Alchemy TV Woes, Dose.ca Fixes A Howling Error, and Flashpoint Guest Stars Appear in New Productions!

Alchemy TV Loses 3 Key Staff Members

It's been a rough year for one of Flashpoint's key production partners. Alchemy TV is based in Los Angeles, and distributes Flashpoint internationally. Recently, the London office of the company (specifically for Reality TV) was wound down, and its managing director Mike Beale, stepped down from the company due to an internal dispute. Michael Oesterlin, who served as the President of Worldwide Distribution, also left. And just a few days ago, Alchemy CEO Carrie Stein left her post and the company. She commented that this was because "Alchemy's brass weren't ready to grow the company as quickly as she wanted". Like many companies in this time, it was not a financially great year for the company either. Simon Vaughn, a co-founder and partner at Alchemy, is now left to take the company into the future. We really hope that Alchemy doesn't drop Flashpoint - the show is a success in many countries around the world and it would be a terrible loss!

Once Again, the Media Gets it All Wrong...

In an article which signaled our Flashpoint radar yesterday, we spotted a potentially howling error. In an interview with actress Tonya Lee Williams about another Canadian show The Border, the interviewer told her that CBS had announced Flashpoint had been canceled. We didn't hear about this, and it was news to us (as it was to many of our followers on Twitter, and series Story Editor, Adam Barken). We contacted the editors of both the Vancouver Sun and Dose.ca asking them for their source of this "announcement". This morning we heard back from Jennifer McDonnell of Canwest Digital Media, and she thanked us for the note and said she'd look into it. This afternoon, we found that the article had changed from "Yes, but CBS just announced they'd be cancelling Flashpoint last week." to "Yes, but CBS just announced that Flashpoint isn't on their fall schedule." The interview just doesn't have the same flow with the change. Normally we'd expect to see an Editor's note or something either before or after the article admitting this error. Readers, you can all breathe because once again, people are reporting Flashpoint is canceled just because it isn't on CBS's Fall schedule. New episodes begin on CTV Tuesday, September 25th! Our pictures below are screens of the article.


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Two Guest Stars on Flashpoint in New Productions!

☄K.C. Collins, who played Derek Medeiros in the episode "Exit Wounds" has the leading role in the upcoming movie Sons 2 the Grave. The movie is the first cinematic effort from rap label Death Row Records, and K.C. plays a young basketball phenom who returns to an inner-city ghetto after two bullets stop his dream of a career in the NBA. Death Row CEO Lara Lavi had this to say about the movie: "This film embodies what we're trying to do with Death Row, to tell human stories that don't always have happy endings, and that allow us to learn from violence and disenfranchised lives, but not glorify it." Sounds like it's going to have a sad ending?! We might catch this one! Death Row also plans to use music to score the film from its extensive back catalog including unreleased tracks from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The film begins production in Toronto this October and is slated to hit theaters in 2010.

☄ Dewshane Williams, who played Adam in the episode "Aisle 13", has a supporting role in the MTV/CTV co-production, Turn the Beat Around. This made for TV movie is a dance film that centers around a dancer who is determined to follow her dreams in Los Angeles, and continues to work hard for that one break! Production is now underway for this film in Toronto and Hamilton. The film has some other big names behind it, such as choreographer Tre Armstrong, who was also the choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and music supervisor Evan Bogart, who is known for writing some of the radio's biggest hits, such as Sean Kingston's Take You There, Beyoncé Knowles' Halo, and Hilary Duff's Reach Out.

Congrats to these two and good luck on these productions!

BREAKING NEWS! Flashpoint Nominated for 19 Gemini Awards in Canada!

Nominations for the 24th Annual Gemini Awards in Canada (equivalent of the USA Emmy Awards) were announced this morning in Toronto. Flashpoint is nominated for a record 19 awards in 12 categories! Congratulations to Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern, and all of the writers, actors, and crew who were nominated. The list of awards is posted below by category, with Flashpoint nominees in bold. CTV also announced today that new episodes will begin to air in Canada on September 25th!

