Red Arrow Industries' First Timers Club!!

From the Tampa Bay Times - When Amina Stevens chose her career, the Tampa native decided to follow the footsteps of several family members and become a high school English teacher.

She loved helping her students, but early on she knew that job wasn’t quite right. As she thought more about the house hunting shows she grew up watching on HGTV, she thought: Why not try real estate?

Stevens, 28, found her stride as a broker associate with EXP Realty. She’s still a fan of HGTV — only now, she’s the one on the screen.

The new show First Timers Club stars Stevens as she helps Tampa Bay families navigate a fiercely competitive housing market to purchase their first homes. She uses her background as an educator to help clients understand the three main roadblocks to home ownership: financing, education and emotions.

Cara Connors in the Austin Chronicle

By James Scott - In anticipation of her first Austin show this Saturday at Fallout Theater, Cara Connors bought a secondhand pair of Wranglers and, very crucially, a small cowboy hat.

She wears it in promotional pictures for her Straight for Pay tour, and the tiny 10-gallon hat completes her look, which she describes as “a tomboy degenerate mixed with a cowboy prince streetwear style.” Turns out, the hat doesn’t belong to Connors but to Kenny Kitchen, a stuffed owl doll she’s had since working at a summer camp in college. She bought him a western costume to match the ones she and her girlfriend wore to her camp friends’ weddings – though not because a costume was asked for. Connors just likes to have fun, to have hoot & holler energy, which is what those attending her show can expect.

Connors confesses she bloomed in her queerness a little later than most: in her mid-20s, she came out, divorced her straight husband, and started exploring her gay second adolescence. “It did kind of feel like I was a teenager … sort of a fake idealized version of what a teenager is, because I think I never actually experienced it the first time around.”

Her evolution with queer identity comingles with her journey in standup. Now reaching the seven-year mark in her comedic career, Connors says her onstage personality has caught up with her authentic self. “I use [the stage] kind of as a place to show all of my biggest flaws, and instead of hiding them, amplify them and lean into them.” While molding her storytelling style into something more vulnerable, Connors says she often uses self-deprecation as a way to keep from punching down. Her comedy is meant to bring the audience together by sharing in the absurdity of life, “like wow, being alive and a human is honestly so deeply mortifying in so many ways.”

She points out that being queer forces a person into being an outsider – which brings into sharp relief society’s absurdity. An aspect of queer life that strikes Connors as particularly funny is the parallel universes LGBTQIA folks and straight people live in. Her example is an Uber driver, who gave her and her girlfriend a ride from the airport and was effusively chatty while Connors pretended to sleep, “which is my survival mechanism of choice.” The driver spouted off multiple questions about the couple’s trip and relationship, and her girlfriend eventually admitted they were together and visiting family. “And the driver says, ‘Oh, first time meeting his family?’ … Like, he kept talking like, he just had no idea what was going on at all.” Connors points out that queer people frequently notice these moments of spirited but confused support as well as flat out confusion from seemingly straight people, but “there's not necessarily as many voices that are calling those things out.”

While she acknowledges that coming out in adulthood isn’t unique to her, Connors still brings her own voice to the experience in her standup and uses that queer perspective to inform her acting work as well. As her tour title implies, Connors isn’t above nabbing straight roles from straight actors. “I mean, they do it to us all the time. So I just feel like, you know, payback’s a bitch.” Having found her most authentic queer self, she’s also discovered the joy of being paid to play straightness for camp. “I enjoy being straight now more than I did when I was actually living it.”

Read the original story here

Tell Tale's Expedition Great White Lands at Blue Ant

From today’s release here - “….On the east coast, Expedition Great White examines the dramatic rise of great white sharks spotted in Nova Scotia waters during the fall and summer months. The documentary is produced by Edward Peill, Tell Tale Productions (The Curse of Oak Island) and Ken MacDonald, former Vice President and General Manager for Discovery Channel in Canada. Overseen by Sam Linton, both development projects underpin Blue Ant Media’s commitment to work with regional producers across Canada and invest in high-quality, distinctive programming that resonate with audiences coast to coast.”

Underknown and Re:wild partner for Snap Original - PLANET REWILD

Planet Rewild, which will premiere in 2022, is focused on bringing Re:wild’s mission to “protect the wild that’s left and restore the rest” in-app, allowing Snapchatters to learn, explore and uncover some of the most pressing threats to nature and our own survival. The series depicts what the Earth will look like in the coming decades if we don’t learn to “rewild” our planet — and also offers a vision of the flourishing ecosystems that could emerge if we allow the wild to be restored. We don’t need to reinvent the planet; we need to rewild it.

