TED BUNDY: FALLING FOR A KILLER PREMIERES JANUARY 31, 2020

Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is set to premiere on Amazon on January 31, 2020. See the trailer here.

Congratulations to everyone at Saloon Media and especially Executive Producer, Trish Wood, on this phenomenal project. Special thanks to Heather Budman and Lindsay Webster in making this happen.

From Realscreen - As previously announced, Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer will chart Bundy’s long-term relationship with former girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall and explore the ways in which the killer’s pathological hatred of women collided with the culture wars and feminist movement of the 1970s.

After nearly four decades of silence, Kendall and her daughter Molly share their experiences through an archive of never-before-seen family photos. The pair are joined by “a chorus of female voices,” including survivors of Bundy’s attacks.

BUILDSHOWNETWORK LAUNCHES WITH BRENT HULL

Master craftsman and historical restoration expert, Brent Hull, joins the launch of the BuildShowNetwork this month with new projects and instructional videos.

Founded by Matt Risinger, the BuildShowNetwork content provides comprehensive and detailed techniques catering to industry professionals seeking knowledge, home owners seeking guidance, and hobbyists & DIY-ers seeking instruction.

CARA CONNORS LAUGH FACTORY SET AVAILABLE ONLINE!

See Cara in action here -

GHOST LOOP SETS PREMIERE ON TRVL

Essential Media’s newest series, GHOST LOOP sets December 27th at 10pm ET for premiere.

From Discovery - When paranormal entities terrorize the living through endless and repetitive supernatural cycles, manifesting again and again in the same location, it is known as a “ghost loop.” Now, a team of highly specialized paranormal experts, who focus on this distinct type of haunting, are stepping in to help both the living and the dead. In Travel Channel’s new eight-episode series, “Ghost Loop,” premiering on Friday, December 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the team will attempt to break cycles of trapped paranormal activity and restore peace by drawing out each spirit through re-created trigger environments.

In each hour-long episode, the “Ghost Loop” team of experts – paranormal investigator and medium Sean Austin, empath Kris Star, researcher and tech advisor Chris Califf, design specialist Eric Vitale and tech support Matt Lytle – first examine and research their client’s property and history and perform a preliminary paranormal investigation. Taking their facts and findings, they formulate a plan they believe will help stop the haunting. Whether it’s building a 1900s-era train compartment, replicating a tavern from the 1850s, or constructing a 19th century baby’s nursery, the team uses each emotionally charged setting to draw out the entities during intense follow-up investigations. Hoping to engage the spirit, the group aims to release the energy and break the loop once and for all – bringing peace to everyone involved.

ESSENTIAL MEDIA'S SELLING THE BIG EASY PREEMS SATURDAY ON HGTV

NOLA's most hilarious (and talented) realtor is showing you the best real estate in town! Selling the Big Easy premieres August 24, 2019, at 2pm EST

WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL TABLE: NEW ORLEANS SATURDAY CNBC

Ten World Food Champions. Three challenges. One winner. The $100,000 World Food Champion is announced on Saturday, August 24th on CNBC at 11 am CDT.

The two-part documentary special, Final Table: New Orleans, captures the passion and creativity of Food Sport as ten World Food Champions, home cooks and chefs, met in New Orleans earlier this year. Going head-to-head for a $100,000 grand prize, their challenges were: to master Creole-inspired cuisine; to recreate the signature dish of third-generation New Orleans restaurateur, Dickie Brennan; and to impress CEO Rick Blount and Executive Chef Rich Lee of Antoine’s, the oldest family run restaurant in the United States.  

“This was a tremendous and challenging Final Table,” commented Mike McCloud, President & CEO of World Food Championships. “Our event produces fantastic champions, but this event put a new spin on it, and our new champion really had to impress the best.”

The World Food Championships 8th Annual Main Event is scheduled for October 16 – 20, 2019 in Dallas.

CONGRATS TO RED ARROW INDUSTRIES - GOING FOR SOLD AIRS AUGUST 1ST!!!

From Discovery - The worst homes in Houston’s best neighborhoods are getting Texas-sized makeovers in the new HGTV series Going for Sold, premiering Thursday, Aug. 1, at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The series stars real estate agent Jon Pierre Tjon-Joe-Pin and his wife Mary, a former flight attendant who left her career to pursue her love of design and start their home renovation business. In each episode, the busy parents of two turn forgotten homes into charming and affordable properties that appeal to young families looking for a high-end look without the hefty price tag.