Best Dramatic Series:

Being Erica
p. David Fortier, Aaron Martin, Ivan Schneeberg, Jana Sinyor
(Temple Street Productions)

The Border
p. Peter Raymont, David Barlow, Brian Dennis, Janet MacLean
(White Pine Pictures)

Flashpoint
p. Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
(Flashpoint Season 1 Inc., PINK SKY ENTERTAINMENT INC., AVAMAR ENTERTAINMENT INC.)

The Tudors
p. Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan
(Peace Arch Television Ltd., PA Tudors II Inc., TM Productions)

ZOS: Zone of Separation
p. Paul Gross, Mario Azzopardi, Malcolm MacRury, Andrea Raffaghello, Frank Siracusa
(Whizbang Films, Sulari Productions Inc.)

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series:

Chris Grismer
Being Erica
Leo

John Fawcett
The Border
Going Dark

Kelly Makin
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Steven Adelson
Sanctuary
Instinct

Jeremy Podeswa
The Tudors
Episode 201

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series:


Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Lori Spring
Murdoch Mysteries
I, Murdoch

Floyd Kane
Soul
Fathers and Daughters

Brad Wright
Stargate Atlantis
The Shrine

Michael Hirst
The Tudors
Episode 205

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series

Gareth C. Scales
Flashpoint
Element of Surprise

Teresa Hannigan, C.C.E.
Flashpoint
Scorpio

Jonathan Baltrusaitis
In a World Created By a Drunken God

Arthur Tarnowski
The Last Templar

Wendy Hallam Martin
The Tudors
Episode 207

Best Sound in a Dramatic Series:

Russell Walker, Eric Apps, Stefan Fraticelli, Herwig Gayer, Alastair Gray, Rich Harkness, Ian Rodness
The Border
Going Dark

David McCallum, Mike Baskerville, Sue Conley, Steve Hammond, Janice Ierulli, Mark Shnuriwsky, Paul Williamson
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Sid Lieberman, Richard Calistan, Steve Foster, Robert Hegedus, Kevin Howard, Ron Osiowy, Paul Shubat
Heartland
Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Jane Tattersall, Daniel Birch, Yuri Gorbachow, Martin Lee, Kirk Lynds, Andy Malcolm, David McCallum, Dale Sheldrake
The Tudors

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series:

Jody Colero, Lily Frost, Trevor Yuile
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Mark Korven
The Border
Floral Tribute

James Gelfand
Crusoe
The Return

Ari Posner, Amin Bhatia
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Robert Carli
Murdoch Mysteries
Werewolves

Best Achievement in Main Title Design:

Alain Provost, Aileen McBride, Michel Mercier, Theresa Warburton
2008 Beijing Olympics

Boyne Stergulc
2009 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards

Kim Jackson, Ron Gervais, Mike McDougall
Flashpoint
Flashpoint Main Title Sequence

Kevin Micallef, Brant Forrest, Don Gauthier, Glen Wyand
Grossology
Grossology Main Title Sequence

Shane Kinnear, Kevin Chandoo, Brent Whitmore
Murdoch Mysteries
Murdoch Mysteries Main Title Sequence

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Enrico Colantoni
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Hugh Dillon
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Daniel Kash
The Line
Episode 102

Ron White
The Line
Episode 102

Robin Dunne
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Erin Karpluk
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Amy Jo Johnson
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Andrea Menard
Rabbit Fall
Hit and Run

Amanda Tapping
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series:

Damir Andrei
Being Erica
The Secret of Now

Ron Lea
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Nicholas Campbell
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Mpho Koaho
Flashpoint
Never Kissed A Girl

Henry Czerny
Flashpoint
First In Line

Natalie Dormer
The Tudors
Episode 210

Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series:

Anna Silk
Being Erica
Everything She Wants

Daisy Beaumont
The Border
Floral Tribute

Kristin Booth
Flashpoint
Backwards Day

Tatiana Maslany
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Sarah Gadon
Flashpoint
Attention Shoppers

Best Achievement in Casting:

Stephanie Gorin
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Stephanie Gorin
The Border
Going Dark

Marissa Richmond
Flashpoint
Scorpio

Susan Forrest, Sharon Forrest, Jim Heber
Less Than Kind
The Daters

Marsha Chesley
The Line
Episode 107


Congratulations to everyone on their nominations, and all of us on staff wish you the best of luck! We've been following this show since the pilot stages on Moon Chase and seeing how this show has grown to be a huge success here at home and around the world is truly inspiring! We'll be watching and we will announce the winners as soon as we find out!

