Catalyst, Blue Ant Studios begin producing female-lead original comedy series

Catalyst and Blue Ant Studios began producing its new female-lead unscripted comedy series, a six-part untitled Carolyn Taylor project. "Carolyn’s latest comedy offering hits all the notes for Catalyst, not least that we all need more reasons to laugh in our complicated and troubled world,"  Catalyst founder Julie Bristow said. "But it also demonstrates that Catalyst’s raison d’etre — to give female-generated unscripted projects the very best start in life — is not just a worthy mission but a sound commercial proposition."

The series is commissioned by Bell Media’s Crave, and produced by Catalyst and Blue Ant Studios as part of their strategic partnership to develop female-generated programming for the global marketplace. The comedy offering from Taylor, a Canadian actor and comedian best known as the star and co-creator of CBC’s comedy hit Baroness von Sketch Show. The series is slated to premiere on Crave in 2023. Blue Ant International will take on all aspects of global distribution. "Carolyn proves that believing in yourself and following your dreams can lead to remarkable things. And luckily for us all, figure skating is only one of Carolyn’s dreams. Turns out she has lots of them for future seasons," Bristow said.

The series is produced by Catalyst with Blue Ant Studios, with which Catalyst has a non-scripted co-production joint venture, and supported by Rogers Cable Fund and Bell Fund. The unscripted comedy series is created by Taylor, co-directed by Taylor and Zack Russell, and exec produced by Taylor, Russell. Serving as executive producers are Catalyst’s Vibika Bianchi and Julie Bristow and Blue Ant Studios’ Laura Michalchyshyn, Aileen Gardner and Sam Sniderman. Taylor is aided and abetted on her figure-skating journey by BAFTA-winning actor and comedian Mae Martin (Feel Good) and Emmy-winning figure skating choreographer Sandra Bezic (Battle of the Blades). “I’m exhausted, terrified, way out of my league and have absolutely no time to give you a quote," Taylor said.

The action plays out at the intersection of amateur ability and enormous ambition — in this case, inspired by Katerina Witt and the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Taylor’s unlikely quest to choreograph the perfect pairs figure-skating routine to be performed in front of an audience of skating stars and fans. What begins as a light-hearted challenge soon morphs into a real-life mission. Despite having zero figure-skating knowledge or skill, Taylor manages to convince an A-list cast of skaters to help her achieve her dream, including two-time Olympic Gold Medallist Ekaterina Gordeeva, Olympic Gold Medallist David Pelletier, four-time World Champion Kurt Browning, two-time Olympic Silver Medallist Brian Orser, World Champions Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini, Olympic Silver Medallist Elizabeth Manley, World Silver Medallists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, UnitedUnites States Champion Adam Rippon, and social media skating sensation Elladj Baldé.

Earlier this year, the first commission to come from Catalyst and Blue Ant Media’s non-scripted co-production joint venture was "Mission: Unexplained" for T+E in Canada. The eight-part docu-series examines inexplicable events witnessed by military veterans on the front line, from mystifying lights through vanishing civilians to terrifying apparitions. The JV’s mission is to co-produce female-generated unscripted content for the global marketplace. The untitled Carolyn Taylor project is the second project to be generated from the collaboration. Catalyst, formerly the Content Catalyst Fund (CCF), rebranded and expanded last month to sharpen its focus on enabling and empowering female content creators, and attracting more women into non-scripted television. It has also embarked on an intensive growth strategy, which includes the launch of ‘Community Connector Events’ designed to build a global network of female creative talent.