E1 ENTERTAINMENT AND FORCE FOUR FILMS ANNOUNCE START OF PRODUCTION ON CANWEST ORIGINAL TELEVISION SERIES SHATTERED
E1 Entertainment and Force Four Films
Announce Start of Production on Canwest Original Television Series Shattered
- Callum Keith Rennie to star as homicide detective with a secret -
- Molly Parker joins talented cast -
Vancouver, BC (November 30, 2009) – E1 Entertainment and Force Four Films announced today that principal photography is underway on the Canadian original television series, Shattered. The series stars acclaimed actor Callum Keith Rennie (24, FlashForward, Battlestar Galactica, Californication) who plays a smart and unconventional homicide detective with a chilling secret. Gemini-Award winning actor, Camille Sullivan (Intelligence, Reunion, Da Vinci’s Inquest) plays Amy Lynch, Rennie’s new partner on the homicide squad. Molly Parker (The Road, Deadwood, Swingtown) is set to play Rennie’s wife, Ella. This raw and emotional drama series is filming in and around Vancouver. Shattered is scheduled to air on Showcase in 2010, and is currently being shopped in the US by E1 Entertainment.
Callum Keith Rennie plays Ben Sullivan, a tough, smart homicide detective with Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder. In the first moments of the series, Ben is bonded in blood to his tough, beautiful partner Amy Lynch, played by Camille Sullivan. While they work to solve the murder cases that cross their desk daily, Ben copes with the fascinating complexities of his secret disorder, and the uncertainty of never knowing which alternate personality will surface, or when.
Series regulars include actors Karen LeBlanc (Defying Gravity, ReGenesis) as Sergeant Pam ‘TC’ Garrett, Clé Bennett (Barney’s Version, The Line) as John ‘Hall’ Holland a young, handsome and ambitious detective and Martin Cummins (Dark Angel) plays Terry Rhodes, Ben’s best friend and ex-partner.
“Shattered is a rare combination of fascinating characters, gritty stories, raw emotional drama, and engaging mysteries, including the mystery of our hero’s disordered mind. And in Callum Keith Rennie we have a star who will brilliantly bring this to life,” stated executive producer Noreen Halpern.
Shattered is being produced by E1 Entertainment and Force Four Films, with E1 handling the worldwide distribution for the series, including DVD. Force Four Film’s Hugh and Debra Beard (Human Cargo, Murder Unveiled) serve as exec producers, along with Kari Skogland (Fifty Dead Men Walking) and Jon Cooksey
(The Collector, The Best Years). Also on board as executive producers are Noreen Halpern (Hung, Copper) and John Morayniss (Hung, Bridge) for E1 Entertainment. Callum Keith Renniejoins the team as producer. Skogland will direct the pilot. Ian McDougall (The Best Years, Whistler) is supervising producer on the series.
“It’s a stunning and gripping look at a detective as if he were moving through reflections of a broken mirror. We have a great production on our hands with such a harrowing and charged atmosphere. I can’t
wait to see it on air,” said Christine Shipton, Senior Vice President, Drama and Factual Content, Canwest.
Overseeing the series at Canwest are VP of Showcase and Drama Content Tara Ellis and Production Executive Karen King-Chigbo.
ABOUT FORCE FOUR FILMS
Force Four Films founders Hugh Beard and Debra Beard have been independent producers since 1983. Their drama production credits include two Jinnah on Crime television movies, the acclaimed mini-series Human Cargo awarded a prestigious "Peabody Award", the theatrical movie Love Crimes of Gillian Guess and the television movie Murder Unveiled, filmed in Canada and India. Shattered is their first foray into series production.
ABOUT E1 ENTERTAINMENT
E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading independent entertainment content owner that acquires film, television and music rights and exploits these rights in all media in more than 190 countries. The company currently operates in Canada, the U.S., the UK, Holland and Belgium through its four primary businesses units: E1 Television, E1 Films, E1 Music and E1 Distribution. These businesses collectively represent E1's extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production/distribution, Kids content, Licensing and Distribution. E1 Entertainment is the largest distributor of entertainment content on the Canadian market. Since the acquisition of Seville Entertainment in 2007, E1 has held a leading position in the market for theatrical releases in Canada via E1 Entertainment Canada and Seville Pictures in Quebec, and International Sales via E1 Films International. E1's content library includes more than 3,700 feature films, 2,700 hours of original television programming and 15,000 music tracks
Showcase is a Canwest Broadcasting network.
ABOUT CANWEST BROADCASTING
Canwest Broadcasting operates Global Television and eighteen of the country’s most popular specialty channels, including HGTV, Mystery TV, National Geographic Channel, Showcase, History Television, Food Network and TVtropolis. Canwest Broadcasting is a division of Canwest Media Inc.
ABOUT CANWEST ORIGINALS
Canwest is the proud home of the most diverse slate of Canadian Original programs across the Dramatic, Lifestyle and Entertainment genres. As a steadfast supporter of the Canadian production community, Canwest is dedicated to bringing the best of the country to audiences nationwide - including shows such as; Copper, Family Restaurant, Homes Inspection, Ice Pilots: NWT, 16:9, Re-Vamped and the nation’s number one entertainment newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight Canada.
ABOUT CANWEST MEDIA INC.
Canwest Media Inc. is a subsidiary of Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com), Canada's largest media company. In addition to owning the Global Television Network, operating 18 industry-leading specialty channels and having ownership in 5 specialty channels, Canwest is Canada’s largest publisher of English language paid daily newspapers and owns and operates more than 80 online properties.
-30-
For more information:
Shattered Unit Publicity / Carol Marks George Beth Sulman - Holmes Creative Communications