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| 04.15.00 |
THIRD TWITCH CITY SEASON TO COME?
Here's a scoop from Kirsten Opdebeck (of the fabulous Rebel Without A Comb CKR site) regarding the possibility of a third Twitch season:
"I've got an inside scoop. A fellow Edmonton Callum Keith Rennie fan I know, met Bruce McDonald this weekend when he was moderating a director workshop at the Local Hero's International film fest for Norman Jewison, and she asked him if they are considering making a third season. Answer: yes.
Bruce is talking to Don right now, and they will be deciding in the next few weeks if they are going to start work on a third season of Twitch!!! If they decide to do so, they want to get the entire cast back together!! They also want to do something different with the show, he said, something like maybe possibly having Curtis's character become the programming director for a t.v. station or somethin'... And then my friend said to Bruce that they should also use another one of the Kids In The Hall members for Rex, until they've finally used them all up, and he thought that idea was hilarious....!!!"
(The plans of course, are not confirmed yet, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt... but it's still fun to speculate... ;-)
CANADIAN COMEDY AWARDS
As reported earlier, the very first Canadian Comedy Awards were handed out April 6th at Toronto's Masonic Temple. Don's collaborative effort - The Drowsy Chaperone, which he co-wrote with Lisa Lambert, Bob Martin, and Greg Morrison came away with three awards, including best female performance (Lisa Lambert), best direction in a new play (Steve Morel) and 'New Writing Stuff Down So People Can Perform It' award (aka 'Best Writing'). Don also walked away with the award for best direction for Last Night. And on a related note, comedy troupe Skippy's Rangers (featuring the aforementioned Martin, Lambert, Jonathan Crombie and Paul O'Sullivan) won best sketch troupe overall. :-)
NOW WEEKLY
A small article and photo featuring Don at the Comedy Awards can be found in the latest issue of Toronto's NOW Weekly (April 13-19). Many thanks to Ryan for the info!
| 04.04.00 |
TV GUIDE TELEVISION
TV Guide Television (which airs on Life Network) will air a brief interview with Don this Thursday, April 6th at 8:30am EST, and Saturday, April 8th at 10:00pm EST.
MORE OSCAR STUFF...
Here's composer John Corigliano's acceptance speech, transcribed by the Official Oscars site:
"I didn't think I was going to be here, up here, and I'm really speechless. But I just want to tell you thanks so much. You know, I'm from another world of classical music. And when I write my symphonies and my concertos it's a very lonely profession. And one thing I've learned about film writing is how communal it is. And the reason people give thanks is because there are so many people that had so much to do with this film and the music. From Peter Gelb, from Sony Classics, who introduced me to Francois Girard the wonderful director of this film. But then you have to go to the voice of the violin and say, you know, you could write all the notes you want, but if someone doesn't play them like a God, they'll never sound that way. And Joshua Bell, the great violinist, played them like a God. Thank you, Josh. To all my other friends, I would like to thank all my other friends for that. Thank you so much."
AND, here's a message that was posted anonymously at the Twitch City message board:
"Hi. We are Canadians in L.A. and Sunday night after the Oscars we were waiting outside of Spago's at the American Beauty contest and who should we see strolling in but...Don McKellar! We all yelled his name and 'Twitch City' and he saw us and waved. Another guy farther down held out an autograph book and Don hesitated whether he should go across to sign it but he didn't. To be fair it was across two barriers and a closed off road. We were totally surprised to see him there. BTW he was dressed pretty different from [Twitch City's] Curtis. Cool, eh?"
| 03.27.00 |
RED VIOLIN WINS AT OSCARS!
Congratulations to composer John Corigliano for picking up an Oscar for "Best Original Score" for The Red Violin!
(On a side note: I found it ironic that Keanu Reeves had presented the Oscar to John, considering Don had admitted in an interview that he had balked at the suggestion by studio execs to cast Reeves in The Red Violin. Teehee.)
"EXCLUSIVE" INTERVIEW AT VIDEO FLICKS
According to Kelly and Leah, the Video Flicks website is hyping an "exclusive" interview with Don, which will be posted on their site this Friday March 31st.
VCR ALERT
The movie Highway 61, which featured Don's first leading film role, will air this Friday, March 31st at 9pm EST on CityTV. (Many thanks to Leah for the info!)
| 03.22.00 |
VCR ALERTS!
Don will be appearing on the Roger's Cable program "Reel to Reel", to take part in a discussion about the upcoming Oscars. The half-hour show repeats throughout all this week (March 21 - March 25) at 2pm and 10pm. Aww yeah. ;-)
MACLEAN'S MAGAZINE?
I've heard that an interview with Don had appeared in a recent Maclean's magazine. I don't know if this was in the most recent issue, but y'all should check out the newstands anyway...
| 03.18.00 |
VCR ALERT
This Thursday (March 23, 2000) Bravo will be airing Don's movie debut Roadkill at 2:00pm EST. Check local listings for the correct channel.
