Canada Made

A new TV series about innovation, invention and discovery
Premiering Friday, June 1, 2012 at 8 pm on History Television
Introducing CANADIAN MADE
Did you know that the Wonderbra is a Canadian invention? How about the gas mask?
Standard time? The instant replay? Computer animation? How about electronic music? Or
that famous “American” Superman? Well, you will now!
CANADIAN MADE is a new TV series about Canada’s tradition of invention, innovation and
discovery – astonishing in its range and genius, yet unheralded at home and abroad.
Each half-hour episode of CANADIAN MADE explores the inspiring historic, scientific and
human stories behind three inventions that, together, reflect an aspect of the Canadian
character. Delightfully creative in both style and substance, CANADIAN MADE weaves a
dizzying array of documentary, animation, skits, recreations and computer graphics into a
view of Canada that is amazing, exhilarating and sure to inspire pride.
The 14 shows in CANADIAN MADE’s debut season were shot in every part of the country
and with some of its most ingenious citizens. We meet the elegant Louise Poirier, who
designed the original Wonderbra, and the unstoppable Nestor Burtnyk, who invented
computer animation and built the world’s second functioning computer mouse. Marc
Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut, describes what it’s like to flex the Canadarm; Ian
Hayden, Canada’s best snowmobile racer, tells how it feels to go 190 km/hr on a
supercharged sled; and hockey legend Tony Esposito gives the backstory on how goalies
fought to protect their mugs. We meet dreamers – like Phil Nuytten, who invented the deep-
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diving Exo-Suit – visionaries – like Mehran Avari, who developed remote-control surgery –
artists – like Chris Claremont, who reimagined X-Men comic books -- and saviors – like
George Dyson, who prevented the Inuit kayak from disappearing.
Created by filmmaker Kevin McMahon (Waterlife, Cod: The Fish That Changed The World)
and produced by the multi-award winning team at Primitive Entertainment (The National
Parks Project, A Hard Name, Ancestors in the Attic), CANADIAN MADE is narrated by voice
chameleon Rick Miller (The Mulroney Opera, MacHomer), scored by the ever-inventive Kurt
Swinghammer (Turpentine Wind) and directed by some of Canada’s finest young directors.
What does it mean to be CANADIAN MADE?
To us, it means anything that’s created in the spirit of the beaver. Seriously.
The beaver cuts down a tree almost every day. Its construction techniques utilize the
hydraulic pressure of rivers to build dams. It builds canal systems hundreds of meters long
to transport lumber. Its multi-room lodges can last 30 years and are big enough to be seen
from space. It’s survival skills have kept it alive since the Pleistocene. It lives in large,
communal families, works (and plays) hard all spring, summer and autumn and spends its
winters hanging around the lodge, eating and chatting. No other animal begins to approach
the beaver’s instinctive engineering brilliance, community loyalty or work ethic -- yet it is
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among the humblest of creatures. If that ain’t Canadian, what is?
Things that are Canadian-made arise from a tradition of cheery resourcefulness, practical
ingenuity and courageous originality. Dozens of the basic inventions that give modern life its
wondrous ease are Canadian-made: telephones, music recordings, electric ovens, alkaline
batteries, portable welding, spiral nails, duct tape, standard time, paint rollers, caulking
guns, garbage bags, and Pablum – to say nothing of plexiglass, the retractable beer carton
holder, instant mash potatoes and the Jolly Jumper!
The Canadian-made also encompasses the many designs that we did not devise, but
greatly improved. It was Canadians who designed airplanes that take off straight into the air,
can land on water and carry bombs that quell forest fires. It was Canadians who designed
submarines that can harvest underwater forests. It was a Canadian who figured out a better
way to grow wheat, make paper, turn screws, heat cars, photograph landscapes, deter
airplane hijackings and play rock ‘n roll. We didn’t invent the winter coat, but we make the
world’s best parkas. Ours were not the first brassieres, but it was a Canadian who reimagined them to be much more flattering. Sweet treats existed before Canada, but it was
here that they were made deliciously convenient with the invention of the chocolate bar.
No one can say exactly why Canadians are imbued with such beaverish ingenuity, but… it
may have something to do with a tiny and very diverse population exploiting incredible
resources across a vast geography with a brutal climate.
