The Movie Network and Movie Central Order New Half-Hour Docu-series SPORTS ON FIRE

To tweet this release: http://bit.ly/1bTvA4I

TORONTO (December 19, 2013) – When sports and history collide, the whole world watches. Bell Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) announced today that they have ordered the six-episode, 30-minute documentary series SPORTS ON FIRE from director Peter McCormack (Facing Ali, I Am Bruce Lee) Project 10 Productions Inc. and Two 4 The Money Media. Each episode of SPORTS ON FIRE will bring a fresh perspective and new insight into iconic moments in sport history through interviews and archival footage presented in a rapid-paced, hard-hitting style.

“It’s fantastic to be working with TMN and Movie Central and such a great team,” said series creator Pete McCormack. “This documentary series is a lifetime passion for me: the chance to explore those world-changing moments when elite athletes get caught in the epicentre of modern history’s pivotal events.”

SPORTS ON FIRE digs deep into moments when some of the world’s greatest athletes get caught up in monumental events that change the course of history. Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Barry Bonds and the war on steroids. Team Canada versus the U.S.S.R. in the 1972 Summit Series. These are a few of the powerful stories the new series will explore, told from the point of view of elite athletes, key witnesses, experts, and historians.

SPORTS ON FIRE is produced by Project 10 Productions Inc. and Two 4 The Money Media in association with The Movie Network and Movie Central. Pete McCormack (Facing Ali, I Am Bruce Lee) is director and executive producer. Andrew Barnsley (SPUN OUT), Jeff Aghassi (The Games of 1940), Kim Arnott (Emmy Award® winner, R.L. STINE’S THE HAUNTING HOUR), and Kevin Foley (FOUR DAYS IN APRIL: THE MIKE WEIR STORY) serve as executive producers. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media and Chris Bell is production executive for Movie Central. Catherine McLeod is Senior Vice-President, Specialty Channels, Bell Media. Phil King is President, CTV Programming and Sports and Maria Hale is Vice President, Television, Pay TV, Corus Entertainment, and Doug Murphy is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Corus Entertainment. SPORTS ON FIRE is distributed internationally by eOne Distribution and is produced with funding support from the Rogers Cable Network Fund. 

SPORTS ON FIRE will air on The Movie Network in Eastern Canada and Movie Central in Western Canada in 2015.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter:

@themovienetwork

@TMN_Publicity

@moviecentral

@CorusPR

Facebook:

/themovienetwork

/moviecentral

About Bell Media Independent Production
Bell Media has commissioned some of Canada’s most-watched and most-acclaimed original programming, working with the best Canadian independent producers in the country. Hit CTV series include ratings success stories SAVING HOPE, THE LISTENER, MOTIVE, the #1 new Canadian scripted series of the 2012/13 season, and THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, the record-breaking, Canadian-produced complementary version of the hit international series. CTV is also home to drama series PLAYED, and premiering in the 2013/14 season, multi-cam office comedy SPUN OUT, and hit international format MASTERCHEF CANADA. Among the scripted series on Bell Media pay and specialty channels are the two-time Emmy®-nominated hit DEGRASSI, internationally acclaimed ORPHAN BLACK and upcoming dramas BITTEN, SENSITIVE SKIN, 19-2, and KILLJOYS. Bell Media specialty channels are also home to reality series such as BRAVE NEW GIRLS, game shows MATCH GAME and POP QUIZ, and factual series HIGHWAY THRU HELL and CANADA’S WORST DRIVER, among others. So far in 2013, Bell Media has ordered 24 original Canadian series and currently has 74 projects in various stages of development.

About The Movie Network:

The Movie Network is a pay television service available in eastern Canada delivering premiere access to Hollywood hit movies, new and exclusive HBO content, critically acclaimed Showtime series and first-rate Canadian programming to subscribers. The Movie Network service includes five 24-hour multiplex channels – The Movie Network, HBO Canada, MExcess, MFun! and MFest. All five multiplex channels are simulcast in High Definition and joined by TMN GO, a multi-platform video streaming service; The Movie Network OnDemand, a Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service available in select areas across eastern Canada; and TMN OnLine, an Internet-based content streaming service. The Movie Network is a division of Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company. More information about The Movie Network is available at www.themovienetwork.ca.

About Movie Central

Movie Central is a commercial-free premium pay TV service available in western Canada. Movie Central premieres the best in Hollywood, international and Canadian films across eight 24-hour movie channels, including dedicated high-definition feeds, a Movie Central On Demand service and exclusive HBO content on HBO Canada. Movie Central is also the first window for Showtime content and home to cutting-edge Canadian series. A major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry, Movie Central, through Script to Screen, a writer-oriented feature script development program funded by Movie Central and delivered by NSI supports Canadian filmmaking. Visit the Movie Central website at www.moviecentral.ca.

Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

About PROJECT 10 PRODUCTIONS
Project 10 Productions Inc. provides both creative and business/financial services to the Canadian film and television industries. Project 10 Productions Inc. is an independent Canadian production company that officially began in January 2009, but the passion for comedy, sports and the incredible stories it produces began many years prior.  Gemini-nominated producers Kevin Foley and Andrew Barnsley each have over a decade of producing scripted comedy, documentaries, sports and filmed entertainment in Canadian broadcasting.  Alongside MLB All-Star Vernon Wells from the New York Yankees, Project 10 Productions Inc. was created with a singular goal; bring world-class television content to Canadian and global audiences. Project 10 Productions’ 13 x 1/2 hour sitcom SPUN OUT, starring Canadian comedy icon Dave Foley, begins airing on CTV in 2014.  The series was shot in front of a live audience at Pinewood Studios Toronto.

About Two 4 The Money Media

Two 4 The Money Media, a Vancouver, Canada-based independent production company, founded by Kim Arnott in April 2010.  has produced an abundance of interesting material.  Kim has served as the executive producer on movies of the week like Seattle Superstorm, Radio Rebel and Stonados. She expertly shepherded R.L. STINE’S THE HAUNTING HOUR into its fourth season for The Hub Network, winning the 2013 Emmy for “Outstanding Children’s Series.” She serves as a co-executive producer on CTV’s new half-hour comedy, SPUN OUT and has also tried her hand at horror, producing Grave Encounters 2 and Visitors, the latest Vicious Brothers film.  Kim recently partnered with Really Real Films to produce If I Had Wings, a heartwarming indie feature six years in the making. 

– 30-

For more information:

For The Movie Network (Eastern Canada)

Jessica Charbonneau, 416.956.8638 or Jessica.Charbonneau@bellmedia.ca

For Movie Central (Western Canada):

Owen McCorquodale, 416.479.6068 or Owen.McCorquodale@corusent.com