Toronto Gets Under MTV's "Skins"

"Skins" is the Toronto-lensed, US adaptation of the UK teen drama "Skins", that debuted January 17, 2011 on MTV in the US and on Movie Central and The Movie Network in Canada.

The original series was created by father-and-son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures, premiering on E4, a UK television channel, January 25, 2007.

As with the UK series, the US version features a cast of amateur actors and young writers.

The show started filming February 2010 in Toronto, following Sneak Peek's open casting call November 2009.

Premise of "Skins" follows a group of teenagers, going through High School. The controversial plot line explores issues including dysfunctional families, promiscuous sex, mental illness, sexual orientation identity, substance abuse and death.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Skins"...

DirectTV Votes For "The Kennedys"

Sneak Peek the cover to the February 2011 issue of "Elle" Magazine, showcasing actress Katie Holmes, for what would have been part of the campaign promoting the History Channel's, now-cancelled, 8-part TV mini-series, "The Kennedys".

Filmed in Toronto last summer, the show stars Holmes as First Lady 'Jackie Kennedy'.

After History Channel and Showtime passed on the completed project, due to 'questionable depictions' of the characters involved, "The Kennedys" may now debut @ DirecTV, who are actively in talks to acquire the show.

DirecTV previously picked up "Friday Night Lights" and "Damages", both of which were on the verge of cancellation. The direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, transmits digital satellite television/audio to households in the US, with over 18 million subscribers.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Kennedys"...

Canadian Film & TV Production Shows Growth

According to the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), the Canadian film and television production industry showed growth from 2008/09 to 2009/10, with an overall increase in production volume from $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion.

Total numbers for independent television production had an overall one per cent rise in activity in the industry.

The report also reveals that Canadian theatrical production and foreign location & service production regained momentum in 2009-2010.

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Toronto Start For Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis"

Further to Sneak Peek's first report July 2009, Canadian director David Cronenberg ("A History Of Violence"), will adapt/direct author Don DeLillo's 2003 novel "Cosmopolis", for producer Paulo Branco's Paris-based Alfama Films and Cronenberg's Toronto-based Antenna Ltd.

Cronenberg is currently prepping to start the film in Toronto, May 2011, with actor Robert Pattinson ("Twilight") leading the cast.

Premise of "Cosmopolis" follows 28-year-old billionaire 'Eric Packer', a 'financial wizard', who attempts to cross Manhattan in a luxuriously equipped stretch limo.

In the process Packer encounters a presidential visit, public protest and celebrity funeral, forcing him to conduct his business and personal affairs directly from the vehicle.

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"Falling Skies" Trailer Lands Online

The Ontario-lensed, DreamWorks TV dramatic series "Falling Skies" will air June 2011 on TNT, starring actor Noah Wyle ("ER") as resistance leader 'Tom Mason', who leads a ragtag group of survivors, following a destructive alien invasion of the Earth.

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, cast also includes Moon Bloodgood as 'Anne Glass', Will Patton as 'Weaver', Drew Roy as 'Hal', Maxim Knight as 'Matt', Connor Jessup as 'Ben', Seychelle Gabriel as 'Lourdes', Colin Cunningham as 'John Pope' and Sarah Carter as 'Margaret'.

"...'Falling Skies' opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

"...'Tom Mason' (Wyle) is a Boston history professor whose family has been torn apart. His wife was killed in the initial attack, and one of his three sons has been captured. Determined to get his son back and to ensure the safety of his other two sons, Tom must put his extensive knowledge of military history to the test as one of the leaders of the resistance movement known as the '2nd Mass', constantly trying to gain intelligence about the aliens in order to outsmart and overtake them..."

There are two types of aliens in the series named 'Skitters' and 'Mechs'. Combining live action and SFX, the Skitters have spider-like bodies, while the robotic Mechs stand upright and can shoot bullets from their arms.

"Falling Skies" is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, with DreamWorks TV's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Robert Rodat ("Saving Private Ryan") wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden ("Battlestar Galactica") and Greg Beeman ("Smallville") are co-executive producers, with the pilot directed by Carl Franklin ("Out of Time").

Dark Horse' "Falling Skies: The Web Comic", is written by Paul Tobin and illustrated by Juan Ferreyra.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Falling Skies"...

Pinewood Toronto Lands $200 Million "Total Recall"

According to reports, Pinewood Toronto Studios, offering the largest indoor studio sound stage in North America, has landed director Len Wiseman's Columbia Pictures $200 million reboot, "Total Recall".

The new film starts shooting in Toronto, March 2011.

Pinewood Toronto Studios offer seven sound stages on a 4.5-hectare site. The largest sound stage within the complex is 46,000 square feet unbroken by columns.

Colin Farrell is in negotiations to star in "Total Recall", from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer ("Salt"), adapting the novelette "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", by author Philip K. Dick.