HEMMINGS HOUSE - TAKE ME TO YOUR LOCALS

FROM GREG HEMMINGS - We at Hemmings House Pictures are so excited to share with the world a little piece of where we live and play, here in New Brunswick, Canada. 'Take Me To Your Locals' follows hosts Sam and John as they explore the Gateway to the Fundy Experience; the adventure town of Sussex. We shot this at the end of the winter last year, and there was still enough ice to climb, and snow to ride! We hope you get inspired to get outside and play after watching this. Thanks to our friends at Tourism, Heritage and Culture for supporting this adventure!

Watch the film here: https://youtu.be/HkCfxHroKg4

CARA CONNORS ANNOUNCES 2022 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR!

Los Angeles-based comedian, Cara Connors, launches her first North American tour in 2022 based on her successful monthly queer comedy showcase, Straight for Pay. A fitting back-to-back kick off on January 29th in San Francisco at PianoFight, and Oakland’s historic White Horse Inn the following day, are the first two dates in a 15 city tour that includes Brooklyn’s Union Hall, Chicago’s The Hideout, and culminates at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles.

“The comedians are either straight, or willing for the right price, but most of them are gay for free.” says Connors, who founded Straight for Pay late Summer 2021. “I book my favorites, most of whom happen to be queer, and curate shows so audiences see diverse lineups offering radically different perspectives, versus the typical one-woman-buried-in the-20-guys-slinging-dick-jokes at an old school comedy club.” The philosophy resonated with audiences and developed a cult following among LA’s indie scene with the likes of Rory Scovel, Hannah Einbinder, and Moses Storm performing to sold out audiences with no formal advertising or press. 

A “formerly kept woman and your current girlfriend’s favorite ex-girlfriend,” Connor’s appearances include Just for Laughs, as a series regular on E!’s Dating #NoFilter, and her own series Cara Takes Up Space on OUTtv, plus her pre-pandemic headlining show at the New York Comedy Festival was described as “extraordinarily self-aware, deeply anxious and very self-effacing with some guttural screams thrown in for good measure.” A perpetual late bloomer, the hour explores Connors’ second adolescence and sexual awakening, post divorce “rumspringa,” and occassionally feral existence as a queer, millenial comedian chasing her dreams in Los Angeles while trying to make up for lost time. It’s messy and vulnerable, and also very, very funny.

If: Imagine the Impossible is based on Underknown’s Webby Award-winning series "What If"

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 17, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Great Pacific Media ("GPM"), a division of Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TSXV:TBRD, OTCQX:THBRF), has partnered with director, writer and producer Brad Peyton and visionary physicist Michio Kaku for its new series, If: Imagine the Impossible. The futuristic drama-doc series is based on Underknown’s social media sensation What If, the number one science program on social media, according to Tubular Labs, with 30+ million followers and over 10 billion views on YouTube. Full press release here.

HOW TO BE A COWBOY - NETFLIX SEPTEMBER 1ST!

Congratulations, Red Arrow Industries!

BIG TIMBER - NETFLIX JULY 2ND!!!

WINNER - RTDNA AWARD FOR BEST NEWS LIVE EVENT SPECIAL - UNDERKNOWN

Underknown has won the RTDNA Award for Best News Live Event Special for their LIVEMEDAID project that raised funds and provided early education during the early stages of the covid19 pandemic.

TWO STEPS HOME PREMIERES JUNE 16TH

From the My San Antonio - In case you're not familiar with the real estate husband and designer wife duo, they made their HGTV debut two years ago with "Going For Sold." The show follows the couple as they take on Houston's worst houses and embark on a home renovation project together. They pool their skills to transform run-down homes in upscale neighborhoods into "sleek and modern abodes that won't break the bank."

9/11 KIDS & CANADA'S DRAG RACE WIN CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS

Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program

9/11 Kids 
Documentary channel (CBC)
Saloon Media/Blue Ant Studios
Steve Gamester, Michael Kot, Betty Orr, Elizabeth St. Philip

Best Reality/Competition Program or Series

Canada’s Drag Race
Crave (Bell Media)
Saloon Media/Blue Ant Studios
Producers: Michael Kot, Laura Michalchyshyn, Betty Orr, Mike Bickerton, Pam McNair, RuPaul Charles, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Randy Lennox, Tracey Pearce, Jen Markowitz

WINNER - WHAT IF - SHORTY AWARDS

SHORTY AWARDS

From Underknown: Thank you! Over 33 million people follow "What If", which is available in ten languages around the world. Each month over 60m active viewers watch our "What If" show. We do it for you!

