20 November, 2006
LONDON, November 20, 2006 – Fireworks International announced today that it has acquired the international rights to brand new 22 x 1 hour drama series Blood Ties. Produced by Toronto’s Kaleidoscope Entertainment Inc. and Vancouver’s Insight Film Studios in association with CHUM Television, Blood Ties is scheduled to be broadcast on CHUM Television in Canada and Lifetime Television in the U.S. in 2007.
Fireworks has ramped up its acquisitions considerably since it was bought by ContentFilm plc, and with today’s announcement, Blood Ties will complete a raft of series added to the Fireworks slate this last year, which commenced with the launch of the quirky comedy, The Jane Show, broadcast in primetime on the Global TV Network in Canada; Whistler, the mystery drama which premiered in June on the N Channel in the US and CTV in Canada, both of which have been renewed for second seasons; and Young Dracula, a 14-part gothic comedy kids’ series produced by CBBC; along with the new comedy and animated series from leading digital brand, HEAVY Worldwide.
Created by award-winning producer and writer Peter Mohan and developed in association with CHUM Television, Blood Ties is based on Tanya Huff’s ‘Vicki Nelson’ novels known as the ‘Blood’ series. Many writers are wary about placing their precious pages in the hands of television and movie directors, but Huff doesn’t have that worry. “I am absolutely thrilled by the way the series is shaping up. I’m blown away by how many of the people involved in the production were fans of the books before they started. I think the scripts are terrific and the casting was inspired. Back when Christina Cox was doing FX: The Series, I used to point at the screen and announce, ‘When she’s a little older, she’d be brilliant as Vicki!”
Blood Ties follows the misadventures of Vicki Nelson, a feisty, attractive, 29-year old ex-cop turned private investigator with a degenerative eye disorder, who seems destined to sit on the sidelines until fate intervenes, turning her life upside down. After witnessing a terrifying murder, she finds herself on a collision course with a stranger who is also investigating the murder. He is Henry Fitzroy, a 450-year old vampire who just happens to be the bastard son of King Henry VIII. After solving the murder, Vicki finds her forays into supernatural crime are anything but over. Week after week, Vicki’s relationship with Henry draws her into baffling cases involving a terrifying pantheon of occult adversaries. Forget fraud investigations and cheating spouses – she’s squaring off against ghosts, goblins and ghouls. Vicki and Henry’s unlikely alliance soon progresses beyond a purely professional arrangement, complicating her relationship with her long-suffering ex-partner in policing and love, Detective Mike Celluci… and pretty well everything else in her life.
“When I first read the Huff books I immediately thought TV series…our blending of romance and mystery with a contemporary spin to the supernatural elements and dashes of humour to lighten things up for a strong somewhat flawed female protagonist makes for fun, early primetime entertainment that mirrors the original source material!”, enthuses Kaleidoscope’s President, Randall Zalken.
“We’re aiming for edge-of-your-seat entertainment with the series, and we’re confident we’ve succeeded,” says Insight’s Kirk Shaw, who is among the show’s four executive producers, along with Zalken, Marshall Kesten and Peter Mohan. “We’ve got a stellar stable of writers, actors and crew onboard to ensure that every one of the 22 episodes delivers high quality entertainment that’ll keep viewers on the edge of their seat.”
Greg Phillips, President, Fireworks International, commented “We’re thrilled to have secured the international rights to Blood Ties. We look forward to working with Kaleidoscope on what will undoubtedly be a fun and commercially appealing series around the world.
Blood Ties is a stylish, supernatural thriller infused with a light twist of romance and humour that will have viewers on the edge of their seats from the first compelling episode. Blood Ties will premiere on CHUM Television in Canada in 2007. The series is produced by Insight Film Studios and Kaleidoscope Entertainment. Worldwide sales and distribution rights are held by Fireworks International, a ContentFilm company.
Peter Mohan is a highly accomplished writer and producer of more than 400 hours of dramatic television. His writing credits include three PAX TV/Global Television movies Lucky Day, Pretend You Don’t See Her and Loves Music, Loves to Dance. He served as executive producer on FOX’s Eerie, Indiana, PBS’ Code Named Eternity and more recently on Tribune’s Mutant X series, which, during his tenure, became the #1 syndicated series in North America, as well as a worldwide television hit. Mohan is a winner and two-time nominee of the Canadian Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series and was nominated for a CableAce Award for Best Writing for Movie of the Week.