We excel at inventions to communicate across big gaps between places and people: radio
voice transmission, walkie-talkies, geostationary satellites, crash-position indicators, and
(for the yawning gap between referee and fans) the televised instant replay. We are great at
propelling ourselves through harsh terrain – think of the toboggan, canoe, kayak,
snowmobile, anti-gravity suit and the iconic Twin Otter bush plane.
Canadian-made things tend to be on a scale befitting this place. Canadians built the world’s
longest highway, longest city street, longest recreational trail, longest free-standing bridge
and longest pen -- not to mention its biggest oil platform, biggest movie format and, of
course, biggest beaver dam (stretching almost a kilometer across Wood Buffalo National
Park). So it figures that a Canadian created Superman -- as Mordecai Richler sagely noted,
he’s a guy who hides his superpowers behind the guise of being “soft spoken”, refuses
credit for his good deeds and, therefore, never gets the girl of his dreams!
And, yes, that really-really-nice thing is also part of the Canadian-made DNA: we are
hopelessly committed to saving the world. Canadians, for example, punch far above our
weight in medical breakthroughs -- pioneering ways to cure cancer, save heart attack
victims, control diabetes, understand genetic recombinations and manipulate stem cells.
All of these things, and much, much more, are what it means to be CANADIAN MADE
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CANADIAN MADE
Season One Episodes
Friday, June 1 at 8:00 pm: "Clothing Revolutions
Friday, June 1 at 8:30 pm: "Time Shifting"
Friday June 8th at 8:00 pm: “Space Gizmos”
Friday June 8th at 8:30 pm: “Foresting”
Friday June 15th at 8:00 pm: “Cultural Revolutions”
Friday June 15th at 8:30pm: “Working Watercraft”
Friday June 22nd at 8:00 pm: “Game Gear”
Friday June 22nd at 8:30pm: “Sweet Treats”
Friday June 29th at 8:00 pm: “Brilliant Amenities”
Friday June 29th at 8:30 pm: “Experimental Vehicles”
Friday July 6th at 8:00 pm: “Imperviousness”
Friday July 6th at 8:30 pm: “Revolutionary Perspectives “
Friday July 13th at 8:00 pm: “Snow Crossing”
Friday July 13th at 8:30 pm “Medical Breakthroughs
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Clothing Revolutions
The Wonderbra, lumberjack shirt and gas mask
Premieres Friday June 8th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by David New
Canadians are not widely regarded as fashionable, but we can proudly wear the label of
fashionistas – because the clothing items we’ve devised were not merely stylistic flourishes
but true revolutions that forever changed the way people dress. “Clothing Revolutions” looks
at three very different upheavals in attire: the Wonderbra used the rebellious 1960s to
reinvent lingerie; the lumberjack shirt made a colonial fabric into a Hoser uniform; and the
gas mask redefined the soldier’s kit – and helped change the course of World War One.
For this episode we travel to Montreal to meet the elegant Louise Poirier, designer of the
original Wonderbra, who deconstructs the garment that has been repeatedly voted one of
international fashion’s most important innovations. From Newfoundland comes the story of
Cluny MacPherson, one of that province’s greatest citizens and the inventor of the gas
mask. At the Royal Military College in Kingston, we test the descendants of his original
“hypo helmet” – which are now a mainstay of war zones and street battles around the world.
Along the way, we hear about how Peterborough’s historic matron, Catherine Parr Trail,
alerted the British Empire to the Hoser Tuxedo and how fictional American icon Paul
Bunyan was actually based on the true story of Quebecois legend -- Big Joe Mufferaw – a
figure so great his biography was written by no less than Wilfred Laurier, yet who, in the
time-honored Canadian fashion, has been all-but forgotten.
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TIME SHIFTING
Standard Time, Key-frame Computer Animation and the Instant Replay
Premieres Friday June 8th at 8:30 pm
Written and directed by David New
Time may be unstoppable but it’s not immutable. “Time Shifting” is about three inventions
that transformed our use and perception of time. Standard Time put the whole world on one
clock. Key-frame computer animation created image sequences depicting movement
through time – thereby saving animators lots of it. And the Instant Replay slowed time to
reduce the squabbles that arise, from time to time, between players, fans and refs.
