Shaftesbury Films


Christina Jennings: A lifetime in TV

As Canada’s most well-known indie producer, Shaftesbury Films’ Christina Jennings knows how to put a production deal together. The winner of TBI’s inaugural Content Innovation Awards Lifetime Achievement gong tells TBI about her career and how funding is changing. When Christina Jennings founded Toronto-based indie Shaftesbury Films in 1987, she wouldn’t have known she’d become […]

Content Innovation Awards 2017: Cathy Payne & Christina Jennings honoured

Endemol Shine International chief Cathy Payne and Shaftesbury Films founder Christina Jennings were last night recognised for their achievements in television. More than 200 guests saw Payne named the first winner of the Content Innovation Awards’ International Content Leader Award and Jennings the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Awards. The Endemol Shine sales chief […]

Bell chimes with Opposite Worlds, Haggis drama

Canadian broadcaster Bell Media has unveiled a wide ranging slate of new shows, including a remake of Banijay International-distributed Opposite Worlds and a drama from Crash screenwriter Paul Haggis. Bell’s conventional and speciality channels are working with producers such as Entertainment One, Shaftesbury Films and NBCUniversal-backed LARK Productions on its drama projects. Screenwriter Haggis is […]

Hulu acquires four Smokebomb digital dramas

US streaming service Hulu has acquired four shortform series produced by Canadian digital prodco Smokebomb Entertainment, including dystopian sci-fi show State of Syn. The shows will roll out on Hulu over the next month. State of Syn is billed as an 8x5mins “3D-enable sci-fi motion novel”, while Long Story, Short is a “provocative” 11x5mins drama, […]

Mark Burnett project launches new digital venture

Smokebomb Entertainment founders Daniel Dales and Jarrett Sherman have launched a new digital venture and have a deal in place for a project with Mark Burnett. The pair exited Smokebomb last July four years after Canadian producer Shaftesbury Films acquired the company to become its digital arm. They have now launched Digital Howard, which will […]