Exclusive: The shape of Blue Ant Media’s combined studios and rights business is coming together.
Following the Canada’s Drag Race producer’s acquisition of Canadian compatriot MarbleMedia in August, the as-yet-unnamed production and distribution business has set out its leadership teams under Co-Presidents Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg, we can reveal.
Bishop and Hornburg previously led MarbleMedia, which has production and sales operations in Canada and the UK. Merging their business with Michael MacMillan’s Blue Ant has created Canada’s latest major content business, the name of which will soon be unveiled.
Here’s a rundown of the new structure: Hornburg’s unscripted development will see Jennifer Harkness taking the factual entertainment development reins from Blue Ant’s LA office. Over in Toronto, Kelsey Espensen (Best in Miniature) will lead unscripted entertainment and Steve Gamester (Inside the Statue Wars) heads specialist factual development.
Following the Canada’s Drag Race producer’s acquisition of Canadian compatriot MarbleMedia in August, the as-yet-unnamed production and distribution business has set out its leadership teams under Co-Presidents Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg, we can reveal.
Bishop and Hornburg previously led MarbleMedia, which has production and sales operations in Canada and the UK. Merging their business with Michael MacMillan’s Blue Ant has created Canada’s latest major content business, the name of which will soon be unveiled.
Here’s a rundown of the new structure: Hornburg’s unscripted development will see Jennifer Harkness taking the factual entertainment development reins from Blue Ant’s LA office. Over in Toronto, Kelsey Espensen (Best in Miniature) will lead unscripted entertainment and Steve Gamester (Inside the Statue Wars) heads specialist factual development.
- 11/22/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Get your crayons and sticky tape ready and crack open the Tickle Trunk! The Amazon Original documentary “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe” lands on Prime Video this Tuesday, Oct. 10, bringing home nostalgia to Canadian viewers through untold stories, never-before-seen footage, and more of the life and career of legendary Canadian children’s entertainer Ernie Coombs, a.k.a. Mr. Dressup, who, with the help of friends like Chester the Crow and a lot of imagination, helped raise four decades of Canadian children. You can watch with a 30-Day Free Trial of Amazon Prime Video.
How to Watch 'Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe' When: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 Where: Amazon Prime Video Stream: Watch with a 30-Day Free Trial of Amazon Prime Video. 30-Day Free Trial$8.99 / month amazon.com About 'Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe'
The new Canadian Amazon Original documentary “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe...
How to Watch 'Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe' When: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 Where: Amazon Prime Video Stream: Watch with a 30-Day Free Trial of Amazon Prime Video. 30-Day Free Trial$8.99 / month amazon.com About 'Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe'
The new Canadian Amazon Original documentary “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe...
- 10/10/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
If you’re looking for a complete list of every new movie and TV show coming to Amazon Prime Video in October, you’ve come to the right place. This month kicks off with a slew of great library additions, from James Bond films to relatively new releases (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and the Nicolas Cage Dracula movie “Renfield”) and beyond.
There are also some high-profile originals landing in October. The third season of the sci-fi comedy series “Upload” arrives on Oct. 20, while Oct. 6 marks the release of the Prime Video original film “Totally Killer,” a fun slasher set in the 1980s that stars Kiernan Shipka.
Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in October 2023 below, followed by a complete list of new arrivals for Freevee in October as well.
Arriving October 1
Frasier, Seasons 1-11 (1994)
Hit, Season 3 (2020)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A Guy Thing...
There are also some high-profile originals landing in October. The third season of the sci-fi comedy series “Upload” arrives on Oct. 20, while Oct. 6 marks the release of the Prime Video original film “Totally Killer,” a fun slasher set in the 1980s that stars Kiernan Shipka.
Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in October 2023 below, followed by a complete list of new arrivals for Freevee in October as well.
Arriving October 1
Frasier, Seasons 1-11 (1994)
Hit, Season 3 (2020)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A Guy Thing...
- 9/30/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut for Amazon/MGM stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
American Fiction follows last year’s recipient...
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut for Amazon/MGM stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
American Fiction follows last year’s recipient...