Among those we meet in this episode is Ottawa’s Nestor Burtnyk, one of many brilliant
National Research Council of Canada scientists interviewed for CANADIAN MADE. Retired,
but still vital, Nestor is one of the fathers of key frame computer animation and responsible
for the first film made with the technology, which was nominated for an Oscar. He also,
incidentally, built the world’s second functioning computer mouse. Travelling to Montreal, we
get a sneak peak at the newest Canadian advance in film technology inside a lab at the
National Film Board, where animators are now creating 3D animations in real time.
This show also gives us insight into the genius of Sir Sandford Fleming, who convinced
every country in the world – except one -- to create Standard Time. On the flip side, we hear
the intimate details of the classic Canadian tragedy of George Retzlaff, who invented the
Instant Replay – but had his stroke of genius shut down by short-sighted bureaucrats.
Following his story to today, we go inside the NHL “war room” and behind the scenes at the
Rogers Cup of tennis to see how his invention transformed the adjudication of sport.
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Space Gizmos
The Canadarm, the Dextre robot and LIDAR
Premieres Friday June 8th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by David New
Canadians have a proven ability to cope with vast, empty expanses, cold that defies
imagination and lonely regions where only brave explorers dare go. And that makes us
naturals at inventing stuff for outer space. This episode explores the Earth-bound
clunkyness of the Canadarm, the dexterity of the robot named DEXTRE and the precision of
Canada’s LIDAR system, which can spot a snowflake on Mars.
“Space Explorations” takes us into the laboratories of the Canadian Space Agency, MDA
Space Missions and York University’s Space Engineering Department – where we discover
the terrors and triumphs that flow from creating experimental technologies that only get
‘road’-tested thousands of miles out, when it’s too late for last-minute adjustments.
Among those we talk to are Allan Carswell, one of the world’s experts in using lasers for
mapping, and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space. Along the way, some bright
Toronto students – like the robot-building team at Woburn Collegiate Institute – demonstrate
their extra-terrestrial fascination through incredible machines, laser tag and Lego.
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Foresting
Totem poles, newsprint and the water bomber
Premieres Friday June 8th at 8:30 pm
Written and directed by Buffy Childerhose
‘Hewers of wood and drawers of water’ is how Canadians were traditionally dismissed
abroad and, sometimes, even at home. If CANADIAN MADE proves anything, it’s that this
old image is a load of beaver dung. However, this episode also shows that there’s a lot
more to hewing than you might expect. “Foresting” tells the stories of three inventions that
utterly change our view of trees: the totem pole transforms them into mythological colossus’;
newsprint changes them into a medium of information; and the water bomber protects them
in a way that no previous technology could.
This episode of CANADIAN MADE travels to the Haida village of Skidegate, to witness the
rebirth of the totem pole, which was banned in Canada’s First Nations until recently.
Created by master carver Tim Boyko, the country’s newest pole is raised – by the traditional
method of ropes and pulleys -- at the home of the community’s new chief. We also visit the
famous McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario where a modern pole has been installed,
featuring 21st Century icons, including a cell phone and laptop computer.
Outside of Halifax, at the Ross Farm Museum, Peter Burger, the great, great grandnephew
of Charles Fenerty, demonstrates how his ancestor invented newsprint – but (typically
Canadian) did not take credit for it. At the Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Centre, in Sault
Ste. Marie, we deconstruct Carl Crossley’s experiments in water bombing, which led to a
uniquely Canadian technology that continues to save lives everywhere every day.
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Cultural Revolutions
Superman, electronic music and Trivial pursuit
Premieres Friday June 15th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by Sean Wainsteim
Canada is internationally known for its writers, musicians and comedians, but our
contributions to world culture include more than putting new spins on old forms. “Cultural
Revolutions” is about paradigm-shifting artistic inventions: the creation of the first great
superhero and the birth of the modern comic book; the introduction of electronics into
popular music, which created new categories of sound; and the insertion of personal
knowledge into board games, which revitalized the moribund life of the parlor.
To tell the incredible story of Superman and the Canadian comic heroes that followed him,
we travel to Fan Expo to meet legions of his followers – including Chris Claremont, who
would grow up to write the adventures of Wolverine -- also a Canadian character and the
most popular figure in modern comics. Joe Shuster, the Toronto Star paperboy who created
Superman, is remembered by his cousin Rosie, former Star writer Henry Mietkiewicz and
critic Rob Salem – who is such a fan he sports three Superman tattoos.
At Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Shaw Festival, actress Mary Haney recalls her late brother Chris,
one of the two journalists who created the board game sensation Trivial Pursuit. And Paul
Hoffert, of the Canadian supergroup Lighthouse, recalls the National Research Council’s
Hugh Le Caine, a music legend for his invention of the first electronic synthesizer.
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Working Watercraft
The kayak, Sawfish and Hibernia oil platform
Premieres Friday June 15th at 8:30pm
Written and directed by Su Rynard
Nothing so defines the Canadian landscape as water, which is why we have invented so
many ways to work on or under it. “Working Watercraft” is about our most revolutionary
aquatic solutions: the kayak, which gave Inuit hunters access to the Arctic Ocean; the
Hibernia platform, which allowed Newfoundlanders to pull oil from below the raging Atlantic;
and the Sawfish, which allows BC loggers access to the lost forests of the dammed.
Naturally, this episode travels from coast to coast to coast to tell its stories. In St. John’s
Newfoundland, we dive into the National Research Council’s Institute for Ocean
Technology, a unique facility where model icebreakers and drilling platforms are put through
their paces in advance of construction. It was here that tests were done to ensure that the
Hibernia oil-drilling platform would not suffer the terrible fate of the sunken Ocean Ranger.
In Montreal, we witness the qualifying heats as Canoe/Kayak Canada puts together its
Olympic kayak racing team. Theirs is the end of a long journey. It began in Vancouver with
George Dyson, a renowned and brilliant boat builder, who rescued the kayak from relative
obscurity and helped it gain the enormous popularity it has today. While in BC, we descend
into some fresh water lakes with Saanichton-based Triton Logging, creators of the Sawfish,
which harvests petrified wood and is, therefore, the ‘greenest’ foresting on Earth.
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Game Gear
Lacrosse stick, hockey stick and the goalie mask
Premieres Friday June 22nd at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by Ian Ross MacDonald
Our official summer and winter sports are really variations on the same theme: brutally
bulldozing through your opponents to hammer a hard thing past a poor fellow stuck in a net.
But the main pieces of equipment behind the action have long and fascinating histories.
Both the hockey and lacrosse sticks are rooted in Canada’s First Nations, while the goalie
mask originated with one player who was fed up with needless injuries.
To explore the history and craft of making a lacrosse stick, CANADIAN MADE visits the
Mitchell brothers, stick makers of the Akwesasne Mohawk First Nation -- which straddles
the St Lawrence River and may well be the birthplace of the game. In Toronto, Rock captain
Colin Doyle shows off the surprisingly complex structure of the modern lacrosse stick.
Tracking the evolution of the goalie mask, we visit with Sault Ste. Marie native and Hockey
Hall of Famer Tony Esposito, an early adopter, who fashioned his own mask from fiberglass
and steel tubing. Representing the other end of the spectrum is David Arigo – “artist to the
stars” – who has painted some of the most legendary helmets in hockey, including one that
is an homage to mask inventor Jacques Plante.
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Sweet Treats
Maple syrup, ginger ale and the chocolate bar
Premieres Friday June 22nd at 8:30pm
Written and directed by Sean Wainsteim
Though the traditional, no-nonsense Canadian diet was hearty meat-and-potatoes, no one
can live by bland alone. This episode celebrates unique Canadian foods that brought a little
unnecessary sweetness into our daily routines: maple syrup – born of a love story -- ginger
ale – born of an Upper Canadian industrial dynasty – and chocolate bars – born in a messy
pocket.
To get the story behind our favorite pancake topping, CANADIAN MADE visits St.
Catharines’ White Meadows Farms, where the syrup has remained identical for generations
despite the very different harvesting methods of First Nations, Victorian Canadians and
modern manufacturers – who utilize a sophisticated vacuum system, with miles of plastic
tubing snaking through the forest.
In St. Stephen, New Brunswick, which bills itself as “Canada’s chocolate town”, we explore
the stories behind several confection innovations, including the first wrapped chocolate bar.
For generations, the town has been the home of the Ganong family, Canada’s most
successful candy makers and the most prominent citizens in what remains an oldfashioned, but still thriving, one-factory town.
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Brilliant Amenities
The Robertson screw, plastic garbage bag and bear-proof trash bin
Premieres Friday June 29th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by Annie Bradley
We Canadians are known for the agreeable manner that makes us exemplars of ‘amenity’ –
a trait defined as both pleasant and convenient. This episode is about how we translated
our cheerful interest in life’s little things into some brilliant amenities that make a world of
difference in daily life: screws you can use with one hand, bags that harness stinking
garbage and bins that keep out dangerously hungry intruders.