Our people, over 100 people around the world wake up each day and bring themselves to create hit series such as "What If". It is truly a team effort and we are grateful we get to do this.

Our social media platform partners: Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok - Thank you for your continued support.

Our mission is to educate new generations about science and the humanities by telling stories that entertain and engage.

Going for Sold now Two Steps Home

See Jon and Mary transform their backyard in People Magazine, then see them in their new series on HGTV, Two Steps Home, this June!

THREE YEARS - A NOTE

Three years in and the pandemic continues to change our industry…Thank you to everyone for your very hard work in making sure there’s a ‘there’ there when it’s time to really get back at it.  I haven’t posted much news in deference to those who are still dealing with covid-19, but I do want to celebrate my third anniversary.

Special thanks to everyone in this list: All3, E!, FOX, Gala Film, HGTV, History Canada, Laurus Productions, Magical Elves, MacGillivray Freeman Films, Magnolia, MTV, NASA, Netflix, Oxygen, Rabbit’s Foot, Reality Matters, RIVR, Sharp Entertainment, Short Street Media, Tell Tale Productions, TLC, Underknown, the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers, and WETV.

See you again, very soon.

BIG TIMBER TO PREEM ON HISTORY CANADA OCTOBER 8TH!!

From Corus - Big Timber follows the dangerous work of logger and sawmill owner, Kevin Wenstob, as he and his crew go to extremes to keep the family sawmill, and their way of life, alive. Kevin’s logging a remote timber claim high up the steep, rugged slopes of Klitsa Mountain, deep in the majestic heart of Vancouver Island. It’s home to some of the best wood in the world and Kevin’s making a big bet to get it. His goal is to get 200 truckloads off before winter shuts him down, but the mountain won’t give it up without a fight. With his wife Sarah, his son Erik, and his right-hand man Coleman by his side, Kevin will do whatever it takes to get that big timber!

GOING FOR SOLD TO HULU

Season one of HGTV’s Going for Sold featuring Harper Raine Homes duo, Jon & Mary Tjon-Joe-Pin, will air on Hulu. CONGRATS RAI!

More info here

FOOLS MAGAZINE: AN INTERVIEW WITH CARA CONNORS

Check out this great interview with Cara Connors!

TWO YEARS - A NOTE

With the virus crisis deeply affecting the content industry, Contentum Consulting + Management solemnly marks its second anniversary.

Year two was filled with tremendous growth for the producers, production companies, & talent: Ariel Tweto stars in the IMAX film, Into America’s Wild; Cara Connors’ series, Cara Takes Up Space premiered on OUTTV; Brent Hull helped launch the Build Show Network; and the World Food Championships moved to Dallas – one step closer to truly defining “Food Sport”.

There were premieres of series that were years in the making, from Saloon Media - Falling for a Killer/Amazon; from Red Arrow Industries -  Going for Sold/HGTV & The Radkes/USA ; from Essential Media Group - Ghost Loop/TRVL & Mom&Me/Off the Grid, On the Beach/Selling the Big Easy/HGTV. And projects bloomed at A&E, HGTV, History Canada, Ovation, TLC, Netflix, & Science Channel.

Special thank yous to the following companies for collaborating with the Executive Producers, prodcos, & talent this year: 44 Blue, A&E, Amazon, Bodega Pictures, Budweiser, Discovery Studios, E!, Eko, Evolution Film+Tape, FNX Network, FOX Network, Goodbye Pictures, Hashoff, HGTV, History Channel Canada, InventTV, ITV America, Jarrett Creative, Journy Network, MacGillivray Freeman Films, Magical Elves, MGM, Milojo Productions, Morningstar Entertainment, MTV, Muse Entertainment, Netflix, Netflix, Ovation, Oxygen, RIVR Media, Science Channel, Sharp Entertainment, Shed Media, Switchblade Entertainment, Texas Crew Productions, TRVL, USA, Walmart, Wheelhouse, & Woodman Park.

I’m also very happy to announce that I am a Consulting Producer to the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers for 2020.

I hope that by the time the WCSFP annual event in December kicks off, our industry will have recovered from this truly amazing world event.

Melissa

March 18, 2020

CARA TAKES UP SPACE ON OUTTVGO.COM

Cara Connors is smashing the patriarchy by going undercover to investigate the double standards between men and women in this six episode mid-form series, available on OUTTVGO.

See four versions of Cara in episode three - The Pink Tax