Eight one-hour episodes of pay-TV series The Weight now in production
News Release - August 13, 2007
From the unique voices of creators/writers George F. Walker and Dani Romain (This Is Wonderland), Debbie Nightingale, President of The Nightingale Company (Chicks with Sticks, ZIXX) announced today that principal photography has begun on The Weight, an eight-part one-hour drama series. The Weight will continue production throughout Toronto until November 2, 2007. The series was developed with Movie Central (western Canada) and The Movie Network (eastern Canada) and is slated for broadcast in fall 2008.
The Weight follows a collection of cops, criminals and everybody in between as they intersect then fall with the rhythms of a combustible suburban wasteland. In this world there are no heroes or villains, only intimacy and the constant biting humour of what life deals its players. The series unfolds in the style of a visual novel, with interconnected layers continually revealing themselves and deepening the story.
At the centre of this world are Max and Donny, two cops as damaged as the criminals they pursue, men who have lost all interest in the conventions of police work. Max, played by Ron White (Screamers, Tag: The Jonathan Wamback Story) is a subversive detective with his own agenda and a mildly sarcastic edge who happens to be cheating on his wife Karen (Yanna McIntosh, This Is Wonderland). Daniel Kash (Fugitive Pieces, Cinderella Man) is Donny - slightly unhinged with a dark sense of humour and with many low-brow tastes. One of the many women in Donny's life is Carol, played by Linda Hamilton (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), a charming grifter who shows up on the run from some very dangerous men.
Just released from prison is Carlos, played by Cle Bennett (Doomstown, This is Wonderland), a drug dealer with an anxiety problem. Caught between warring drug suppliers - Andre (Wes Williams, Instant Star) and Eddie (Von Flores, Degrassi: The Next Generation) - and a wife (Sarah Manninen, Naked Josh) who wants nothing to do with him, Carlos is about to learn that picking up his old life won't be as easy as he thought.
Rounding out the cast are Ed Asner (Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, The Mary Tyler Moore Show) as Jayne's father Patrick and Milton Barnes (Slings & Arrows) and Shawn Singleton (Doomstown) as Carlos' "cousins" Hermie and Phillipe.
"Television has never seen characters like this before," said Executive Producer Debbie Nightingale. "These are very exposed and edgy people and the tragicomic world they live in is one that will definitely hit a nerve with every viewer."
"It's not a typical cop show. There is no investigation. Only conflict and finally, empathy," said co-creator and Executive Producer, George F. Walker.
George F. Walker and Dani Romain are Executive Producers and writers of The Weight with Debbie Nightingale as Executive Producer. The Weight is directed by DGC nominated filmmaker Gail Harvey (Some Things That Stay, Terry). Producer is Norman Denver (Show Me Yours) with award-winning Director of Photography Peter Benison and Peter Emmink as Production Designer.
The Weight is developed and produced by The Nightingale Company in association with Corus Entertainment's Movie Central and Astral Media's The Movie Network. The series is produced with participation from the Canadian Television Fund and the Independent Production Fund.
The Weight is being distributed outside of Canada by the London/Los Angeles-based Alchemy Television Group and by the Paris-based Double V for French speaking territories outside of Canada.