Favorite son of Milton Ontario, P.L. Robertson, is the grandfather of Canadian amenities.
Every handy person knows that the Robertson is the world’s best screw (and screw driver),
but in this episode University of Toronto physics professor Stephen Morris explains why.
And builder Damon Bennett – of the TV show ‘Holmes on Homes’ – gives an intriguing
account of the Robertson on a rescue mission in the USA.
Nothing is so unpleasant or inconvenient as handling trash – especially in a country where
wild animals are always near. At the University of Calgary, bear biologist Stephen Herrero
shows how research into the way a bear’s paw differs from a human hand led to the
creation of animal-proof garbage bins – and solved a frightening problem in Canada’s parks.
And, at a farm outside Winnipeg, we meet the descendants of Harry Wasylyk, inventor of
the plastic garbage bag, a Canadian creation that turned out to be both a boon and a curse.
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Experimental Vehicles
The JetLev, Mosquito helicopter and Uno
Premieres Friday June 29th at 8:30 pm
Written and directed by Buffy Childerhose
As long as Canadians have had garages and basements, there have been guys holed-up in
them, tinkering with contraptions and dreaming big. Some turn out to be noisy boondoggles
and some to be brilliant breakthroughs. Then there are those that could have been used by
(Canadian-made) James Bond. This show is about three 007-worthy vehicles: a jetpack
powered by water, a helicopter you can build in your garden shed and an electric unicycle
that converts into a motorcycle for high speed getaways. Oh, and most Bondian of all: a
motorized skateboard sporting machine-gun turrets.
As it turns out, Bond creator Ian Fleming was actually inspired by Manitoba native William
Stephenson (code name: Intrepid), one of the most flamboyant and dashing spies of World
War Two. And Fleming, in turn, inspired legions of writers… and gadget makers. Which
brings us to Raymond Li, a Newfoundland inventor who created the JetLev, the newest
sensation at the world’s beach resorts. Li got the idea of building a jet pack as a kid, from
watching the Bond movie Thunderball. But it would take years of trial and failure before he
found the perfect medium to carry his dreams.
Much the same is true of Ben Gulak, a young Milton, Ontario genius, who spent years
perfecting his convertible unicycle, the Uno. His latest creation is the Shredder, which
blends several technologies to create a vehicle like nothing the world has ever seen before
– and does it so well that it has drawn the avid attention of the US military.
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Imperviousness
The quinzee, Canada Goose parka and the Exo-Suit
Premieres Friday July 6th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by Michael Morrow
Survival, as Margaret Atwood famously said, is our middle name – and for darn good
reason. Canadians have always had to get by in a landscape and climate which are, let’s
face it, prone to killing people. This episode’s look at “Imperviousness” is about a few of the
technologies we have invented to help us scoff at the elements: a house that can be built
from the softest snow, a modern coat fashioned from good old fur and feathers and a suit
that cannot be crushed by even the weight of the sea.
The show features Timmins search and rescue expert Pat Cantin, who shows us how to
build a quinzee – a type of snow house originally discovered by the Anishinabe people of
the Great Lakes area. The extraordinary thing about a quinzee, thanks to the secret of its
design, is that it’s transforms powdery snow into a structure strong enough to hold an ATV.
The other kinds of imperviousness in this episode come from incredible suits. We meet
David Reiss, whose family manufactures the world’s best winter parka: the Canada Goose.
The coat has an amazing history – as evidenced by both the coyote trapper who tells us
how he obtains its famous fur trimming and by Dani Reiss, David’s son, whose publicity
skills turned the most utilitarian garment into a hip fashion item. Then we are off and down,
down, down – deep into the Pacific Ocean, with Phil Nuytten, the celebrated inventor of the
incredible underwater Exo Suit.
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Revolutionary Perspectives
Electron microscope, telerobotic surgery, Neptune observatory
Premieres Friday July 6th at 8:30 pm
Written and directed by Dylan Reibling
To be Canadian is to be forced to look very far, to see over distant horizons and to view the
world in a multi-faceted way -- and thus to discover perspectives never before imagined.
“Revolutionary Perspectives” reports on these wonderful traits through the stories of three
visionary inventions: the microscope that reveals the tiniest life forms (and stopped an
international pandemic); a form of surgery that allows doctors to operate on patients many
kilometers away (born of a tragic flaw in our beloved health care system) and an
observatory that provides a window on the infinite mysteries of marine biology.