- 9/17/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
MGM distributes American Fiction in the...
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
MGM distributes American Fiction in the...
- 9/17/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
MGM distributes American Fiction in the...
The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.
‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.
MGM distributes American Fiction in the...
- 9/17/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s blistering satire of race and media, captured the Toronto International Film Festival’s people’s choice award, bolstering its Oscars chances.
TIFF’s people’s choice award is considered to be among the best predictors of eventual awards success, though the 2023 festival hosted a weaker lineup than most years due to the writers and actors strikes that saw some prominent contenders skip a Canadian premiere. In the past, winners of the prize such as “Green Book,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Nomadland” went on to be named best picture at the Academy Awards. Other recipients, including “Belfast,” “La La Land,” “Jojo Rabbit,” and 2022’s winner, “The Fabelmans,” were all best picture nominees.
The people’s choice category was created in 1978. Seven recipients won best picture at the Oscars, with five of those victories coming in the past two decades.
Alexander Payne’s boarding school dramedy...
TIFF’s people’s choice award is considered to be among the best predictors of eventual awards success, though the 2023 festival hosted a weaker lineup than most years due to the writers and actors strikes that saw some prominent contenders skip a Canadian premiere. In the past, winners of the prize such as “Green Book,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Nomadland” went on to be named best picture at the Academy Awards. Other recipients, including “Belfast,” “La La Land,” “Jojo Rabbit,” and 2022’s winner, “The Fabelmans,” were all best picture nominees.
The people’s choice category was created in 1978. Seven recipients won best picture at the Oscars, with five of those victories coming in the past two decades.
Alexander Payne’s boarding school dramedy...
- 9/17/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival, which wrapped up a 48th edition with little Hollywood star wattage amid the uncertainty of dual Hollywood strikes.
Jefferson’s feature directorial debut, an adaptation for Orion of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, had its world premiere in Toronto at the Princess Alexandra Theatre on Sept. 8. MRC is the film’s studio and financier.
The American drama about U.S. racial dynamics portrays a Black academic, played by Jeffrey Wright, who grows frustrated that the only “Black books” that seem to find a wide (and white) audience are those that tread on stereotypes.
“My gratitude towards everyone who watched American Fiction [and] discussed it afterwards among friends and colleagues is endless. The film is now in your hands, and I’m so grateful that it was embraced in this way,” Jefferson said in a statement Sunday morning.
Jefferson’s feature directorial debut, an adaptation for Orion of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, had its world premiere in Toronto at the Princess Alexandra Theatre on Sept. 8. MRC is the film’s studio and financier.
The American drama about U.S. racial dynamics portrays a Black academic, played by Jeffrey Wright, who grows frustrated that the only “Black books” that seem to find a wide (and white) audience are those that tread on stereotypes.
“My gratitude towards everyone who watched American Fiction [and] discussed it afterwards among friends and colleagues is endless. The film is now in your hands, and I’m so grateful that it was embraced in this way,” Jefferson said in a statement Sunday morning.
- 9/17/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“American Fiction” has won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards brunch on Sunday.
The Orion/MGM film by first-time director Cord Jefferson is a barbed satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a writer who, to his dismay, achieves enormous success after as a joke writing a book filled with what he feels are the worst and most pandering cliches of Black representation. In its review, TheWrap called the film “an outlandishly assured directorial debut, a beautifully modulated film that takes a great actor, Jeffrey Wright, and gives him a spectacular showcase.”
While the film did not come into the festival as one of its highest profile selections, it was an immediate sensation after its Friday night premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre, drawing some of TIFF’s most positive reviews. It currently stands at 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes...
The Orion/MGM film by first-time director Cord Jefferson is a barbed satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a writer who, to his dismay, achieves enormous success after as a joke writing a book filled with what he feels are the worst and most pandering cliches of Black representation. In its review, TheWrap called the film “an outlandishly assured directorial debut, a beautifully modulated film that takes a great actor, Jeffrey Wright, and gives him a spectacular showcase.”
While the film did not come into the festival as one of its highest profile selections, it was an immediate sensation after its Friday night premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre, drawing some of TIFF’s most positive reviews. It currently stands at 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes...