102.1 THE EDGE
On March 15th, Don did an interview at Toronto's 102.1 The Edge radio station. If anybody attended the interview and had taken some photos, please contact us, because we'd really love to post them on the site! Thanks! (Expect a posted transcript of the interview soon...)
| 03.11.00 |
TWITCH CITY SITE UPDATE
The Official Twitch City Site has recently (and finally) been updated! Yay! Go check out the new additions!
DON ON OPEN MIKE
Don will be a guest on Canadian talk show Open Mike with Mike Bullard this coming Tuesday (March 14). The show will air later that night on CTV and The Comedy Network (check local listings for air times.) Many, MANY thanks to Kitana for the info!! :-D
VCR ALERT!
According to Showtime, Don's 1999 tv film Sea People will be airing on the channel on the following dates:
March 21st, at 2:35 pmMarch 24th, at 1:30 pmMarch 29th, at 12:45 pm
All times are ET/PT. Check your local listings for the correct channels.
JOSE SARAMAGO'S "BLINDNESS"
Don confirmed during his recent chat session that he is currently working on an adaptation of the Nobel Prize-winning novel "Blindness." Don will also be directing, but he's not sure yet if he'll have an acting part in the film. Written by Jose Saramago, the 1998 award-winning novel concerns a "blindness-causing disease that sweeps the world and causes social chaos." For more articles on this story, check out the Print section. For more detailed reviews of the book, check out this Amazon.com link.
CANADIAN COMEDY AWARD NOMINATIONS
The nominees for the first annual Canadian Comedy Awards were announced last Tuesday at in Toronto. Not surprisingly, Last Night and The Drowsy Chaperone garnered the most votes overall. Don's old schoolmates and fellow Drowsy Chaperone collaborators Janet Van de Graaff, Lisa Lambert, Jonathan Crombie, Paul O'Sullivan, and Bob Martin (who co-wrote the second Twitch City season with Don) also garnered nominations for individual work and the comedy troupe Skippy's Rangers.
The actual awards ceremony will be taped live on April 6th, 2000 at Toronto's Masonic Temple. Hosted by Dave Thomas, an edited version of the awards will air on April 7th on CTV, and full ceremony coverage will air on the Comedy Network April 8th. For those interested in attending the taping, check out the official website for details.
NOMINATIONS:Category 1: FILM
Best Performance - Male: Callum Keith Rennie - Last Night
Best Performance - Female: Tracy Wright - Last Night
Best Writing - Original: Don McKellar - Last Night
Best Directing: Don McKellar - Last Night
Category 2: LIVE
Best Sketch - Troupe: Skippy's Rangers
Category 3: STAGE
Best Performance - Male: Bob Martin - The Drowsy Chaperone
Best Performance - Male: Paul O'Sullivan - The Drowsy Chaperone
Best Performance - Female: Lisa Lambert - The Drowsy Chaperone
Best Direction - New Play: Sandra Balcovske - The Drowsy Chaperone (Passe Muraille)
Best Direction - New Play: Steve Morel - The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto Fringe)
Best New Playwriting: Bob Martin/Lisa Lambert/Don McKellar/Greg Morrison - The Drowsy Chaperone
Category 4: TELEVISION
Best Performance - Female: Janet Van de Graaff - History Bites
Best Writing - Episode or Special: Paul O'Sullivan/Lisa Lambert/Bob Martin/Jonathan Crombie (Skippy's Rangers) - The Show They Never Gave (Comedy Now!)
Best Writing - Season: Don McKellar - Twitch City
EYE WEEKLY & BIG PICTURE
Toronto's Eye Weekly issue for this week (March 9 - March 15) features a review and article on the upcoming Twitch City season (I'll post a link to the article in the Print section sometime soon). In the same issue, the results for the annual "Reader's Poll" were announced: Don was voted "Best Toronto Actor (Male), voted runner-up for "Best Toronto Filmmaker", and Last Night was voted runner-up for "Best Canadian Film of 1999" (the film was released in '98 - hello?)
Also, Spring 2000 issue of the magazine supplement for Rogers Cable - Big Picture - features a brief blurb on Don for an article about "Canada's accomplished fresh faces." (Thanks to Chrissie W for the article!)
"SCREENWRITER" GALA
Westwood Creative Artists is presenting the gala event "Screen Writer: exploring the transformation of fiction into film" - the event will be hosted by Albert Schultz, and will feature guests Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid's Tale), Elmore Leonard (author of Get Shorty and Be Cool), David Cronenberg (Crash and eXistenZ), and Barbara Gowdy (The White Bone and We So Seldom Look on Love).
The event is to take place on Friday March 24, 2000 at 7:30pm at the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall. Tickets are $15 for students/seniors, $20 general, and $100 for the gala reception w/performers. Tickets can be purchased at the U of T Bookstore box office (416-978-7993).
I don't know if Don will be in attendance, but it's still a great event for a great cause... :-) Check out the official website at http://www.pencanada.ca/.
| 03.06.00 |
DON CHAT SESSION QUESTIONS
I checked up on Live Chats page again, and they've now provided a mailing form to submit questions to Don in advance! People who can't attend the chat can still ask Don questions by this method! Go to it now!!
| 03.04.00 |
DON CHAT SESSION!!!