This episode takes us to the University of Toronto, where the electron microscope was
invented, and to the Canada Science and Technology Museum, where the original device is
displayed, to tell the story of how the microscope was essential to stopping the dreaded
SARS virus. Then we are off to St. Joseph’s hospital in Hamilton, where surgeon Mehran
Anvari – influenced by a tragic experience he had in Nunavut -- pioneered the use of
telerobotic surgery, to apply his operating skills to a patient in far-off North Bay.
We conclude this episode deep below the Pacific, off Vancouver Island, where scientists
from the University of Victoria and the Canadian government’s Institute of Ocean Sciences
have built NEPTUNE, a system of sensors that not only provides an unprecedented realtime perspective on life in the ocean but also monitors seismic activity to warn BC of a
tsunami if – make that when – the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate moves.
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Snow Crossings
Snow shoes, the Skidoo and snow plows
Premieres Friday July 13th at 8:00 pm
Written and directed by Sean Wainsteim
Getting from A to B despite mounds, drifts and blizzards is a basic Canadian requirement
that has forced successive waves of innovation for as long as people have lived in this big,
cold land. In “Snow Crossings” we deconstruct the complex genius behind our familiar
methods of traversing the white stuff to learn why snowshoes all look different, how Joseph
Bombardier was inspired by tragedy and why being a snow plow driver is dangerous in
more ways than we assume.
Filmed in northern Ontario, Quebec and the mountains of Colorado, this episode introduces
us to memorable characters like Iain Hayden, four-time Canadian snowmobile racing
champion, Jimmy Blaze, a snowmobile trick rider who makes his living doing flips, and Chris
Luchkiw, of Innisfil, Ontario, who is so obsessed with Bombardier that he has the world’s
largest collection of Skidoos.
We also go into a factory to see how snow plows are built and we go under Ontario’s roads
to see how sensors (which, in this show, talk) control their deployment. And we meet an
entertaining outdoor survivalist who provides a vivid demonstration of why the Canadian
military’s snowshoes are built from combustible magnesium.
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Medical Breakthroughs
The heart pacemaker, Bliss symbolics and discovering stem cells
Premieres Friday July 13th at 8:30 pm
Written and directed by Dylan Reibling
Canada is a nation of healers and medical pioneers who build revolutionary tools to fight
disease. In “Medical Breakthroughs”, we look at the remarkable Canadian stories behind the
invention that keeps arrhythmic hearts ticking, the rebirth of a forgotten language that allows
the mute to speak and the discovery of the basic building block of complex life forms –
which promises to give medicine truly staggering powers.
One of the living pioneers in this episode of CANADIAN MADE is Shirley McNaughton, who
was a teacher at the Ontario Crippled Children’s Centre in Toronto in the 1960s when she
discovered and adapted the Bliss language system. Her work literally gave a voice to
people who are mute because of debilitating illnesses, such as cerebral palsy.
At the University of Toronto we meet another great pioneer, James Till, the Lloydminster,
Saskatchewan biophysicist who co-discovered stem cells. We also visit researchers at the
McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine who are making incredible breakthroughs with
stem cells, including regenerating eye cells to enable blind mice to see. Nearby, at Mt. Sinai
Hospital, researcher Andras Nagy has created stem cells out of innocuous skin cells,
thereby circumventing the controversies around their use and laying a foundation for the
medical breakthroughs of the near future.
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The CANADIAN MADE Production Team
Created by Kevin McMahon
Narrated by Rick Miller
Producers: Kristina McLaughlin, Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon
Executive Producer: Michael McMahon
Creative Director: Jody Shapiro
Episode Writer/Directors:
David New, Sean Wainsteim, Ian Ross MacDonald, Buffy Childerhose, Dylan Reibling,
Michael Morrow, Su Rynard, Annie Bradley
Music by Kurt Swinghammer
Visual Effects and Animations by Mark Alberts
Executive in Charge Of Production for Shaw Media: Lynne Carter
A Primitive Entertainment production
Produced in association with Shaw Media; with the participation of Rogers Cable Network
Fund; and with the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
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Biographies
Kevin McMahon, Creator and Producer
Kevin McMahon has written and directed 17 documentary films, eight of them featurelength. Interested in the human relationship with nature, technology and the Canadian
landscape, Kevin has made films about Niagara Falls, nuclear weapons, cod fishing, the
Great Lakes, the rebirth of the Haida and Inuit First Nations and the seer Marshall McLuhan.
