Breaking News: Gemini 2010 Noms Announced!

Lots of Reasons for the Moon Chase Blog Network to Celebrate!

This morning, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced nominations for the 2010 Gemini Awards, and both of our blogs (Moon Chase and We Got The Solution) have stars that we follow nominated! Though this year, there are less stars from Sailor Moon nominated ( ☽:( ), once again Flashpoint is leading the pack with 15 nominations in 11 categories! Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated and we will keep you updated with the winners come November. The lone nominee from Sailor Moon this year is Catherine Disher (Mimet) for her work on the Canadian drama The Border. There are too many nominated from Flashpoint to name in one sentence, but there is a special case where a Flashpoint star guested in another TV show, and is against two other guest stars from Flashpoint!


So here come the nominees! The productions that they are nominated for are in bold, but if you see a gold star next to their name(★), it means they were also in Flashpoint or Sailor Moon).



Best Dramatic Series

Durham County
(Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. /Muse Entertainment Ent. Inc., Muse Entertainment Enterprise)
Adrienne Mitchell, Laurie Finstad Knizhnik, Janis Lundman, Michael Prupas
Flashpoint★
(Flashpoint Season 2, Pink Sky Inc., Avamar Ent)
Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
Republic of Doyle
(Republic Season II Inc., Malachy Season 1, Inc.)
Allan Hawco, Rob Blackie, John Vatcher
Stargate Universe
(Stargate Universe I Inc.)
Brad Wright, Carl Binder, Robert Cooper, John Lenic, N. John Smith
The Tudors
(Peace Arch Entertainment, PA Tudors III Inc., TM Productions)
John Weber, Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan

Best Achievement in Casting

Deirdre Bowen - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
John Buchan CSA, Jason Knight - The Summit
Stephanie Gorin - Guns
Andrea Kenyon, Wendy O'Brien, Marissa Richmond, Randi Wells - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Marissa Richmond - Flashpoint - "Perfect Storm"★

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Clé Bennett - The Line - "Episode 203", "Episode 206"
Sergio Di Zio - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move", "The Good Citizen"★
Genadijs Dolganovs - The Bridge - "Painted Ladies", "Chain of Fools"
Sebastian Pigott - Being Erica - "Yes We Can", "The Unkindest Cut"
Mark Taylor - Flashpoint - "Exit Wounds", "One Wrong Move"★

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

Enrico Colantoni - Cra$h & Burn - "Lawyers, Guns & Money"★
Christopher Heyerdahl - Sanctuary - "Haunted"
Michael Riley - Flashpoint - "Coming To You Live"★
Hugh Thompson - Flashpoint - "Business As Usual"★
Kristopher Turner - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Family Practice"


Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Catherine Disher - The Border - "The Dead", "Dark Ride"★
Eve Harlow - The Guard – "Boom", "Last Night"
Reagan Pasternak - Being Erica - "Shhh...Don't Tell", "Under My Thumb"
Jessica Steen - Flashpoint - "Clean Hands", "The Perfect Family"★
Rachel Wilson - Republic of Doyle - "Return of the Grievous Angel", "Blood is Thicker Than Blood"

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

Ona Grauer - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★
Laurence Leboeuf - Flashpoint - "The Perfect Family"★
Tatiana Maslany - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Debra Lynne McCabe - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Anastasia Phillips - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series

David Frazee - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Andy Mikita - Stargate Universe - "Air Part 1"
Adrienne Mitchell - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Jeremy Podeswa - The Tudors - "Episode 308"
Stephen Surjik - Flashpoint - "Aisle 13"★

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series

Amin Bhatia, Ari Posner - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Robert Carli - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Isolation"
Robert Carli - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"
Joel Goldsmith - Stargate Universe - "Light"
James Jandrisch - The Guard - "At Sea"
Trevor Morris - The Tudors - "Episode 304"

Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series

James Jeffrey - Murdoch Mysteries - "The Murdoch Identity"
Glen MacPherson - Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story
Jim Menard - Stargate Universe - "Light"
Stephen Reizes - Flashpoint - "Behind The Blue Line"★
Michael Storey - Republic of Doyle - "The Fall of the Republic"

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series

Rick Martin - Stargate Universe - "Human"
Lara Mazur, C.C.E. - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Vesna Svilanović - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Unhappy Endings"
Arthur Tarnowski - The Phantom
Jeff Warren - Guns

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series

Philip Bedard, Larry Lalonde - Murdoch Mysteries - "Hangman"
Jeremy Boxen - Cra$h & Burn - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Mark Haroun - Heartland - "The Haunting of Hanley Barn"
Alex Levine - The Border - "Missing In Action"
Ian Weir - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★

To check out the rest of the nominees, click here! Congratulations to everyone nominated from Flashpoint and Sailor Moon once again, and best of luck in November!

Flashpoint Wins at Gemini Awards!