According to Canoe.ca, Don will be participating in a chat this Tuesday March 7th, at 1pm EST. The site doesn't give a whole lotta information, but I'm assuming the chat will take place in Canoe's Live Chats page. If I find out any more info, I'll post it up here. (Many, many, MANY thanks to Kitana for the info!!! :-)
CHLOTRUDIS AWARD NOMINATIONS
Here's a bit o' news courtesy of Chlotrudis Awards President Michael Colford:
Hey fans of the estimably talented Mr. McKellar! Make sure you stop by Chlotrudis Awards' homepage so you can vote for Don, Sandra Oh, and Last Night! Chlotrudis Awards is a non-profit organization that honors, supports and educates about independent and non-mainstream film. In the Sixth Annual Chlotrudis Awards, Don has been nominated for Best Actor, Sandra Oh for Best Actress and Last Night's Screenplay, written by Don has been nominated for Best Screenplay! Go to the online ballot and vote now!
You heard him! Go vote now! (Poll is open till Wednesday April 5th, 2000.)
TWITCH CITY HOME VIDEO!
According to today's Toronto Star, there are plans for a release of all 13 Twitch City episodes on video! Yay!! Read the entire article for yourself at this link.
| 02.26.00 |
TWITCH CITY PRESS RELEASE
Here's the link to the official press release from the CBC, regarding the new season of Twitch City:
COUCH POTATO ALERT! SEVEN NEW EPISODES OF TWITCH CITY BEGIN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 AT 9 P.M. ON CBC-TV
Quit twitching and put down the remote. It's finally back!
The highly anticipated second season of TWITCH CITY hits the air on Wednesday, March 15 at 9 p.m. on CBC Television, followed by back-to-back episodes on March 22, March 29 and April 5 from 9 - 10 p.m.
Created and written by Don McKellar (first season Twitch City, Last Night) and co-written by Bob Martin (comedy sketch troupe Skippy's Rangers), the second season of TWITCH CITY sees the return of director Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo) and actors Don McKellar, Molly Parker (Kissed), Callum Keith Rennie (Last Night, Due South) and Daniel MacIvor (House). Special guest appearances include Jennifer Jason Leigh (eXistenZ), Tracy Wright (Last Night) and Mark McKinney (Spiceworld, Kids In The Hall).
Set in Toronto's Kensington Market, TWITCH CITY takes a look at the life of a generation raised on television and Frooty-O's. The new season will reveal that Curtis (Don McKellar) still loves TV and still can't leave the apartment - in a conscious state. His ex-roommate Nathan (Daniel MacIvor) is serving time in the slammer, where he and his job wheel are making plenty of new friends. Newbie (Callum Keith Rennie), the convenience store guru, continues to be at Curtis' side whether it's for the ancient Vulcan ritual of Pon Far or the threat of evil cats. As for Hope (Molly Parker) - who's now living with Curtis - she struggles through cake making and paint matching, trying to make something of her life.
Curtis' life is deluged by psychotic murders, killer cats, Nazis, Meals on Wheels ladies and Hope's father, which is frustrating for someone who just wants to watch a little television.
TWITCH CITY is produced by Accent Entertainment and Shadow Shows in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with the participation of Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund. Executive Producers are Susan Cavan and Bruce MacDonald.
RED VIOLIN OSCAR NOMINATION
John Corigliano' score for The Red Violin was among the nominees for the Oscar's "Best Original Score" category. The other nominees in the category included Thomas Newman for American Beauty, John Williams for Angela's Ashes, Rachel Portman for The Cider House Rules, and Gabriel Yared for The Talented Mr. Ripley.
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Here's a news tidbit courtesy of Kate from the Don McKellar Yahoo! Club:
In today's globe and mail, there was a pullout section for the Royal Alexandra Theatre 2000/01 subscription season, and according to it, there will be a return to the Drowsy Chaperone in May to July 2001. No word if Don is in it...
The subscription itself is for the season, obviously, but I'm assuming as the time comes closer you could buy individual tickets. And I would suggest it highly for anyone who missed it, it was absolutely a riot.
| 01.30.00 |
CANADIAN TWITCH CITY DATES!
Eeeee! Here finally are the dates, just posted today on the Twitch City site (all shows will air on the CBC; all times are local:
Wednesday March 15, 2000
Episode 7 @ 9:00 PMWednesday March 22, 2000
Episode 8 and 9 @ 9:00 PM
Wednesday March 29, 2000
Episode 10 and 11 @ 9:00 PM
Wednesday April 5, 2000
Episode 12 and 13 @ 9:00 PM
Joooyyyyyyyy...
GENIE AWARDS
It's now been officially confirmed that Don will be a presenter at this year's Genie Awards. If ya like, read the release from the official site for the Genies. Genies are airing TONIGHT on the CBC. Check local listings for time and channel.
VICTORIA FILM FEST
Here's some more info about the seminar Don is to attend in Victoria B.C. (courtesy of David Leach -- thanks David!)
The film fest is called the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival, and Don will be giving a session titled "Secret's of Screenplay Structure" on Feb 5 (tickets may still be available for the event.) You can get more info at the official site.
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