BELL MEDIA PRIME TIME TV PROGRAM

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, the Bell Media Prime Time TV Program returned in 2022 with an unprecedented two in-person cohorts in one year.

In the summer, we welcomed six writers - Rebecca Grenier, Svetlana Jaklenec, Abdul Malik, Emma Malm, Clint Murphy and Helmann Wilhelm - to participate in a one-hour drama storyroom experience with Executive Producer in Residence Patrick Tarr, from July to mid-September. Together, they worked to develop Patrick’s original series, Think Tank, a one-hour procedural / mystery.

In the fall, six writers joined a half-hour comedy storyroom experience for Black, Indigenous and racialized creators with Executive Producer in Residence Ins Choi from October to December. Ameera Siddiqui, Jackson Chow, Kanika Ambrose, Mona Hersi, Shirley Yip and Vincent Lui worked together with Ins to develop his new series, The Parks, an adaptation of his play, Bad Parents

Throughout their programs, funded by Lead Supporter Bell Media, the residents participated in 90 in-depth workshops, case studies and career planning sessions with industry professionals, and 127 guests and experts from across North America shared their expertise and insights with residents about various aspects of the industry.

Additionally, the cohorts resulted in 12 new series concepts and pilot scripts - six drama and six comedy. Residents from both cohorts received high-level individually tailored feedback and support from original series mentors Joseph Kay, Emily Andras, Ian Carpenter, Jane Maggs, Jenn Engels and Adam Barken (for the drama cohort), and Marsha Greene, Anthony Q Farrell, Annmarie Morais, Andrew De Angelis, Winter Tekenos and Shebli Zarghami for the comedy cohort.

The 2022/2023 Bell Media Prime Time TV Program generated a significant portfolio of new IP, delivered on business and strategic plans, expanded the writers’ professional networks and community, and prepared each of them for any type of series story room.