Nicole Butler: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: Pier 21 Films, the Canadian production company behind series including Run The Burbs, which is airing on The CW in the U.S., has new bosses.

Amber Dowling From the outside, Canadian television is having a moment. Over the past 18 months, major streaming services — Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, Disney+ and Apple TV+ — have established Northern presences via offices, execs or PR teams. Canadian broadcasters are also stepping up. During upfronts and a series of meetings in Toronto last week, public broadcaster CBC boasted more than 4,000 hours of new programming. Bell Media confirmed an additional 210 hours of English and French-language original content, bolstering its original library to more than 1,000 hours. Corus Entertainment announced 25 new and returning series across its brands.

Naman Ramachandran Canadian streaming service Crave has partnered with Pier 21 Films on eight-part series “Late Bloomer,” created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina, also known as Jus Reign. The series is inspired by Raina’s life as a Punjabi Sikh millennial and online celebrity. The show follows burgeoning content creator Jasmeet Dutta as he tries to balance his ambitions for success with his commitment to his family, community and culture. Production is underway in Toronto and Hamilton. As Jus Reign, Raina is a global social media star and was one of Much Digital Studios’ first content creators in 2015. Raina became known for his deadpan comedic style and commentary on race and pop culture and is part of a group of storytellers who charted the way for increased South Asian representation in mainstream media.