Flashbits from August 2009!

Badgers and Doves, here come your Flashpoint tidbits for the month of August! P.S. Badgers and Doves is our new, Mark Ellis-approved, fan nickname. What do you all think?

Flashpoint Premieres in France and South Africa!

Flashpoint continues to conquer the world with two big premieres this month on two different continents. On August 6th, the show premiered in France on Canal+ and the first three episodes were shown that night in French! On August 20th, the show premiered for the first time in South Africa on Hallmark Channel(and was earlier named a pick of the week)! There are a couple interesting news articles coming out of France. One outlines reasons for the show's pickup, and remarks that while American dramas never cease to seduce both broadcasters and viewers, they are quite expensive for foreign countries to broadcast. Many similar kinds of shows have also either ended or been canceled. Many broadcasters choose to look to Canada for similar shows, because they are cheaper to produce. Since the Writer's Strike of 2007, ideas that were coming out of the US weren't as innovative as Flashpoint. The second reason the show was picked up was production quality. Even U.S. networks which were not warm to foreign imports, picked up Flashpoint because the Canadian standards were on par with Hollywood standards, and the format didn't stray too far away from similar US shows. The second article was just a short intro to the series and the first three episodes being broadcast on premiere night. 3 episodes back to back is overkill - two would have been just right! We're still waiting to hear on a premiere in an Asian country!

CBSC Deems Promo Not Violent

We're sure most Canadians have seen a Canadian Broadcast Standards Council commercial on TV at some point in their life. Usually when we see these commercials, it's because the watchdog NGO found something offensive on the network and the network needs to remind it's viewers that they strive to keep what they air within standards. A promotion for the episode Backwards Day disturbed the children of one very angry parent, and was aired during an NFL Football game, to the point where the commercial had to be censored by the parent. The CBSC recently announced its decision on how violent this promo was, and decided that it was not as violent as it seemed, and it was not in breach of broadcast standards. CTV just got a warning that promos for the show should air in a more appropriate timeslot. At least we don't have to see those CBSC spots during Flashpoint!

Flashpoint On Air in the Air?!

Mark Ellis informed his Twitter followers yesterday on the way to their much-needed family vacation in Florida that there are 5 episodes of Flashpoint available on Air Canada (writer Adam Barken later joked that he should watch it wearing full Flashpoint crew gear). Flashpoint Fan gcookie60 also shared that there were 6 episodes available on her flight! So for those of you who want something a little better to watch than their current movie selection, and you are flying on a longer Air Canada flight, why not make it a little more pleasant with the SRU?

Quickie Appearances in a Flash!

☄ Writer Tassie Cameron was listed by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada's Hottest Women Not On TV because she is "the girl who writes like a guy". Also featured are other writers on Flashpoint, Tracey Forbes (Planets Aligned, Attention Shoppers), and Esta Spalding who served as a consultant for the first season and wrote Backwards Day and Never Kissed a Girl. No mention of Stephanie Morgenstern?!

☄ Alchemy TV's co-founder and partner Simon Vaughan is set to be the keynote speaker at Strategic Partners, a very prestigious Canadian international co-production market in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This event will take place on September 19th. Alchemy TV is one of Flashpoint's key production partners, and is also the international distributor of the show.

☄ The_Nange pointed us to her pictures of a feature article with Enrico Colantoni (Page 1, Page 2)! He was interviewed in Autotrader's Newcar Magazine as part of their Stars in Cars section. He talks about his cars (past and current), how he drives, what his dream car is (you might be surprised!) , and who he'd like to have a car ride with. Thanks for sharing this with us, The_Nange!