Christina Cox as Vicki Nelson
Christina Cox studied theatre and dance at the prestigious Arts York at Unionville High School before furthering her training at the Ryerson Theatre School, among such alumni as Eric McCormack (Will and Grace) and David James Elliot (JAG). In addition to her film and television credits, Christina has appeared in numerous national theatre productions ranging from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to Jim Cartwright’s raw and dirty Road. An accomplished boxer, the kick-ass actress also has extensive training in stage combat, period weaponry and firearms. She was most recently seen demonstrating these skills opposite Vin Diesel in the 2004 science fiction action film, The Chronicles of Riddick. She also had roles in Better Than Chocolate, Jane Doe and F/X: The Series, which earned her a Gemini nomination. Before landing her current role of Vicki Nelson in Blood Ties, Cox played the lead in the Warner Brothers/Viacom television pilot Nikki & Nora.
Kyle Schmid as Henry Fitzroy
Just 22, Kyle Schmid has been acting for most of his life. Commercials and early modeling gigs turned into film auditions and the fine-featured young actor soon landed a small role in the Canadian film Spill in 1996. He followed this up by playing bully Jordan Lynch on the popular Canadian series I Was a Sixth Grade Alien in 1999. After a short hiatus, he landed two hits in the made for television movies Alley Cats Strike, for which he beat out 400 other competitors for the lead role, and The Sandy Bottom Orchestra, for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for “Best Performance in a TV Movie – Supporting Young Actor.” He also recently appeared in A History of Violence and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Dylan Neal as Mike Celluci
Dylan Neal landed his first role in the TV series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future in 1988. Now 37, the Richmond Hill, Ontario, native has appeared in a total of 44 productions, including TV series, pilots and movies of the week. He has also had ongoing guest-starring roles in hit U.S. television series such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Dawson’s Creek, CSI:Miami and Babylon 5.
About Fireworks International
Fireworks International, a division of the UK’s ContentFilm plc, acquires and distributes an extensive slate of television programs and feature films throughout the world. Fireworks’ library of over 2000 hours of programming includes HEAVY Worldwide’s newest comedy and animated series as well as library from the highly successful U.S. digital brand HEAVY.com; kids’ gothic horror comedy series YOUNG DRACULA from CBBC; comedy series THE JANE SHOW and U.S. mystery drama series WHISTLER; along with action/adventure series Gene Roddenberry’s ANDROMEDA, MUTANT X, and RELIC HUNTER; children’s programs BLACK HOLE HIGH, 100 DEEDS FOR EDDIE MCDOWD, CAITLIN’S WAY; plus over 200 U.S. network miniseries and TV movies of the week; and over 100 theatrical feature films, and specials including the recently aired 2006 WOMEN’S WORLD AWARDS and the 2006 and 2007 Annual U.S. PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS shows.
About Kaleidoscope Entertainment Inc. Kaleidoscope Entertainment Inc. is a 25 year young independent Toronto, Canada based entertainment ’boutique’ of companies active in television distribution, licensing and marketing, DVD/video distribution as well as production and foreign dubbing.
About CHUM Television
CHUM Television is a division of CHUM Limited (TSX: CHM/CHM.B, www.chumlimited.com), one of Canada’s leading media companies and content providers which owns and operates radio stations, local television stations, specialty channels and Internet properties.
About Insight Film Studios Incorporated in 1990, Insight Film Studios is Western Canada’s fastest growing independent production company. It ranks as the region’s single largest High-Definition television producer as one of the top ten production companies in Canada. The company’s client list includes all national Canadian networks, as well as ABC Family, WB Kids, Sony, PAX TV, NHK Japan, MTV, Lifetime, Discovery US, Cinetel, Blockbuster US, TFI France and Telecinco Spain
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For further information, please contact:
Fireworks International: Samantha Witters VP Marketing & Communications
Tel + 00 44 207 851 6518
www.contentfilm.com
Insight Film Studios: Anna Dupas Publicist Tel + 604 623 3369 x 301
