Under the Christmas Tree
Where to watch: Hooplah, CTV Digital
With the holiday season comes the great tradition of holiday rom-coms, and DGC Ontario Production Under the Christmas Tree has the exciting distinction of being Lifetime’s first holiday film featuring a romance between two women. Ahead of the premiere of Under the Christmas Tree last December, we spoke to the Director of the film (and DGC Ontario’s Directors Caucus Rep!), Lisa Rose Snow, about why representation matters, feel-good movies that reflect the world we live in on-screen, her favourite holiday films, and more.
Click here for a list of all DGC Ontario Members who worked on Under the Christmas Tree.
The Christmas Setup
Where to watch: Crave, Hooplah, CTV Digital
Designing Christmas
Where to watch: Crave
Directed by DGC Ontario’s Pat Mills, 2020’s The Christmas Setup was Lifetime’s first queer holiday film and featured lead actors who are married in real life. Pat also has a brand-new holiday rom-com premiering this December – Designing Christmas, the story of two home reno show co-hosts who discover they have complicated feelings for each other. Read our 2020 interview with Director Pat Mills about shooting The Christmas Setup during the pandemic, why representation matters and the magic of escapist holiday films.
Click for a list of all DGC Ontario Members who worked on The Christmas Setup and Designing Christmas.
8-Bit Christmas
Where to watch: Crave
2021’s 8-Bit Christmas, helmed by Canadian Director Michael Dowse, tells the epic story of Jake and his quest to acquire the greatest Christmas gift of the 1980s: a Nintendo Entertainment System. To celebrate the release of 8-Bit Christmas on HBO Max, we spoke to DGC Ontario Sound Editor Claudia Pinto and Supervising Sound Editor Adam Stein about their work on the production, designing retro sounds, transporting the viewer to 1980s Chicago, and more.
Click here for a list of all DGC Ontario Members who worked on 8-Bit Christmas.
Sort Of Season 2
Where to watch: CBC, CBC Gem
The Peabody Award-winning series Sort Of returned for its second season on November 15 on CBC and CBC Gem (with an HBO Max release scheduled for December 1) and is already being hailed as a hilarious and heartfelt follow-up to the original groundbreaking season. Co-created by DGC Ontario Director Fab Filippo and Writer, Producer, and Lead Actor Bilal Baig, Sort Of remains a touching, quirky, and honest exploration of gender nonconformity and the millennial struggle to find one’s place in life.
Check out our interview with Sort Of Season 2 Director J Stevens on telling queer stories and our Wider Lens podcast episode with Bilal and Fab about their Sort Of origin story.
Click here for a list of all DGC Ontario Members who worked on Sort Of Season 2.
The Whale
Where to watch: Coming to theatres on December 9
Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships, his health, and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter. DGC Ontario Member Jill Purdy, The Whale’s Supervising Sound Editor and one of the most prolific Sound Editors in Ontario, has also collaborated with Director Aronofsky on his earlier films mother!, The Fountain, Noah, Black Swan, and Requiem For A Dream.
Women Talking
Where to watch: Coming to theatres on December 23
The powerful new film from celebrated DGC Ontario Director Sarah Polley is based on the critically-acclaimed novel by Miriam Toews, making Women Talking a true powerhouse of Ontario-based talent. As the women of a tight-knit, cloistered religious colony struggle to recover from an epidemic of abuse, they gather in a hayloft to decide what the future holds. On the eve of TIFF 2022, we asked DGC Ontario Members to share how they felt about seeing their films on the big screen at the fest. Read the article to learn why working on Women Talking was such a transformative experience for Production Designer Peter Cosco and Picture Editor Christopher Donaldson.
Click here for a list of DGC Ontario Members who worked on Women Talking.
Letterkenny Season 11 & A Letterkenny Christmas: The Three Wise Men
Where to watch: Crave (Season 11 premieres December 25)
Celebrate Christmas with the Hicks and Skids – the eleventh season of Letterkenny drops on December 25th! Brand-new seasons of Letterkenny have become a Canadian holiday tradition, with Seasons 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 all premiering on Christmas Day. And while you’re getting caught up, don’t forget to watch the Letterkenny Christmas special, A Letterkenny Christmas: The Three Wise Men. Let’s get at ‘er!
Click here for a list of all DGC Ontario Members who worked on Letterkenny.
White Noise
Where to watch: In select theatres December 2, Netflix December 30
The new feature film from Director Noah Baumbach dramatizes a 1980’s American family’s attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life, including a mysterious “toxic airborne event”, while grappling with the universal mysteries of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world. Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, White Noise is Picture Edited by DGC Ontario’s Matt Hannam, who has made a career out of working with internationally renowned, idiosyncratic Directors like Guy Maddin, Denis Villeneuve, Sean Durkin, The Daniels, and Brandon Cronenberg. (will add a link to Matt’s podcast ep when complete).
CBC’s Winter 2023 Slate
Tuesday, January 3, 8:30 p.m. – Son of a Critch Season 2
Tuesday, January 3, 9:00 p.m. – Workin’ Moms Season 7 (final season)
Wednesday, January 4, 8:30 p.m. – Run The ‘Burbs Season 2
Wednesday, January 4, 9:00 p.m. – Pretty Hard Cases Season 3
2023 is off to a great start with the return of several beloved DGC Ontario Productions on CBC – including Workin’ Moms, which will wrap up its seventh and final season this upcoming winter. Joining the premiere of Workin’ Moms on January 3rd is the second season of Son of a Critch, the hilarious and heartwarming semi-autobiographical series that follows an adolescent Mark Critch as he grows up in the 1980s in Newfoundland and Labrador. And on January 4th, the Phams are back as Season 2 of Andrew Phung and Scott Townend’s sitcom Run the ‘Burbs premieres, along with Season 2 of the ass-kicking, female-led police procedural Pretty Hard Cases.
Click here for a list of DGC Ontario Members who worked on Son of a Critch Season 2.
Click here for a list of DGC Ontario Members who worked on Workin’ Moms Season 7.
Click here for a list of DGC Ontario Members who worked on Run The ‘Burbs Season 2.
Click here for a list of DGC Ontario Members who worked on Pretty Hard Cases Season 3.
