'The Guard' to air on ION Television in USA

ION Television Heats up Primetime with New Original Coast Guard Search and Rescue Drama "The Guard"

Weekly Series Premieres Saturday, March 13 with Back-to-Back Episodes at 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM, ET

Series Guest Stars David James Elliot ("JAG")

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- "Keeping your head above water" takes on new meaning in ION Television's new original primetime high-action marine rescue series, "The Guard." The series premieres for the first time to the U.S. audience with a two-hour block of back-to-back episodes on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM, ET. Following its debut, "The Guard" will continue to air on ION Television in the same two-hour time period with back-to-back episodes each Saturday night. "The Guard" centers around four members of the Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue Team who knowingly place themselves at risk everyday in order to save lives.

"Coming off the critically-acclaimed success of our first original drama 'Durham County,' we are sure viewers will enjoy the sexy, adrenaline-filled search and rescue drama 'The Guard.'"

"We are excited to add 'The Guard' to our lineup of original programming," said Kristine Hunsinger, Senior Vice President, Planning, Scheduling and Acquisitions, ION Media Networks. "Coming off the critically-acclaimed success of our first original drama 'Durham County,' we are sure viewers will enjoy the sexy, adrenaline-filled search and rescue drama 'The Guard.'"

Produced by Halifax Film and Brightlight Pictures, "The Guard" is a one-hour character-driven drama series that focuses on the lives of an imperfect, offbeat and sometimes, difficult rescue team. Led by Duty Captain Miro Da Silva (Steve Bacic), these heroic Coast Guard rescue specialists put their lives in danger as they dangle from helicopters and plunge into seas in order to rescue those in peril. Off-duty, rough waters still plague the team as they deal with their own personal issues. Da Silva is having financial troubles, Rescue Specialist Jeremy Guilbaut (Andrew Vanderlee) is suffering from emotional problems after a rescue gone awry, Rescue Specialist Carly Greig (Zoie Palmer) is an alcoholic with commitment issues and Rescue Specialist Laura Nelson (Claudette Fink) lives with David Nelson (David James Elliott from "JAG") who suffers from MS.

Writers for "The Guard" include Raymond Storey, Peter Smith, James Taylor Phillips, Abigail Kinch, Michael MacLennan and Karen X. Tulchinsky. Charles Bishop, Stephen Hegyes, Raymond Storey and Shawn Williamson serve as executive producers. The series has received 3 Gemini Award nominations and 11 Leo Award nominations including two wins: Best Supporting Female Performance for Julie Patzwald and Best Supporting Female Performance for Eve Harlow.

ION Television acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the award-winning original TV series, "The Guard" from Lions gate. In addition, the network secured all U.S. television, digital media rights, internet streaming and video-on-demand rights.

About ION Television

ION Television (www.iontelevision.com) is a general entertainment network which reaches over 97 million U.S. television households via its nationwide broadcast television, cable and satellite distribution systems. Launched in 2006, ION Television features popular TV series and movies from the award-winning libraries of CBS Television, NBC Universal, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros. Parent company, ION Media Networks, Inc., owns and operates the nation's largest broadcast television station group. Using its digital multicasting capability, ION Media Networks has launched the digital TV brands qubo, a channel for children focusing on literacy and values, and ION Life, a channel dedicated to active living and personal growth. It also has launched Open Mobile Ventures Corporation (OMVION), a business unit focused on the research and development of portable, mobile and out-of-home transmission technology using over-the-air digital television spectrum. For more information, visit www.ionmedia.com.

About Halifax Film, a DHX Media company

Halifax Film, co-founded by Michael Donovan and Charles Bishop develops and produces original film and television programming. Halifax Film manages and co-ordinates all aspects of a program's life, including developing original ideas; purchasing literary rights; arranging production financing; carrying out production and post-production; and exploiting worldwide distribution rights. Halifax Film is a subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd., a leading international producer and distributor of television programming and interactive content with an emphasis on children, family and youth markets.

About Brightlight Pictures Inc.

Founded in 2001 by producing partners Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson, Brightlight Pictures is a feature film and television production company that develops, finances and produces feature film and television projects for the international marketplace. Brightlight has successfully completed thirty feature film and television projects in the past six years, working with such stars as Justin Timberlake, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Anne Hathaway, Kevin Spacey, Elijah Wood, Jaime King, Mandy Moore and Nicholas Cage among others. Brightlight is committed to developing diverse high-quality feature film and television projects with solid commercial appeal.