As creative director of Primitive Entertainment, Kevin has produced the television series
Things That Move and Working Over Time. Hot Docs has held a retrospective of Kevin’s
films and, in 2011, the Planet in Focus Festival named him its Canadian Eco Hero.
Rick Miller, Narrator
Rick Miller is an award-winning actor/writer who has performed in five languages on five
continents. For three years, Rick hosted ABC’s hit primetime series “Just for Laughs”, and
Entertainment Weekly has called him “one of the 100 most creative people alive today.”
Rick is the artistic director of WYRD Productions and a frequent collaborator with Robert
Lepage on such plays as Géométrie des Miracles, Zulu Time (co-created with Peter
Gabriel), Lipsynch and on the film Possible Worlds. He recently starred as Brian Mulroney
in the satirical film Mulroney: The Opera and is developing various projects, including a solo
documentary play called BOOM!
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Kristina McLaughlin, Producer
Kristina oversees all aspects of Primitive Entertainment’s various film and television
productions -- from the budgets and schedules that govern the many projects, to the
technical experts and creative artists who bring them to life, to Primitive’s daily interactions
with broadcasting partners and government agencies. As a former Board Member of the
Documentary Organization of Canada, serving on the Executive Committee, Kristina has
been involved in supporting the documentary community throughout her career. She has
served as a mentor to a variety of young producers, with a focus on aiding young women
entering the film business.
Michael McMahon, Producer and Executive Producer
Michael McMahon guides Primitive Entertainment’s project selection and focuses on the
company’s many relationships with broadcasters, distributors, co-production partners,
industry organizations and government agencies. Michael ‘s contribution to the Canadian
documentary industry includes 12 years on the board of the Documentary Organization of
Canada, serving as Co-Chair of DOC Toronto and, for the past eight years, as Co-Chair of
the Board of Directors of Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival.
Michael is also a member of the Industry Advisory Committee of the Toronto International
Film Festival. Having entered the film industry as a self-taught editor in the go-go years of
Toronto B-movie production in the 1980s, Michael retains a keen fascination with the fusing
of technology and artistry that is filmmaking. As a result, Primitive has always been in the
forefront of embracing new technologies – from digital imaging to computerized special
effects to web-based documentaries – which has enabled the company to consistently
pioneer new non-fiction storytelling techniques.
Jody Shapiro, Creative Director
Jody Shapiro is a filmmaker and photographer whose work has been featured in various
festivals, galleries and publications around the world. He co-directed and produced Green
Porno, a series of short films with Isabella Rossellini about the sex lives of insects which
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Jody has also produced several works by Guy
Maddin, including the award-winning films My Winnipeg and Keyhole.
Kurt Swinghammer, Musical Score
For over 25 years Kurt Swinghammer has established a unique presence on the Toronto
arts scene as a film composer, session musician, singer/songwriter, painter, illustrator and
designer. In 2011, he released Turpentine Wind, a project honoring iconic landscape
painter Tom Thomson which includes a song cycle, animation set to ambient remixes, and a
series of 500 paintings on wood panels depicting the digitized lyrics. He is represented in
the permanent collection of the Canada Council Art Bank, has been the cover story of NOW
Magazine and Artist Of the Week on Bravo’s Arts & Minds.
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Mark Alberts, Lead Animator
Animator Mark Alberts, who created hundreds of animations and visual effects for
CANADIAN MADE in dozens of styles, is the founder of Electric Square Media. A native of
Saskatchewan, Mark has contributed animations to numerous television series and feature
documentaries, most recently including We Will Remember Them, When Dreams Take
Flight, How To Start Your Own Country and the award-winning Waterlife.
Exploding Motor Car, Series Opening Creators
Exploding Motor Car, creator of CANADIAN MADE’s unique claymation series opening, is a
collective of visual artists (Winston Hacking, Brett Long, Nick Wallace, Jeffrey Garcia and
Andrew Zukerman) who formed in 2004 while attending art school. The group is best known
for their inimitable audio-visual mash-up techniques spanning the applications of music
videos, animated promos and video art. Their name is based off of an early British trick film
by Cecil Hepworth entitled Explosion of a Motor Car
Annie Bradley, Writer and Director
A multiple award-winning director, writer and Sundance Alumna, Annie Bradley has
directed over 100 short films, music videos, commercials, and episodes of television and
her films have played at festivals around the world. Bradley’s company, The Heat Mansion
is developing multiple projects which include the TV series Murder in Muskoka and two
features; the ensemble comedy WBI and The Astronomy of Self.
