-focused streaming service FuboTV has added StackTV as part of a premium package.

Dan Levy launches new shingle

The Schitt’s Creek co-creator has partnered with publicist Megan Zehmer to develop the slate for Not a Real Company Productions.

D360 kids content sales cross five continents

The marblemedia-owned distributor has inked deals for The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker, ScienceXplosion, All-Round Champion, and more.

Amazon’s Prime Video renews The Lake for season two

The Canadian original comedy starring Jordan Gavaris and Julia Stiles is now in production in Northern Ontario.

Headspinner partners with former Wiggles star Emma Watkins

The Toronto prodco is in development on the preschool series Emma Memma: Sing. Dance. Sign. with Watkins’ production banner Apricot Sea.

Documentary pioneer Terence Macartney-Filgate dies at 97

The prolific director helped develop the direct cinema movement with the National Film Board of Canada, starting in the 1950s.

Warner Bros. Discovery Access names 2022 directors, writers participants

Run in partnership with the Canadian Academy, the initiatives include the inaugural WBD Access x Canadian Academy Directors Program and the second year of the writers program.

Crave orders docuseries on Montreal influencer drug scandal

Set for a December release, the three-part series is produced by Montreal’s Urbania and Connect3.

Mongrel Media boards Jamie Kastner’s first scripted feature

Currently in development, the film is a fictional take on Kastner’s 2017 documentary The Skyjacker’s Tale, about an American fugitive living in Cuba.

Nelvana adds Breakthrough’s Aliy Brown to sales team

As digital sales and partnerships manager, Brown will focus on sales and distribution within the AVOD and FAST channel space.

CMF adds five to management team

The appointments come months after the funder restructured its senior management team to implement a new content-focused funding model.

AMI launches lab to enhance accessibility in TV writers’ rooms

The Accessible Writers’ Lab will pair creatives with disabilities with established showrunners and writers to create a case study on barriers in TV writers’ rooms.