Series to be based on Ryan McMahon and Jesse Brown’s acclaimed investigative podcast exploring the impact of colonialism on Canada’s Indigenous peoples
The podcast has been hailed as “riveting”, “smart and thought-provoking”, “unsparing”, and “vital listening”
TORONTO, ON—Northwood Entertainment (ANNE WITH AN E, THE GRIZZLIES) has partnered with the producers of the Canadaland podcast ‘Thunder Bay’ – and together they are developing the podcast into a drama series. Miranda de Pencier’s Northwood Entertainment will co-produce the series alongside Anishinaabe comedian, writer, & podcaster Ryan McMahon, and journalist & Canadaland founder/publisher, Jesse Brown.
Executive producers McMahon, Brown, and de Pencier are currently considering showrunners for the series.
Hosted and co-written by McMahon, the serialized, true crime podcast examines the systemic racism, corruption, and crime that runs rampant in Thunder Bay and the factors that make the city amongst the most dangerous for Indigenous youth in the world. THUNDER BAY plans to bring all of these issues to light in a searing and riveting drama series that considers not who killed nine Indigenous high school students, but what killed them. The series begins with an examination of nine deaths and goes on to explore the broader impact of colonialism and racism.
“The fact that a podcast like ‘Thunder Bay’ has received more than a million downloads globally, makes it clear that the world is ready to hear about the complex and nuanced relationship between Indigenous and non Indigenous people,” said Ryan McMahon, co-writer and host of ‘Thunder Bay’. “We just scratched the surface of these stories through our podcast, the team at Northwood Entertainment will help us bring the complicated dance of colonialism to the screen.”
“On our podcast, Ryan only told a fraction of the shocking stories that we found in Thunder Bay,” said Jesse Brown, founder and publisher of Canadaland. “With Miranda’s excellent help, we will keep holding a mirror up to this troubled city, and to Canada itself. These stories cannot be told enough.”
“Thunder Bay’ is the most gut-wrenching, outrageous, shocking and important podcast I have ever experienced,” said Northwood Entertainment CEO Miranda de Pencier. “I love my country, but it’s messed up. So working with Ryan and Jesse to turn their brilliant podcast into a dramatic series right now feels beyond insanely exciting. It feels vital.”
THUNDER BAY executive producers are Miranda de Pencier, Ryan McMahon, and Jesse Brown. Northwood Entertainment and Canadaland will co-produce the series.
For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Gabrielle Free | Free Publicity (for Northwood Entertainment) gabfree.publicity@gmail.com
416-220-0201
About Northwood Entertainment
Founded by Miranda de Pencier, Northwood Entertainment is a film and television production company with a mission to create a thriving home for creators with singular voices that reach global audiences. With decades of experience in domestic and international markets, de Pencier offers a fresh approach with a focus on producing socially conscious projects that push boundaries and break barriers. de Pencier has produced award-winning and critically acclaimed content including Netflix/CBC’s ANNE WITH AN E, BEGINNERS, THANKS FOR SHARING and THE GRIZZLIES (directed by de Pencier). Northwood has several projects in development with broadcasters and streaming outlets in Canada and the U.S. Follow Northwood Entertainment on Instagram @Northwoodentertainment.
About Canadaland
Canadaland is a news organization and podcast network, funded by its audience. It is the most popular independent podcast company in Canada, with over 100,000 downloads every week of riveting storytelling podcasts like Commons and the whip-smart political commentary podcast Oppo.