Season 10 of 'JAG'

Again, thanks to a good friend...

To be released February 9, 2010... whoo hoo!!!

Link to article:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/JAG-Season-10/12989

David James Elliott to star in 'Confined'

Langley Times
The X factor at work

Kraig X. Wenman has sold 21 feature film scripts, one being filmed in Langley right now. But the Poppy grad has got his finger on the pulse of many projects.
John GORDON/Langley Times



Published: November 17, 2009 2:00 PM
Updated: November 17, 2009 2:59 PM

They say you can’t believe everything you read.

That’s especially true if you’ve read that White Rock screenwriter Kraig Wenman has mixed it up in the ring with one of the most famous (and notorious) heavyweight boxers of our time.

“No, I’ve never sparred with Mike Tyson,” says Wenman with a laugh, dismissing the “fact” included in his profile on the Internet Movie Data Base.

That little gem was, apparently, posted in his IMDB bio by a friend, just to prove it could be done.

The rest is all fact. Well, mostly.

“My age is wrong. That’s a typo,” said Wenman, who celebrated some birthday or other on Nov. 6, though he declined to say which one, exactly.

But, yes, it’s true he was a sponsored skateboarder when he was 11, and yes, he makes a point of naming characters in his screenplays after famous musicians.

There’s Edward Vetter, for example, just different enough from the moniker of Peal Jam’s lead singer to avoid a lawsuit.

“I also use a lot of street names from Langley. That’s something to look out for.”

Then there’s the matter of his own name.

Kraig X. Wenman as it sometimes appears in credits is not, surprisingly, the name he was given at birth.

He added the X himself as a way to draw attention to himself in a business where one hopeful writer’s work blurs into the next as it piles up on a producer’s desks.

It seems to have worked for Wenman, who enrolled in film school in 1999 after graduating from D.W. Poppy Secondary in Langley.

He has now sold 21 feature film scripts, including one that is currently being shot in Willoughby.

It stars David James Elliot of JAG fame and Emma Caufield, who played Anya on T.V.’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Written in the span of a week back in August, the feature, titled Confined, is about a woman who, after moving to a new neighbourhood begins to fear she is going crazy.

Or, then again, it may be that her next door neighbour is up to no good.

It’s the typical mother-in-jeopardy scenario, says the writer.

It’s a story line that spans the thriller genre from the small, independent films he writes, all the way up to big-budget Hollywood fare — think Jodie Foster in Panic Room or, well, Jodie Foster in Flightplan.

With such titles as Nowhere to Hide and Fireball under his belt (both of which air regularly on U.S. cable channels) Wenman is the first to admit it’s formulaic work.

It always comes down to a woman in her mid 30s, he explained.

She’s a mother and a professional woman who’s grown apart from her kids, and she suddenly finds herself in danger.

He likens the ability to dash off screenplays to being a weight lifter — if you exercise certain muscles, they’re bound to get stronger.

Eventually, he’d like to flex a different set of muscles by climbing into a director’s chair.

“I want to write and direct, and really focus on storytelling,” he said.

“Writing is giving me a director’s sense of where the camera goes.”

The father of two has also penned a novel, titled Jack Scratch, which he’s hoping to see turned into a television series — or, at the very least, a pilot.

The story uses voice over to combine a certain darkness with dry wit, he said.

It’s about a hitman who is hired to kill musicians to up their value.

“It’s Dexter meets Thank You For Smoking.”

Wenman is also in the process of writing a comedy for the Hallmark Channel.

Where the genre would, not long ago, have been outside his comfort zone, Wenman said parenthood has given him plenty of material. This one will have broad appeal, appropriate for families to sit down together and watch, he said.

“Then I have Jack Scratch at the opposite end, just to keep things balanced.”

Link to original article:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/langleytimes/entertainment/70317852.html

Thanks to my friend getting a Google alert I never got! Whoo hooooo!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT!!!!!

Here's wishing you all the best today and always. Hope it is a wonderful birthday!!!