Buffy Childerhose, Writer and Director
Buffy Childerhose has produced, story edited and directed for such varied productions as
CTV's The Chat Room, Hard Labours with MSF, Cineflix's Cold Blood, and was recently
nominated for a Gemini for writing Weird or What with William Shatner. She is the author of
From Lilith to Lilith Fair, former Co-host of W's My Messy Bedroom, and a former reporter
with Montreal's Hour Magazine and has written for various publications. Childerhose is
currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto
Ian Ross MacDonald, Writer and Director
Ian Ross MacDonald is a Gemini award-winning writer and director who is committed to
creating original and ground-breaking film and television. In addition to directing episodes
of the F/X comedy series, Testees and Showcase’s groundbreaking series Pure Pwnage,
MacDonald has written, created and directed two pilots for Fox Television Studios in Los
Angeles, California.
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Michael Morrow, Writer and Director
Michael Morrow is a director of documentaries and series television, music videos and
commercials including the Gemini-nominated Fire Jammers for Discovery Channel, the
Atlanta Airport episode for Nerve Center for EPI/Discovery Channel. He has a formal visual
art training from OCAD’s Integrated Media Program.
David New, Writer and Director
David New is a writer and director of documentaries and performing arts films including Too
Good To Be True and The Sexual Revolution, and documentaries for television on a range
of subjects. His award-winning writing credits include When the Fire Burns, a biography of
composer Manuel de Falla, and The War Symphonies, a portrait of Dmitri Shostakovich
during the Stalin years. New has worked as an editor on numerous performing arts films. He
recently premiered Museum Secrets: The Athens Archaeological Museum about the
intriguing stories behind some of the artifacts in the museum, and Teaching the Life of
Music about El Sistema, the Venzuelan social organization that brings classical music to the
poor children of the barrios.
Dylan Reibling, Writer and Director
Dylan Reibling is an award-winning filmmaker and interactive artist. His work ranges from
stop-motion animation and drama to interactive prototypes. Reibling’s films, including his
most recent short film Record, have travelled to film festivals around the world. His latest
prototype/film hybrid, 12 Hour Dolly was curated for Toronto's 2011 Nuit Blanche.
Su Rynard, Writer and Director
An innovative filmmaker who has earned wide acclaim for her films and media art, Su
Rynard has directed numerous feature films and television series including the dramatic
feature Kardia (2006), awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and the
award for Best Narrative Film at the SCinema festival in Australia. She is currently
developing a new feature documentary Songbird SOS with the NFB/CFC Documentary
Development Program.
Sean Wainsteim, Writer and Director
Writer and director Sean Wainsteim develops and explores narrative projects in film,
television, animation, music videos, commercials, docs and experimental-interactive
sculptures. He has worked for broadcasters Nickelodeon and IFC, and brands such as Nike
and Sony. Sean has won number of awards for design, animation, effects and directing,
including the 2011 MuchMusic Video Award for Director of the Year.
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About History Television
As the number one source for entertaining and engaging historical programming, History
Television captivates Canadian audiences with gripping stories about the people and events
that have shaped our world.
With popular documentaries and dramas, viewers are privy to intriguing accounts of the
civilizations and innovations that have brought us where we are today.
Find out more at http://www.history.ca
Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTVCanada
Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/HistoryTVCanada
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Primitive Entertainment, Production Company
Primitive Entertainment is an independent Canadian documentary film, television and digital
media production company with a diverse range of international and domestic partners. For
over 20 years, Primitive has led the Canadian documentary community with integrity and
passion while creating compelling and daring stories that strive to change the way we see
the world. Primitive has earned numerous awards, most recently for the multi-media work
The National Parks Project and for the films Beauty Day, A Hard Name and Waterlife.
Contact
Kevin McMahon
[email protected]
Michael McMahon
[email protected]
Primitive Entertainment
585 Bloor Street West
Toronto ON M6G 1K5
Canada
416 531-3087
www.primitive.net
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