Almost immediately after publishing this list of Canadian web series trying to win funding from the Independent Production Fund, my inbox was flooded with emails from creators looking to be added to the list. The eleven that I posted last week are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been told there were over 100 submissions of which only eight will be chosen to recieve funding. There are obviously more out there, but here are 13 more (the notes in italics are mine and the comments afterwards come from the creators):
Teen Wolf meets Bosom Buddies meets Knocked Up
Starring Jonathan Sousa, Amber Goldfarb, Kimberly Sue Murray, Mikaela Davies, Sarah Hansen, Catherine Bérubé, and Matt Baram. Produced by Kevin Kincaid. Written Surita Parmar. Directed Chris Agoston
“Werewoman” is a supernatural comedy web series about a young man who magically transforms into a woman for a week every month during his roommates’ synchronized menstrual cycles.
Odd Couple meets the classic TGIF lineup
Starring Hannah Hogan. Created by Diana Galligan. Directed by Diana Galligan & Greg Breen.
A hilarious clash of personalities, lifestyles and generations, and two women who discover that wisdom plus youth make a great counterbalance.
Goonies in Space
Created by Jeff Biederman and Brent Piaskowski. Produced by Smokebomb Entertainment.
When a bunch of techno-misfists turn their uncle owen’s motorhome into a spaceship and accidentally end up on an alien planet, they must find their way back home…from space.
2gether if it was made by Ken Finkleman
Starring Christian Ty. Created by Jordan Warman & Christian Ty.
When we first set out to make Tymania we all agreed that we wanted to produce a high quality, whacky comedy that portrayed the life of an ambitious, Toronto-based singer. We didn’t even know about IPF funding at the time, so, we actually produced a pilot episode in hope of sharing our vision with as many viewers as possible. We think it’s a blessing to have organizations like the IPF supporting high quality Canadian web series and we hope to be able to produce more Tymania episodes in the future!
Glee but for dancing and more serious
Created and Directed by Jonathan Robbins. Produced by MojoPro Films
Dance by Day is a modern dance web series currently applying for funding from the IPF. This concept video gives you an idea of what we want to do, and we invite you to comment on it – tell us what you like and what you want to see more of when we make the full series, which will be 12 episodes of 6 to 8 minutes each. With funding, we will be able to hire a cast of professional dancers, create original choreography, and deliver compelling narrative as we explore the lives of these modern dancers – the underdogs in an underdog industry.
If Parliament Hill was on Avenue Q
Created by Amanda Barker, Suzanne Gallant, Andreas Krebs and Marco Timpano. Written by Amanda Barker and Marco Timpano. Directed by Suzanne Gallant.
Half parlour farce, half political thriller, Harper Puppet Pals takes you deep inside the corridors of power like never before–with finger puppets and cardboard sets. It’s constant pandemonium in the PMO: ministers rushing in with political crises, characters hiding in closets, and plots and counter-plots quickly piling up. Power struggles, rivalry, and sexual innuendo abound. Harper Puppet Pals brings the viewer into a world where our Prime Minister is a whiny child, Peter Kent is a lizard king, and Elizabeth May presents the only real threat to the government’s nefarious plans. Think The West Wing meets South Park.
The opposite of Bourne Identity Starring Matthew Carvery, Victoria Sullivan, Steve Kasan, Jeff Sinasac. Directed by Mike Donis.
Trailer Park Boys meets the City of Toronto “We Want It” Guys
Arrested Development meets Wes Anderson’s Wardrobe
Written and Directed by Matthew Atkinson, Starring Nate Mills and Ryan V. Hays, Produced by Robert Scarborough and Shawn Myrick
When spoiled brothers Gil and Sam are cut loose by their affluent parents they become desperate to maintain their privileged lifestyle and decide to “get rich quick” by becoming self- help gurus not unlike their father. They figure that writing a book is the best way to get recognized so they begin holding general therapy sessions to gather material. This would be a decent plan if A) they were actually doctors and B) weren’t total assholes.
Who’s Afraid of the Illuminati?
Starring Max Morrow and Vikki Humphrey. Written by Elize Morgan. Produced by Capsize.
“The Society follows siblings Josh and Kate as they attempt to discover what happened to their father — only to discover a massive conspiracy, secret societies and more! As they delve deeper into the history surrounding the group known only as The Society, they end up dodging assassination attempts, extreme danger, and worst of all creepy, creepy alien-type creatures.”
Sex and the City for gay guys
Starring Richard Lee, Ben Lewis and Adamo Ruggiero Written and Directed by Austin Wong.
Twenty-something single boys, Steve, Aaron and Geoff (and their gal-pal Amanda) are living in a gay-friendly big city where they navigate a thriving out and proud community filled with its own tribes of twinks, bears, ricequeens and gymbunnies. But even though their journey might be filled with additional riddles like, ‘is he a top or a bottom?’, they still face the universal quest of finding “The One”.
Pineapple Express meets American Psycho
Starring Jake Raymond, Neil Green, Sandra DaCosta, Brandy Dawley and Jeff Sinasac. Created by Justin McConnell, Joseph Nanni & Adam Kenneth Wilson. Directed by Justin McConnell.
A pot-loving loser has way too many problems to deal with in one night: he may have accidentally killed a prostitute, has called on his absent-minded dealer and tagalong girlfriend to help cover it up, and seems to have put them all into the cross-hairs of a vicious serial killer.
Girls minus the nudity plus club beats
Starring Hannah Spear, Laura Cilevitz, Ann Pornel and Marni Van Dyk. Written by Marni Van Dyk and Carly Heffernan. Produced by Don Ferguson Productions.
#GNO is an all-new comedy web series set entirely in the women’s washroom of Essence nightclub.
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Michael Kolberg is The Sprawl Editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter for jokes @mikeykolberg.
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