CARA CONNORS BACK ON E!'S DATING#NOFILTER - AUGUST 6TH!!!

From Bustle - If you're burnt out on dating and in need of some funny, unfiltered commentary about how hard and awkward the whole thing can be, you're in luck. Dating #NoFilter now has a Season 2 premiere date. Bustle can exclusively reveal that the E! show returns August 6th to joke about your single life woes.

If you missed the first season, the show features various comedians as they watch and comment on various singles' blind dates. It's kind of like a snarkier (and less tear-filled) version of the last couple minutes of a Queer Eye episode, when the guys are gathered around the TV watching how things went after they left. They yell at the screen like we would at home, but with more quips.

CONGRATS ON ESSENTIAL MEDIA GROUP’S HAT-TRICK AS WELL!!!

From Deadline - A&E Network and Essential Media Group continue to push the boundaries in the genre of high-stakes stunts on live TV with new series The Impossible Live (working title). A&E has ordered five two-hour episodes of the series, which they describe as the most ambitious live stunt series ever attempted.

A&E and Essential have also been partnering with daredevil Bello Nock on previously announced Volcano Walk Live (wt), a live special showcasing the longest, most complicated and dangerous stunt ever attempted – a world record high-wire walk over an active volcano. The special, which had been in development, has gotten an official green light.

From Corus - Big Timber is greenlit for 8x60 on History Canada. In the forests of Vancouver Island, B.C. a family of loggers have bet it all on a valuable and isolated timber claim. But with treacherous weather and impossible terrain they must build their own roads and craft their own machinery to get this timber out in the best condition possible – and they have a limited amount of time to get it done.

Congrats on Saloon Media's June HAT-TRICK!

From Realscreen - Canadian broadcasting and media company Blue Ant Media has unveiled its upcoming programming slate for 2019/2020 for its T+E, Cottage Life, Smithsonian Channel and Makeful channels.

For T+E, Hotel Paranormal will have its world broadcast premiere in the spring of 2020. The 8 x 60-minute series, produced by Saloon Media and distributed by Blue Ant International, features hotel guests and staff recalling their spooky hotel experiences.

Also produced by Saloon Media, in association with Talos Films, Travel Channel and T+E, The Witches of Salem will host its Canadian broadcast premiere this October. The four-part documentary series draws on historical documents, court records and experts like sociologists, psychologists and cultural historians, to bring the drama and hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials to life.

On Cottage Life, Saloon Media’s Canadian version of the BBC Studios’ Life Below Zero will premiere next spring. Life Below Zero: Canada is a 8 x 60-minute series that captures the day-to-day trials of Canadians living in the remote Canadian north.

THE RADKES PREMIERES TONIGHT!

Congratulations to Red Arrow Industries on their new USA network series, The Radkes.

From USA: The Radkes is a six-episode, half-hour unscripted family sitcom that centers around Melissa Radke and her big, loud, Southern family. They live in the small East Texas town where she was born and raised: Lufkin, Texas. This outspoken mom will give you her opinion on almost anything, even if you didn’t ask. She’s funny, charming and the life of every party…especially the ones she wasn’t invited to. Melissa and her husband David love their two children Remi, 12, and Rocco, 9 unapologetically, but when it comes to dealing with middle-school drop-off or teaching her children sex education… Melissa is constantly apologizing! She’s a pretty big personality for such a small town, but ask Melissa why she loves Lufkin and she’s quick to tell you: “Because the barbecue is better and the babysitting is free.”

CONGRATS TO ESSENTIAL MEDIA ON REALSCREEN GLOBAL 100 STATUS

From Realscreen

“It is difficult for me to select in which category they may best fit, because they fit them all,” said one exec in his email to Realscreen, one of many nominating Australian headquartered Essential Media Group to the Global 100. From feature docs, such as their award winning look at musical cult heroes The Go-Betweens (The Go-Betweens: Right Here), to specialist factual (Living Universe, a co-production with Zed; The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill); to returnable series (Body Hack with Todd Sampson for Network Ten, Gourmet Farmer for SBS), Essential has covered a lot of topical territory over the course of its history. And it is also covering a fair amount of geographic territory as well, expanding with offices in the U.S.

The success of the programs also speaks to the quality of the team behind them: The Pacific was the top rated program for History in Australia in 2018 and the second highest rating program in the Foxtel factual tier, while Living Universe, a four-parter about the search for exoplanets, is a top performer for CuriosityStream. Body Hack, meanwhile, has attracted a sizable and passionate audience, and is in production on its third season.