"Man of the House" Press Release

From the Futon Critic website:

DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT ("JAG") STARS IN "MAN OF THE HOUSE," A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE WHICH HAS BEGUN PRODUCTION FOR PREMIERE IN 2010

David James Elliott ("JAG") stars in "Man of the House," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie about a workaholic ad agency executive who has lost his wife and is then fired from his job. He soon becomes a full-time Mr. Mom and begins to realize what he has been missing by not balancing his career and family life.

"Man of the House" has begun production and will premiere on Hallmark Channel in 2010.

Ben Landis (Elliott) is shocked when his boss gives him the news that his job as an advertising executive is over because he makes too much money and can be easily replaced by three younger guys for the same amount. He shares the news with his two children, Lindsay (Madison Davenport), age 12, and Dylan (Will Shadley), age 8, who have many questions. Then he fires his live-in housekeeper who he can no longer afford to keep. Now in the role of Mr. Mom, he immediately begins making a mess of everything the kitchen, dropping the kids off at school, managing Dylan's asthma attack and making cupcakes for the school bake sale.

But Ben keeps at it and soon gets the hang of things and even finds a supporter in Miss Jensen (Sharon Case, "The Young and the Restless"), Dylan's teacher, with whom there's an instant attraction. However, when he's offered a wonderful job at an ad agency in another city, Ben must decide what matters most in life, and what will be the best thing for him and his family.

"Man of the House" is being produced by Larry Levinson Productions. Larry Levinson is the executive producer. Brian Gordon and Jim Wilberger and Lincoln are the producers. Bradford May is directing from a script written by Adam Rockoff.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 88 million subscribers. The top-tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the highest-rated cable networks and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel which focuses on the greatest family movies of all time.

NEW MOVIE FOR DJE!!!!

Had this in a Google alert from the Hollywood Reporter:

Actor moves in to Hallmark's 'House'
David James Elliott to star in original movie
By Nellie Andreeva

Sept 14, 2009, 11:00 PM ET
David James Elliott has been named "Man of the House" for Hallmark Channel.

The former "JAG" star has been tapped for the lead role in an original movie about a workaholic ad- agency executive who loses his wife and is fired. He soon becomes a full-time Mr. Mom to his two kids and gets help from his son's teacher (Sharon Case).

"House," from Larry Levinson Prods., has begun filming for a 2010 premiere. Levinson is the executive producer.

Elliott is repped by Paradigm and McGowan Management.
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Can't wait to hear more about it!!!

"BRIO PRESS AMONG SPONSORS FOR THE 10TH ANNUAL CELEBRITY GOLF TOURNAMENT"

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundaton gift bag will include BRIO PRESS' Top Chef "Fan Favorite" Fabio Viviani cookbook, Cafe Firenze Cookbook08.27.2009 – Minneapolis, MN-Golfers at the annual Emmy celebrity golf tournament will get a taste of Florence, Italy with BRIO PRESS’ Café Firenze Cookbook. The publisher is donating Viviani’s book to the tournament gift bag. The book pairs martinis with 24 original Italian recipes.

The tournament is on August 31 in Toluca Lake, CA. Golf tournament proceeds directly benefit the Television Academy Foundation’s educational and preservation programs such as the student internship program, College TV Awards, the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarships and the Archive of American Television.

Scheduled to play are Bailey Chase (Saving Grave), Eric Close (Without a Trace), David James Elliott (The Storm), Jerry Ferrara (Entourage), Carmine Giovinazzo (CSI:NY), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Richard Karn (Home Improvement), Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy), Kevin Nealon (Weeds), Jeffrey Nordling (24), Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy), James Remar (Dexter),and Grant Show (Private Practice).

“We are honored to be a sponsor for this event,” said BRIO PRESS co-owner William Reynolds. “I hope all participants enjoy the book.”

Log on to www.BrioBooks.com for more information.

About BRIO PRESS
BRIO PRESS is a division of BRIO that publishes books from authors whose works engender cultural legacies. When we choose a title to publish, we strike a balance between the benefits of traditional publishing and the self-started, self-reliant spirit of independent authorship. BRIO PRESS transcends barriers that often encumber great authors and stories, and delivers credibility, validity and most importantly, visibility to remarkable authors and their fine works.
BRIO PRESS was established in spring 2009 by its parent company: BRIO Print, LLC. www.briobooks.com

Had this in a Google alert. Do good!!!