☄ CBS just announced an official press release with the cover and details of the U.S. release of Season 1 (on standard DVD format), which was also posted on TVShowsonDVD. Confirmed extras include A commentary by director David Frazee on the first episode, Scorpio, and two featurettes: Flashpoint: Behind The Scenes - Season 1 and The Human Cost of Heroism.

Despite Flashpoint’s Success, Canadian Dramas Still Have Many Challenges

We noticed a new article today in the news, coming from Jason Anderson of the Canadian general interest magazine, The Walrus. Jason’s article features some insightful comments from Flashpoint co-creators Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis about the show’s identity and why it took the direction it did. We learned at least one new thing: we’ll have to change our familiar episode summary opener from "We begin in medias res" to "Today’s Cold Open…" The show has had huge international success which has opened the door for quite a few other Canuck dramas (with co-production agreements with the United States). However, Canada still faces challenges supporting home-grown drama in its own country , since we are exposed to media from all over, especially the US. Mary Jane Miller, a Professor Emeritus at Brock University suggests that the best ones didn’t try to “look American” but rather displayed moral tolerance, open-ended narrative structures, and experimented with the medium itself. At the same time, there is a lot of pressure for Canadian shows to be just like American ones since they are hugely popular in the Great White North. It has taken a while for Canadian shows to find the perfect balance between trying to have the same sorts of appeal that the American dramas have, while still staying true to a unique, Canadian, identity. The article also chronicles the plight of other Canadian TV series at home and abroad. It’s a bit of a long read and a few things were omitted, but it’s still nonetheless an interesting read.

Potential DVD Cover Art For Canada?

TVShowsonDVD has posted what may be the cover art for both the standard and Blu-Ray DVD boxsets being released in Canada. And, these covers are terrific! The vibrant blues look a lot better than the dreary grays on the US cover. And, there's a nice shot of the Toronto skyline too! The American one doesn't feature the CN Tower and makes it look just like any generic big city. What do you all think of these covers? And for those of you freaking out about the price, it's fully possible you could find it for less than the prices we listed yesterday! Amazon Canada is listing a pre-order price of $45.99 for standard, and $52.99 for Blu-Ray. We will keep an eye out at other retailers for their prices, once the release comes closer. Pictures are below!

Phase 4 Acquires DVD Rights to Flashpoint in Canada...

And, on Blu-Ray too!

Great news Canadians: you no longer have to pre-order your season one boxset from the US, or import one from the UK or Australia! Phase 4 Films (based out of Toronto) announced just about an hour ago that they have acquired the English Language DVD rights! What's even better? Canadians will not only be getting a Season 1 DVD Boxset the same day the US will (October 13) but they will be getting another awesome bonus: a Blu-Ray release the same day. This boxset will contain all 13 episodes too! The only unfortunate catch is that the series will cost significantly more than it will in the United States. While no price is listed yet on Amazon, it's a safe bet that the series would cost around $40 USD (what most CBS boxsets are going for these days). After the exchange using today's rates, this would cost approximately $43.63 CAD. Today's press release, suggests an MSRP of $64.99 for standard, and $74.99 for Blu-Ray. Which is... a little crazy. But it's worth it for our favorite series, right? Season 2 will be released sometime in 2010. The news has also made the pages of The Hollywood Reporter. As soon as we get our paws on it, we will definitely write a review for you all :).

Flashpoint Stars at CBS Press Tour Party

Bill Mustos, Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Paetkau all made an appearance earlier this week at CBS's Press Tour Summer 2009 in an effort to prove that the show still had value to the network. This might have been in response to CBS holding away 9 episodes of the show from the upcoming Fall season. The stars were also all interviewed for Entertainment Tonight - so keep your eyes peeled for them on upcoming episodes!