CONTENTUM ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

Thank you to the CLIENTS (!!) and companies that have made Contentum Consulting & Management a success this past year. In alphabetical order - A&E, All3, Amazon, B17, Brunico, Creature, DCP, Discovery Studios, e!, Eureka, Evolution, FNX, Hashoff, HGTV, IPC, Journy, KSA, Lime Pictures, Lucky8, MacGillivray Freeman Films, Maverick, MGM, Morningstar, Muse Entertainment, New Dominion, Ovation, Sharp, Shed, Studio71, Texas Crew, Thinkfactory, TRVL, USA, WeTV, & Wilshire Studios.

ESSENTIAL MEDIA GROUP'S MOM & ME PREMIERES ON HGTV IN APRIL

From Realscreen - Mom & Me premieres on April 6 with back-to-back episodes at 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV from Essential Media Group, featuring a mother/son duo who revitalize properties in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

In the Bend, Oregon-based Mom & Me, designer Karrie and her son and design assistant, Tristan, customize living spaces for families by utilizing unique materials, including locally sourced reclaimed wood, hand-painted tiles, steel shelving and concrete counter tops. Although the mother and son team deliver beautiful results for clients, they don’t always see eye-to-eye.

JAYE THE PSYCHOLOGIST DOG COMES TO LIFE - SAVE YOUR DAY FILMS

In association with Echo Bridge, here is the adorable Jaye the Psychologist Dog and his new book!

Saloon Media to Produce LIFE BELOW ZERO: CANADA

From Realscreen: Toronto-headquartered Blue Ant Media is licensing format rights to BBC Studios’ observational docuseries Life Below Zero for a localized Canadian version.

Life Below Zero: Canada will be produced by Blue Ant’s recently acquired Saloon Media, and will begin production later this month. Shot on location throughout the remote northern regions of Canada, the 8 x 60-minute series will offer an unfiltered look into the day-to-day activities of a diverse group of people, including First Nations, as they grapple with deadly weather and limited resources to find food, water and shelter.

Life Below Zero: Canada is expected to air on Blue Ant’s Cottage Life channel in 2020. A special 30-minute sneak peek episode will premiere on the channel in April.

Ovation to co-produce Save Your Day Films, Chasing the Sun Season Two

From Ovation -

NATPE, Miami: JOURNY, the streaming service from Ovation featuring distinctive cultural travel content, is in development on its first original co-production. The AVOD channel is partnering with Save Your Day Films and executive producer Stephen Friedman to produce a second season of the popular series Chasing the Sun. The announcement was made today by Scott Woodward, EVP, Programming and Production, Ovation.

Chasing the Sun follows adventure-seeker, and film maker, Stephen Friedman (host and creator of successful Fox Networks TV travel show The Blueprint) as he captures the story of the places he visits through the people of each destination. As the Locals tell their story, Stephen uses each experience to rediscover why we are all born to explore. In the new season co-produced with JOURNY, Stephen will travel throughout Asia, including stops in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, India, and Sri Lanka.

Read more on Deadline.

Congrats to Saloon Media - 9/11 Kids now at CBC

From Realscreen.com - Saloon Media has started production on a feature-length documentary titled 9/11 Kids, commissioned by CBC’s documentary Channel.

Blue Ant Media, which recently acquired Saloon Media, will showcase the film at 2019 Realscreen Summit in New Orleans this month, with delivery expected in August of this year. Blue Ant is currently looking for international buyers for the doc.

The 78-minute film will explore the lives of the children inside the Florida classroom on Sept. 11, 2001, where President George W. Bush learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center towers. Filmmakers track the lives of the kids into their mid-20s, calling them the “9/11 generation,” where some have fallen on hard times and others have experienced great success, to show the modern face of the “American Dream.”

2018 YEAR IN FACTUAL - GREAT PRESS

Great press for Essential Media Group and Saloon Media. Read the article here.

WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 MOVES TO DALLAS!

World Food Championships (WFC) announced today that it is taking its Main Event to Dallas, Texas, where the continued expansion of WFC will occur over the next several years with the help of VisitDallas, the Dallas Sports Commission and many new major sponsors.

"They say everything is bigger in Texas. Well, we're excited to make this BIG announcement for WFC and begin our transition to one of the largest metro markets in America," commented Mike McCloud, President/CEO of WFC. "Our event gets bigger and better each year, and we truly believe that relocating to Texas in 2019 is going to help us expand Food Sport and the WFC enterprise in ways never before possible."