Start of Production on Shaftesbury Films’ Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures Starring Shawn Ashmore

• SHAWN ASHMORE STARS IN THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DRAMA SERIES BLOODLETTING & MIRACULOUS CURES
• CAMERAS ROLLING ON NEW EIGHT- PART ORIGINAL SERIES FOR THE MOVIE NETWORK AND MOVIE CENTRAL
• Based on Vincent Lam’s Award-Winning Collection of Linked Short Stories Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
• Co-starring Mayko Nguyen and Byron Mann

Shaftesbury Films (The Listener, ReGenesis) is pleased to announce that production has begun on the highly anticipated eight-part, one-hour drama series Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures starring Shawn Ashmore (pictured). Filming began June 29 and runs until September 23, 2009, in and around Toronto and Hamilton. The series is based on the Scotiabank Giller Award-winning set of linked short stories by Vincent Lam, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, and will debut on Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) and Astral Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) in early 2010.

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures follows the lives of three young doctors – ‘Fitz’, ‘Ming’ and ‘Chen’ – as they navigate medical school, residency and their first years as doctors in a busy downtown Toronto hospital.

“Prior to its winning the Giller Prize, we read Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures and knew that not only had Vincent Lam created a unique and bold look at ER doctors, but had done so with great visual flare,” said Executive Producer and Shaftesbury Films Chairman, Christina Jennings. “It was perfect material for Pay-TV and we’re delighted The Movie Network and Movie Central came on board so quickly. It has been great having Vincent as our consultant and working closely with the talented screenwriter Jason Sherman.”

“I fell for Bloodletting the moment I laid eyes on it. Ten pages in, I was already seeing how it could exist on screen,” said Writer and Co-executive Producer, Jason Sherman. “Two years later I’m actually seeing it on screen, with the complexity, depth of feeling and surprise of the original stories intact. Vincent Lam created fresh, vivid, compelling stories; adapting them to television continues to be a pleasure.”

Starring in his first one-hour drama series, Shawn Ashmore (X-Men, Terry) plays ‘Fitz,’ a troubled Air-Ambulance doctor with a lust for life and alcohol, who has never gotten over his love for ‘Ming’ (Mayko Nguyen, ReGenesis, Rent-a-Goalie), a painfully private OB/GYN. Ming is torn between ‘Fitz’ and her husband ‘Chen’ (Byron Mann, Dragon Boys, Dark Angel), an even-tempered physician hiding a sea of emotion. Through a series of events the three doctors are reunited in the ER department of Toronto Mercy Hospital where they struggle to resolve some unfinished business and put their feelings from the past to rest.

Author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Dr. Vincent Lam drew on his real life experiences working in international air evacuation and expedition medicine on Arctic and Antarctic ships and as an emergency physician.

The series is produced by Shaftesbury Films with Executive Producers Christina Jennings and Scott Garvie. Award-winning writer Jason Sherman (ReGenesis, Murdoch Mysteries) has adapted and written all eight hours of the series and also serves as Co-executive Producer. Shawn Ashmore is also an Executive Producer. Producers for Shaftesbury Films are Laura Harbin, Julie Lacey and Jan Peter Meyboom. Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures author Vincent Lam serves as Creative Consultant on the series. Phyllis Platt (Booky and the Secret Santa, Shania: A Life in Eight Albums) serves as Supervising Producer. The series’ award-winning directors include Rachel Talalay (Terminal City, Ally McBeal), Kari Skogland (50 Dead Men Walking, The Listener) and Erik Canuel (Flashpoint, Bon Cop, Bad Cop). Director of Photography is Miroslav Baszak (Shake Hands with the Devil, Pontypool) and Sandra Kybartas (Murdoch Mysteries, The Listener) is Production Designer. Executives in Charge of Production are Diane Boehme, Director of Canadian Independent Production, The Movie Network, and Erica Benson, Vice President, Programming, Movie Central.

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• PRODUCTION BEGINS THIS WEEK IN MONTREAL

Galafilm and Sound Venture announced today that principal photography has begun on their new comedy series 18 TO LIFE, for CBC Television. The comedy is the story of two neighbours with total opposing points of view who become family after their teenage kids run off and get married. With one simple “I do”, the three couples are joined, for better or worse! The shooting started yesterday in Montreal, Quebec, and will continue through September.

Starring Stacey Farber (Degrassi: The Next Generation) and Michael Seater (Life With Derek) as the young lovers, 18 TO LIFE also reunites Peter Keleghan (Billable Hours, The Newsroom), Al Goulem (The Tournament, Stardom), Ellen David (Surviving My Mother, The Business), Angela Asher (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Queer as Folk), Jesse Rath (Prom Wars, Dead Like Me), and Tiio Horn (Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis).

The series is created, written, and executive produced by Derek Schreyer (Murdoch Mysteries, Cold Squad) and former network exec and International Emmy Award-winning producer Karen Troubetzkoy (15/Love, The Magician’s House). Andrew Orenstein (Everybody Hates Chris, Malcolm in the Middle) joins as executive producer and Rob Sheridan (Corner Gas, Less Than Kind) co-produces. The series will be directed by Peter Wellington (Slings and Arrows), Paolo Barzman (The Phantom, The Last Templar) and Stefan Pleszczynski (Da Vinci’s Inquest, Intelligence). Ian Whitehead and Neil Bregman produce the show.

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