- 9/17/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2023 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction. First Runner-Up is Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. Second Runner-Up is Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. The Documentary Award goes to Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, and the Midnight Madness winner is Dicks: The Musical.
Orion and MRC’s American Fiction stars Jeffrey Wright and comes from writer-director Jefferson. It is a scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers, one whose name is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) bestseller We Lives in Da Ghetto. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in November.
Voted by audience members since 1978 and...
Orion and MRC’s American Fiction stars Jeffrey Wright and comes from writer-director Jefferson. It is a scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers, one whose name is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) bestseller We Lives in Da Ghetto. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in November.
Voted by audience members since 1978 and...
- 9/17/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
After a two week run that included a slew of buzzy world premieres and screenings of previous favorites from the international festival circuit, the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close. Toronto is often considered the unofficial kickoff to Oscar season (along with the Venice and Telluride film festivals), so the films that take home the coveted People’s Choice Awards often get an early boost for their award campaigns.
The top prize went to “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s publishing industry satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a novelist who finds massive success after writing a deliberately stupid novel about Black life. Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” were honored as the first and second runners up, respectively.
The MRC title could have a bright future at the Academy Awards, as 11 of the last 14 People’s Choice Award winners...
The top prize went to “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s publishing industry satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a novelist who finds massive success after writing a deliberately stupid novel about Black life. Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” were honored as the first and second runners up, respectively.
The MRC title could have a bright future at the Academy Awards, as 11 of the last 14 People’s Choice Award winners...
- 9/17/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
“The Fall of the House of Usher” Official Trailer Out Now
The first official trailer is out for Netflix’s latest horror miniseries “The Fall of the House of the Usher.”
The horror series comes from Mike Flanagan and is based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, where ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power, but past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.
Watch the “The Fall of the House of Usher” trailer below:
The ensemble cast includes Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel,...
The first official trailer is out for Netflix’s latest horror miniseries “The Fall of the House of the Usher.”
The horror series comes from Mike Flanagan and is based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, where ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power, but past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.
Watch the “The Fall of the House of Usher” trailer below:
The ensemble cast includes Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel,...
- 9/13/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
“Keep your crayons sharp.”
On Thursday, Prime Video debuted the trailer for the new Canadian Amazon Original documentary, “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe”.
Read More: Mr. Dressup Documentary In The Works, Honouring Canada’s Most Beloved Children’s Entertainer
The film looks back on the story and legacy of Ernie Coombs, the iconic children’s entertainer best known to Canadians as Mr. Dressup.
Cnw Group/Amazon Canada
Featuring interviews with Michael J. Fox, Eric McCormack, Graham Greene, the Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Torrens, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Andrew Phung, Bruce McCulloch, Scott Thompson, Bif Naked, Peter Mansbridge and Yannick Bisson, the doc explores the impact “Mr. Dressup” had on generations of Canadians.
As seen in the trailer, the film also looks back on Coombs’ beginnings in children’s television with fellow icon Fred Rogers, and their strong friendship.
“Ernie never forgot a child within him, and that informs everything that he does with children,...
On Thursday, Prime Video debuted the trailer for the new Canadian Amazon Original documentary, “Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe”.
Read More: Mr. Dressup Documentary In The Works, Honouring Canada’s Most Beloved Children’s Entertainer
The film looks back on the story and legacy of Ernie Coombs, the iconic children’s entertainer best known to Canadians as Mr. Dressup.
Cnw Group/Amazon Canada
Featuring interviews with Michael J. Fox, Eric McCormack, Graham Greene, the Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Torrens, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Andrew Phung, Bruce McCulloch, Scott Thompson, Bif Naked, Peter Mansbridge and Yannick Bisson, the doc explores the impact “Mr. Dressup” had on generations of Canadians.
As seen in the trailer, the film also looks back on Coombs’ beginnings in children’s television with fellow icon Fred Rogers, and their strong friendship.
“Ernie never forgot a child within him, and that informs everything that he does with children,...
- 9/7/2023
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
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