From left to right: Hugh Dillon, Stephanie Morgenstern, Mark Ellis, Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos, Amy Jo Johnson, and Enrico Colantoni.

Tonight was the Broadcast Gala of the Gemini Awards, and this picture you are seeing are a few members of the cast and crew of Flashpoint celebrating their Best Dramatic Series win just hours ago! Other Flashpoint winners of the evening were Kelly Malkin for Best Direction in a Dramatic Series and Enrico Colantoni for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role.Hugh won an award for Best performance by an actor in a featured supporting role in a dramatic program or miniseries for his work in Of Murder and Memory. I will post full transcripts of the speeches during the broadcast and possibly some very crude video early next week. We all blushed a little when we heard Anne Marie La Traverse acknowledge the fans at the beginning of her speech - this is something we rarely ever hear at any awards shows! Before we get to our category listings, we have a few words we'd like to say...Thank you to Mark and Stephanie for creating such a wonderful show.When I first read about it, I knew that this had the potential to be something big, and even though so many fans got tired of our posts on Flashpoint from the pilot stages onwards, we trudged on. Not because it was some program that a voice actor from Sailor Moon took part in, but because it really was a good show that was more than just the quick sightings that we report. This is a unique cop drama and we wish it lots more continued success in the future! And thanks Anne Marie La Traverse - we Badgers and Doves will continue to be there until the very end!

(special thanks to TheMediaChick for finding these pictures!)


Awards

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 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

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 Banff!

The Banff World Television Festival was held from June 7-10th of this year! And among the many special guest speakers at the event were none other than the co-creators of Flashpoint, Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis. At the festival, they held a one our session talking about their craft, and answering such burning questions like:

What was their secret of breaking into the US market when so many others have tried before and failed?


How do you make a Canadian series airing worldwide not look like it was made in Canada?


How much influence does CTV and CBS have on creative decisions, such as direction and casting?

Their appearances and experiences with the show were written about in the press!

¤Before it all started, the New York Times talked with Mark and Stephanie, along with Anne Marie La Traverse (Producer), Bill Mustos (Producer), and Nina Tassler (President of CBS). They spoke of how the show came to be, how it doesn't look Canadian, and how the American entertainment industry has shifted to allow more international fare to be broadcast. Flashpoint was a pioneer in letting Canadian TV get on US airwaves!

¤Days after the festival, cartt.ca posted an article talking about how the show was shaped at the writing table - instead of having a show runner, all of the writers and freelancers collaborate as a team. However, we disagree with their comment about their lack of experience. Stephanie Morgenstern has acted on various TV shows and wrote for two critically acclaimed short films, Remembrance and Curtains. The former even has a movie in the works. Mark Ellis was also a writer on Remembrance. While this may not seem like a lot, the fact that these two productions won many awards speaks volumes that they had some pretty good skills to start with! Plus, the show spent four years in development (watch the W5 special for more). That's more than many shows on the air today can say!

¤Sometime after the festival , the Calgary Sun posted an article wherein Mark and Stephanie talked about some of the challenges to stay true to Canada within the episodes, despite limitations put on by CBS.

Flashpoint Rested for Only A Flash...

Haha, and the sad part is, I never get tired of cracking jokes including the word "flash" for this show... Flashpoint has been up to a lot since we last updated, so let's get to the roundup!

Sergio Di Zio in Award-Winning Play!

We don't normally talk about co-stars of Sailor Moon actors on this site, but we're making an exception because we love playing Six Degrees Of Sailor Moon! Sergio Di Zio , who plays Mike "Spike" Scarlatti (the bomb expert) on Flashpoint is starring in a play making it's rounds around Canada! He will appear in Scorched, a play about a mother’s last will and testament that sends her surviving twins Simon and Janine plunging into her past in a war-torn country on a journey in pursuit of their origins. She wishes for them to travel back to her country to find a brother they never knew about, and a father who is claimed to have died for the country. The show will play for the second time at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, it had a sold-out run in February of 2007 and won two Dora awards! Lyon Smith (Sapphire) has often worked behind-the-scenes with sound for many of the plays at that theater. Sergio will be playing Simon, described as"an amateur boxer with a short fuse" who resents his mother. The play is currently showing in Winnipeg at the MTC Warehouse until November 29th. All of you are encouraged to go see this if you can! In an interview with the Winnipeg Sun, he revealed that Flashpoint recently began shooting it's second season. Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and Mark Ellis didn't get much of a break in between it seems :(. Nonetheless, we look forward to seeing what harrowing situations the SRU is faced with episode 10 (first season, still unaired!) and beyond....

Flashpoint May Be Coming Back Earlier Than We Expected?

