‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Lead Canadian Screen Awards Nominations – Global Bulletin

In today’s Global Bulletin Canadian Screen Awards nominations announced; BET U.K. launches on My5, Pluto TV; Caro Kriel to head Thomson Foundation; Denmark’s TV2 commissions “Taboo” format; and Germany’s ZDF completes Trojan Horse documentary.

The sixth and final season of “Schitt’s Creek” leads both the television and overall Canadian Screen Award nominations with 21 nods, followed by “Cardinal: Until The Night” and “Trickster” with 15 nominations each. In film, Jeff Barnaby’s “Blood Quantum” leads nominations with 10, while Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” has nine and Charles Officer’s “Akilla’s Escape” eight. “Bit Playas” leads digital media nominations with six, “Hey Lady!” has five, and “Avocado Toast the Series” and “Ghost BFF” have four each.

The awards, from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, will be presented in seven parts streamed live on Academy.ca and the Canadian Academy Twitter and YouTube channels, from May 17 through May 20.

DIGITAL

BET U.K. is set to go digital-only from Apr. 8 and will be available on My5, U.K. broadcaster Channel 5’s VOD platform. In addition, a dedicated BET channel will be launched on free streaming platform Pluto TV in the U.K. on Apr. 5, following recent launches in Brazil and France.

BET U.K. is also rolling out a slate of local U.K. originals including cookery show “Celebrity Comfort Food,” comedy series “Black to the Future” (working title) and comedic journalistic format “We Do That.” The brand also announced regional music talent search “BET Amplifind U.K.”

Caro Kriel Thomson Foundation

APPOINTMENT

Thomson Foundation, the international media development organization, has appointed veteran journalist Caro Kriel as its new chief executive. She will succeed Nigel Baker who last year announced his intention to retire in the summer of 2021.

Kriel is CNN’s director of coverage for EMEA. She was previously head of international news at Sky News and held leadership positions at Associated Press, as Europe news director based in London, and as news director for Russia, based in Moscow.

Kriel will take up the position in June.

“Taboo” Lineup Industries

COMMISSION

International distribution company Lineup Industries’ format “Taboo” has been commissioned by TV2 in Denmark, to be produced by Monday Production Denmark. The show has also been commissioned for a second season by original broadcaster VRT in Belgium as well as Bell Media in Canada and Spain’s TV3. Local versions have also been produced in Australia on Network 10 and SFR in Switzerland.

Originally created by Belgian outfit Panenka, each episode of “Taboo” sees a famous comedian test the boundaries of comedy and good taste. They perform a unique routine which in each show challenges a subject judged too taboo to laugh at.

DOCUMENTARY

Single documentary “The Mystery of the Trojan Horse” is now completed and launched to market by Germany’s ZDF Enterprises. The show explores the truth behind the tale of the gigantic wooden horse, loaded with Greek soldiers and presented to the Trojans as a gift, and experts take a look at new facts and interpretations of the story.

The documentary is produced by Gruppe 5 and GA&A Productions for ZDF in association with ARTE and ZDF Enterprises.

Meanwhile, Cinedigm Corp has acquired all North American rights to the coming-of-age, pandemic thriller “The Island”(Sloborn) from ZDF Enterprises and will premiere on it on Cinedigm’s horror-led VOD service Screambox. The limited series was released in Germany last summer. Cinedigm will premiere the series from July, with two episodes releasing each week. The episodes will be offered in its original German and Danish languages with English subtitles, and English dubbed.

“The Mystery of the Trojan Horse” ZDF