Canadian media

Big Bad Boo gets TVO deal for new preschool series

The Vancouver-based producer has inked a deal with TVO to develop a new animated preschool series.

Youth Media Alliance honours Andra Sheffer, Mike Geiger

Andra Sheffer (pictured) is picking up the Outstanding Achievement Award and Mike Geiger the Emerging Talent Award.

BCON wrap: seven lessons on branded content

From Playback sister pub strategy, seven takeaways for brands looking to build branded content programs (and the producers who can help them) from Wednesday’s BCON Expo.

Playback’s Indie List: 2015 edition now open

Get on the list: fill out this year’s Indie Survey, covering all development and production spend in the 2014 calendar year, now. (Go to survey)

Canadian Screen Awards ’15: Nominations primer

Need a hand tracking who’s nominated for what? Here’s a handy reference of all nominees across six categories. (UPDATED with winners per category)

Syfy greenlights magic series Close Up Kings

The reality series, which follows three sleight-of-hand artists as they travel the U.S., is a coproduction between London’s Zig Zag Productions and Toronto’s Yap Films. (From Realscreen)

2015 AToMiC awards jury revealed

As the Jan. 23 deadline approaches, check out who will be judging this year’s best in creative, entertainment, tech and media innovation. (2014 Silver award winner GrojBand: The Show Must Go On pictured.)

Playback’s most-read stories of 2014

From development slates to cancellations to the Banff World Media festival, Playback takes a look back at our most-read stories from the past year. (Arctic Air pictured.)

Cat In The Hat lands new Euro sales

Portfolio Entertainment has secured new broadcast and in-flight deals for its animated series The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That! and its companion one-hour holiday special.

The Moblees looks to get kids moving

Kids’ CBC is set to air new live-action series The Moblees from Shaftesbury and Boulevard, which encourages kids to live a healthier lifestyle.

eOne signs YouTube stars to original content deal

The producer-distributor has signed sibling singing group Cimorelli to a multi-year output deal aimed at creating and distributing original content for TV, film and premium digital platforms. (From Stream)

Mike Cosentino on CraveTV’s acquisitions, originals strategy

“We didn’t want to be diluted right off the bat, we want to have a singular focus on television – so no kids, no theatricals,” says the Bell Media SVP of programming on future CraveTV originals. (From Stream Daily.)