Erin Karpluk stars as Erica Strange in "Being Erica," a successful CBC dramedy overseen by Sally Catto. Catto has jumped ship to develop dramas and comedies for Cineflix Media,
The international production and distribution company Cineflix Media is making a move into Canadian television drama and comedy production and has hired away a prominent CBC TV executive to oversee its new venture.
Sally Catto, who at CBC oversaw series such as Being Erica, Republic of Doyle, Heartland and Intelligence, has been named executive vice president of the Canadian company's scripted division, Cineflix Studios.
"We'll be developing and producing both drama and comedy primarily focusing on one-hour dramatic series and half-hour comedy series for the Canadian market, for Canadian broadcasters, but also with an eye to selling outside of Canada," said Catto, who most recently was executive director of arts and entertainment for CBC English Television and before that served as the network's creative head, television drama.
"We're really looking for high-calibre, bigger-budget shows that have very broad appeal."
Until now, Cineflix has focused on non-fiction programming, with so-called factual entertainment series such as Birth Stories, Dinner Party Wars, and Conviction Kitchen; factual series such as William Shatner's Weird or What? and Python Hunters; and documentaries ( Manson, Jonestown: Paradise Lost).
With the expansion into dramatic programming, Cineflix will be opening an office in Vancouver, from where Catto - a Vancouver resident - will work, although she stresses the company will be looking nation-wide for projects to develop or finance.
Among the highlights of Catto's on-and-off decade at the public broadcaster was shepherding the hit series Being Erica from the proposal stage.
"I remember when the pitch came in for Being Erica. ... It was this amazing story that I personally responded to about the opportunity to go back and re-do and re-live it," said Catto, 42. "I loved working on that series."
Catto, who is currently on maternity leave, will begin with Cineflix in September. She says her experience at the CBC should serve her well on the other side of the boardroom table.
"I've worked at the broadcaster for a long period of time and have a good sense of what broadcasters are looking for and also the challenges they face and the criteria that goes into making decisions about what gets ordered and what airs. So going from the buying side to the selling side, I think my knowledge and experience will be really helpful."
Based in Montreal, Cineflix also has offices in Toronto, New York, London and Dublin.
Marsha Lederman