When Flashpoint abruptly ended last September with four episodes still left to air on CBS and CTV, many television critics and writers predicted the last few episodes would be a midseason replacement should CBS cancel a show. And it looks like that day is coming soon. Just a few weeks ago, the network canceled The Ex-List, which aired on a Friday night. Since then, the slot has been filled with re-runs of NCIS which have been doing well in the ratings, but it has been speculated by some critics that CBS will have to come up with a better solution. And they are predicting that Flashpoint is going to fill this timeslot soon between (ugh) The Horse Whisperer and Numb3rs. Keep your fingers crossed Moonies, we may be seeing the lost episodes of Flashpoint a lot sooner than we expected! Flashpoint is available on iTunes Canada for $1.99 an episode, or 23.99 for a Season Pass, which will allow you to purchase all the episodes for Season 1 (including those that are upcoming). For more information, iTunes Canada members can click here.

Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos Named Canadian Producers of the Year by Playback!

Our favorite Canadian media industry publication has just named Flashpoint's Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos Producers of the Year! More will be featured in Playback's November 24th issue, and we have our fingers crossed that the show will win more accolades in their December issue!

And Finally, Flashpoint in Poland!

We are some of the luckiest bloggers in the world for two reasons: we've gotten to meet and work with a lot of interesting people since this site started, and we have got one of the best international fanbases who interact with us often helping us bring news to the fans they wouldn't find anywhere else! One of these fans is Maciej Puka, who emailed us all the way from Poland to tell us a little bit about Flashpoint! The show has been part of Poland's nScreen VOD service for a few months now and Maciej tell us that this service costs $9 US ($30 Poland Zloty) a month, and the show is available in HD. What surprised us even more was when he told us that not only was the show dubbed in Polish, but subscribers had three versions to pick from. The English version (what we see on TV here), English version with Polish subtitles, and the Polish dub! This is really cool that Polish people have the choice to watch it in English if they want to! We encourage the rest of our readers overseas who know anything about how this show is delivered in their country to tell us about it! We would love to feature it on this site, as Flashpoint is probably going to take the cake for the biggest achievement by a North American Voice Actor (from Sailor Moon) this year!

Flashpoint Ratings September 18th

Flashpoint's season finale on CBS scored a record number of viewers in the United States - 9.66 million to be exact! The show was #1 in it's timeslot and 2.6/7 with viewers 18-49. Mark Berman is certain that the show will return on the network at a later time (and that was written hours before CBS made their announcement). This number was an all-time high for the series, and we couldn't be prouder! Even more surprising was a CTV Press release we found giving us the show's ratings ahead of BBM Canada! The show also hit a high in Canada with 1.46 million viewers, and the show peaked at 10:51 PM (9 minutes before the show ended) with a total of 1.66 million viewers. A total of 2.5 million viewers watched all or part of last night's episode. The show was #1 across all key demographics all across the country. While Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos seem to be getting all the credit in the media, we're a little dismayed there's little being said about the creators of the show, Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband Mark Ellis. Without them creating the show, the producers wouldn't have this show to produce. So, congratulations again to Stephanie and Mark on a hit show, and many more episodes to come!

BREAKING NEWS: Flashpoint Autographed Script Up For Charity Auction!

We just found out about this and we think that this is the ultimate for any of our readers who are Flashpoint fans (you all are, right :Þ ? ). An autographed copy of the script for the episode Scorpio is up for an auction , and bidding starts at $75. It was also signed by the production staff, including Stephanie Morgenstern, Mark Ellis, Marie La Traverse, and Bill Mustos. The proceeds from the auction go to a good cause, the Minorities in Broadcasting Training Program. This is a special non profit organization formed in 1992 to provide training opportunities to minority college graduates in TV/radio news reporting and news management. This is a collectible worthy of any Flashpoint fan's collection!

BREAKING NEWS: Flashpoint Picked Up For Second Season in Canada!

OT: Moonies, I was able to find the time to work on 2 short posts in under an hour (a new record!) so this week is not entirely lost! Now onto the big news...

Flashpoint has just been picked up for a second season by it's Canadian network, CTV! In a press release this morning, the network announced it had ordered another 13 episodes to go into production in early 2009! We really hope the cast and crew gets a break after the first season ends - they have all worked really hard to make this show the hit that it is! It has consistently scored over 1 million viewers each episode in Canada, and even survived the Olympics! This release came out just days after the first season wrapped shooting! Susanne Boyce, President, Creative, Content and Channels, at CTV Inc. commented "Viewers have embraced Flashpoint and we are answering their call for more. The cast and creative team have delivered a series that not only entertains with high-intensity drama but with heart as well." In a joint statement, executive producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos said "We're extremely proud to have this opportunity to bring more of our homegrown stories to viewers in Canada and around the world." We knew right from the start that this could have been something big - and we continue to be so proud of everything Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband Mark Ellis have achieved with their creation! Here's to many more! As of this writing, there has been no word if CBS has picked it up for a second season. We will keep you posted once we find out!

EDIT: (Tuesday) The Globe and Mail is reporting CBS greenlighted the second season, however we're a little skeptical as no one else has reported this.