The new film will be a 'contemporized' take of the original story (previously adapted to the big screen as "Total Recall"), for producer Neal H. Moritz.

"I've always been fascinated with Dick's short story," said Wiseman.

"I'm excited at that prospect of diving even deeper into the type of world it evokes and the questions it asks. I love that the most crucial mystery our character is trying to solve is the one of his own soul."

First published in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction", April 1966, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" featured a classic meshing of reality, false memory and real memory, with the title an allusion to "I Can Get It for You Wholesale".

"...'Douglas Quail', a simple and ordinary man, wishes to visit Mars. Unable to afford it, he visits a company, 'Rekal Incorporated', that offers implanted memories or 'extra-factual memory'. The attempt to implant some racy Mars memories of Quail as a secret agent reveals that Quail actually is an undercover government assassin with a mind full of dangerous secrets.

"The Rekal staff quickly get Quail out of their office; he heads home and finds certain physical evidence to support his new old memories. The government initially seeks his death but instead Quail manages to make a deal. He returns to Rekal to have his Mars memories once more suppressed, and is offered by way of compensation a set of heroic wish-fulfillment false memories.

The Rekal staff begin the memory-implanting procedure — and uncover a different and older set of suppressed memories revealing that the unbelievable memories they are about to insert are already there and are true..."

While Moritz continues developing his reboot of the 1990 Martian movie, Dynamite Entertainment will publish a series of "Total Recall" comic books, based on the Carolco Pictures film, directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Rights to publish "Total Recall" were obtained from StudioCanal S.A.

"...'Total Recall' the comic book series, is centered on an unsophisticated construction worker, 'Douglas Quaid' and the aftermath of his visit to 'REKALL', a company offering vacations for the mind.

"But the Rekall vacation triggers a 'mind plant' in Quaid's brain, leading him to discover that he is a freedom fighter from Mars who has been relocated to Earth.

"Quaid attempts to restore order and reverse the corrupt influence of commercial powers, despite multiple challenges, not the least of which are his wife's multiple attempts to kill him: attacks from thugs who want him dead; and his own confusion as to who he really is.

"Quaid conquers the corrupt hold of the Mars based mining company restoring order to the Mars community..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Total Recall".

ABC Studios Into "Being Erica"

According to reports, ABC will develop a US version of the Toronto-lensed CBC TV series "Being Erica", to be written by Maggie Friedman ("Eastwick") for ABC Studios.

Created by Jana Sinyor, "Being Erica" stars Canadian actress Erin Karpluk as 'Erica Strange', a woman who begins seeing a therapist to deal with regrets in her life, only to discover the therapist (Michael Riley) has the ability to send her back in time to relive these events and even change them.

CBC's "Being Erica" debuted in 2009 and subsequently sold to more than 150 countries, including the US where it has been airing over ABC's SoapNet cable channel.

The UK is also interested in another remake of the series for Brit audiences, set in Glasgow, Scotland, to be produced by Big Talk Productions, titled "You Again".

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Being Erica"...

Toronto Start For Syfy's "Alphas"

Syfy reports it has given the sci-fi drama pilot "Alphas" (aka "Section 8"), written by Zak Penn and Michael Karnow, an 11-episode pick-up order, slated to start production in Toronto, early 2011 for a Syfy summer 2011 debut.

The pilot was directed by Jack Bender ("Lost").

From production companies BermanBraun and UCP, "Alphas" stars actor David Strathairn who leads a team of 'ordinary citizens' that possess extraordinary and unusual mental skills.

Penn and BermanBraun's Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein are executive producing.

"With each step in the development and production of 'Alphas', we knew we were onto something very exciting," said Syfy's Mark Stern.

"Alphas" cast also includes Warren Christie, Malik Yoba, Laura Mennell, Ryan Cartwright and Azita Ghanizada...

"Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel" DVD- December 7

According to Oscar-winning Canadian filmmaker Brigitte Berman ("Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got"), her acclaimed 2010 documentary "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel" will be available on DVD, December 7, 2010.

"...'Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel' is a revealing look at the outspoken, flamboyant founder of the "Playboy" empire.

"With humor and insight, the film captures Hefner's fierce battles with the government, the religious right and militant feminists.

"Rare footage and compelling interviews with a remarkable who's who of 20th Century American pop culture, present a brilliant and entertaining snapshot of the life of an extraordinary man and the controversies that surrounded him..."

In addition to Hefner, the film includes interviews with Joan Baez, Jim Brown, Dick Cavett, Pat Boone, Susan Brownmiller, Gene Simmons, Jenny McCarthy, Mike Wallace, Dick Gregory, Tony Curtis, Shannon Tweed, Jesse Jackson, Tony Bennett, James Caan, David Steinberg, George Lucas, Ruth Westheimer, Bill Maher and Pete Seeger.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist And Rebel"...