New TV show, a product of Duntroon creativity
Duntroon residents Garry Campbell and Teza Lawrence set out to create a TV show that would allow them to be close to home and reduce their commute.
A new comedic procedural drama Carter starring Jerry O’Connell and Sydney Poitier Heartsong is the result of that creative partnership, although the commute part didn’t really go to plan.
Campbell, the show’s creator, writer and executive producer, (MADtv, Kids In The Hall, Kim’s Convenience) regularly commutes to Toronto, as does Lawrence, co-owner of Amaze Film and Television, who oversees a number of projects in Canada and the United States (The Stanley Dynamic, Call Me Fritz).
When the pair was brainstorming something that could be shot in the Georgian Triangle area, Campbell had an idea that he thought would work.
The result is a 10-episode comedy that follows the journey of actor Harley Carter who, after a nasty break-up, returns to his hometown where he reconnects with his childhood best friends. Carter plays a detective on television but can’t resist the real life cases that come his way.
Campbell said he’s worked on a lot of cult shows so he wanted to do something, simple, light and fun. “This is my first procedural,” he said. “I didn’t want to do a satire, it’s closer to reality than a satire would have been.”
Carter uses his natural instinct and his character’s experience to work out the case, with the help of his friends.
The show is set in a fictional town in Ontario but ended up being filmed in North Bay, which, as Campbell points out, is a much longer commute than the one to Toronto.
Lawrence said they couldn’t film in the greater Collingwood area as originally planned because of the lack of infrastructure but a boost from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has made North Bay attractive to the television and film industry. Natural resources revenue is being channeled into economic development in the form of job creation, and as a result there are people there with the necessary expertise in the film and television sector.
Lawrence said a significant injection from the program closed their funding gap and a lot of the money is funnelled right back into the community, whether its spending money at restaurants or securing accommodation.
The show is also a tribute of sorts to small town life. The fictional town of Bishop stands in for the idyllic setting of small town life. Campbell said they decided not to opt for the Podunk approach, but to show it in its best possible light, but with all the inspiration provided by the wide variety of characters that can be found in any small town, adds Lawrence.
“There is such a variety of people who come and go providing a lot of fodder for us to tell stories,” she said.
Campbell, himself grew up in a small town. “This is a story about going home to a small town and reinvigorating that part of you,” said Campbell. “We raised our kids in a small town because we like what it’s done for us,” he said.
Both Lawrence and Campbell say they choose to live in a small town for its natural beauty and the benefit of their children and they both genuinely love living here.
“Our love is able to shine through and the show is going to be seen all over the world,” said Lawrence.
Being financed and distributed through Sony, the show is airing in Poland, Russia, Thailand, the UK and South America, as a start, so people all over the world will get a positive impression of small town Ontario.
Carter airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Bravo and streams at www.bravo.ca.
