Doomstown Synopsis
From the award-winning producers at Sarrazin Couture Entertainment, Doomstown is a poignant, eye-opening and ultimately inspirational account of how one young man finds the courage to break not only a cycle of violence, but also the code of silence around it. Starring Chris “K.C.” Collins (Close to Home, Kojak) and Mark Taylor (Instant Star, Cinderella Man). Doomstown is backed by a soundtrack featuring some of Canada’s hottest hip-hop artists, including Saukrates, Marvel and J-Staxxx.
Set in a community housing project nicknamed Doomstown, young black men live and die in a world of drugs and guns; where selling drugs makes you more money than you could ever imagine and carrying a gun makes you feel invincible. It’s a world that offers a feeling of belonging when your life seems otherwise hopeless. It’s a world that has always respected the “code of silence.” You don’t rat. You don’t snitch. Here in Doomstown, silence can be a killer.
In Doomstown, Jeddi (Collins) and Twist (Taylor) are best friends who earn a living selling drugs. While Jeddi has embraced the lifestyle, Twist has decided its time to get out and live a legit life. Then, when an all-too predictable confrontation turns suddenly tragic, it’s up to one of them to right a horrible wrong. Will he seek revenge with a gun? Or will he defy the familiar culture of guns and drugs and break the “code of silence?”
- Director: David Sutherland
- Writer: David Sutherland
- Stars: K.C. Collins, Mark Taylor and Genelle Williams
The Sheldon Kennedy Story Synopsis
The Sheldon Kennedy Story is a movie about hope and healing. Based on a true story, NHL hockey player Sheldon Kennedy finds the courage to reveal the sexual abuse he suffered as a boy at the hands of his junior hockey coach.
When Calgary Flames hockey star Sheldon Kennedy meets Jana, a beautiful model, he falls in love… or tries to. In fear of losing her, Sheldon finally confesses the secret that he has been hiding for years – that he suffered years of sexual abuse by his junior hockey coach, Graham James. It is only with Jana’s love and support that Sheldon is able to confront his past and begin to heal.
By going public with the truth, Sheldon stunned the hockey community and his story reverberated around the world. Sheldon’s courageous revelation changed public perception of abuse and forced the hockey world to reexamine its practices, protecting today’s children in a way Sheldon never was.
- Gemini Award Winner
- Cast: Jonathan Scarfe, Noel Fisher, Robert Wisden, Polly Shannon
- Producers: Doug MacLeod, Pierre Sarrazin
- Written by: Suzette Couture
- Director: Norma Bailey
After the Harvest Synopsis
Caleb Gare (Sam Shepard) is a farmer obsessed with owning as much land as he can and controlling his entire family. This becomes more complicated when a beautiful visiting teacher, Lind (Liane Balban) moves into the Geare home. Soon she gets involved in a battle of wills between Caleb and his four children, particularly the oldest girl, Jude (Nadia Litz), who longs for freedom, love and her own independent life. To complicate matters more, a deep and terrible secret held by Caleb’s wife, Amelia (Alberta Watson), will have to come to the surface that will astonish the town folk.
- Director: Jeremy Podeswa
- Writers: Suzette Couture, Martha Ostenso (novel)
- Stars: Sam Shepard, Nadia Litz and Alberta Watson
The Life Synopsis
Vancouver’s notorious downtown east side is home to thousands of the poor and disenfranchised, where crime and drug addiction is rampant. Our story focuses on two of the patrolmen who make this area their beat and the citizens their concern. Constables Arnie (Bruce Greenwood) and Tony (Brian Markinson) have been walking the skid row beat together for years and have become dissatisfied with the traditional police policies in the area. They embark upon a radical course of action to effect what they feel are desperately needed changes in the neighborhood.
Armed with a video camera, the two beat policemen put the area’s drug addicts on tape and use this vehicle to change both the community views towards the addicts and to change the addicts’ views of themselves. Their project soon earns them the scorn of their own police department in the person of their superior Sergeant McTavish.
The story unfolds in a fast paced and compelling narrative as the stories of the police and the addicts interweave, revealing the depth of character required by these street officers as they attempt to find solutions to an ongoing societal scourge. We come to appreciate the incredible fortitude required by both the beat patrolmen and their addict counterparts to endure conditions unlike any other city in the world. The relationships that develop with the individuals they deal with are both heart rending and heart warming.
- Director: Lynne Stopkewich
- Writers: Alan Di Fiore, Chris Haddock
- Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Brian Markinson and Alisen Down
The Man Who Lost Himself Synopsis
Canadian Football League Hall-of-Famer, Terry Evanshen’s life was changed forever when he survived a horrific car crash that erased his memory. Fueled by the devotion of his loving wife, Lorraine, and the encouragement of his family, Terry made a remarkable comeback into the land of the living.
Inspired by June Callwood’s award-winning book, The Man Who Lost Himself: The Terry Evanshen Story, CTV presents a compelling television movie about courage and inspiration. The Man Who Lost Himself is not just the heart-wrenching story of Terry Evanshen’s grueling comeback, but a love story fueled by the never-ending commitment of his loving wife Lorraine, and the encouragement of their three daughters.
Today, though the football legend continues to suffer from retrograde amnesia and impaired short-term memory, he has triumphed as a successful motivational speaker.
- Director: Helen Shaver
- Writer: Suzette Couture
- Stars: David James Elliott, Wendy Crewson and Katie Boland