Flashpoint is in a bit of a bind - CTV has ordered 13 episodes, of which 9 have been funded for in part by CBS. CBS has until October 1st to decide if they want any more episodes past those 9 - now this could be extended past then. But as of this writing, no one knows what is going to happen. In any case, these 13 episodes will air on CTV in entirety. We're hoping to have an answer soon - we don't think it's fair that Flashpoint isn't getting an episode order as large as those of other series! For pictures of the event, check out CBS Press Express.

BREAKING NEWS: Flashpoint Nominated for Five DGC Awards!

The Directors Guild of Canada announced their nominations for their 2009 DGC awards, and Flashpoint is tied for the most amount of nominations for a TV show with CBC's The Summit. Flashpoint is nominated for:

TEAM TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

Flashpoint - Eps. 111 - "Haunting the Barn" - David Frazee (Director), Derek Rappaport (Production Manager), Ross Leslie (Assistant Production Manager), Felix Gray (1st Assistant Director), Karl Irvine (2nd Assistant Director), Raj Singh (3rd Assistant Director), Dominika Jurek (Trainee Assistant Director), Michael Burgess (Production Assistant), Raymond Duff (Production Assistant), Shelly Pearson (Production Accountant), Karen Sharp (1st Assistant Accountant), Alex Kontsalakis (1st Assistant Accountant), Andreas Hass (Trainee Assistant Accountant), John Dondertman (Production Designer), Rory Cheyne (Art Director), Jody Clement (1st Assistant Art Director), Jeff Smith (2nd Assistant Art Director), Randy Morgan (Location Manager), James Wilson (Assistant Location Manager), Sean Cengiz (Locations PA), Mike Lee (Picture Editor), Paul Whitehead (1st Assistant Picture Editor), David McCallum (Supervising Sound Editor), Janice Ierulli (Dialogue Editor), Mark Shnuriwsky (Sound Effects Editor), Sue Conley (ADR Editor), Gren-Erich Zwicker (1st Assistant Sound Editor), Matt Hussey (1st Assistant Sound Editor).

DIRECTION - TELEVISION SERIES

Holly Dale for Flashpoint - Eps. 106 - "Attention Shoppers"

PRODUCTION DESIGN - TELEVISION SERIES

John Dondertman for Flashpoint - Eps. 109 - "Planets Aligned"

PICTURE EDITING - TELEVISION SERIES

Mike Lee for Flashpoint - Eps. 111 - "Haunting the Barn"

SOUND EDITING - TELEVISION SERIES

Flashpoint - Eps. 201 - "Eagle Two" - Jane Tattersall (Supervising Sound Editor), Janice Ierulli (Dialogue Editor), Mark Shnuriwsky (Sound Effects Editor), Sue Conley (ADR Editor), Gren-Erich Zwicker (Assistant Sound Editor), Matt Hussey (Assistant Sound Editor).

Congratulations to everyone from the show who was nominated and we wish you all the best of luck! The awards will be held on October 24th, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The awards will be hosted by Canada's own Shaun Majumder.

BREAKING NEWS: CBS Confirms New Episodes of Flashpoint, But Still No Airdate

This is breaking news, Flashpoint fans! Hours ago, the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour began. CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler set off her segment with a bang, taking a jab at NBC. But that's a bunch of industry mumbo-jumbo that is all a reaction to the departure of Ben Silverman from NBC last week. Flashpoint fans got a bit of good news, but not everything that we were all hoping for. Nina confirmed that CBS has nine more original episodes, and that they will be aired later in the season. When that "later" is, remains to be known. As of this writing, she had this to say about producing more episodes: "There are no plans right now, but we certainly can if we want to." But for this upcoming season, there will be no more episodes ordered beyond these nine. As always, we are committed to keeping fans updated with news of an airdate, as soon as we hear it we will let you know!

For now though, if our WGTS have not checked out Hugh Dillon's Durham County, we recommend it. Hugh plays Mike Sweeney, a softspoken detective, who is dealing with the breakup of his family, and just being a guy who is trying to do the right thing. It's a much darker series than Flashpoint, but Hugh's performance is a must-see! New episodes are currently airing on HBO Canada, and reruns from last season pop up on Showcase. Check your local listings for more!