Hello From Toronto!

Enjoy loranc's report from the FanExpo in Toronto! --chris

Hello from Toronto!

Earlier this month, Chris asked if I would be interested in doing an interview with the creators of Durham County at Fan Expo 2010. Well, how could I say no? The interview was originally with writer Laurie Finstad Knizhnik, but because the show was such a collaborative effort, director Adrienne Mitchell and producer Janis Lundman themselves suggested to be part of it as well, to create a more complete piece.

With a list of 16 questions, sent to me by Chris, and a shiny new voice recorder in hand, I set off early Saturday morning for the Metro Convention Centre downtown. When I arrived, I found line ups several blocks long and general confusion everywhere, which pretty much set the scene for the rest of the day. Infact, it was only 15 minutes before the interview that I got confirmation on where and when to set up. And it wasn't until we were actually setting up in the hotel hallway (where our interview was to now take place, instead of the mysterious room 204 that none of us could find) that I was told Laurie could not attend and I only had 10 minutes with Adrienne and Janis. So, I turned to my little entourage of Forbes fans I met along the way that day (Deb from the Miranda Zero blog, a woman from the Propworx forum, and another woman who had travelled all the way from Germany) to assist me in quickly scrapping 11 questions and choosing the best 5 that applied to Adrienne and Janis only.

The result is what you hear on this audio file, lol. That rustling of papers sound was me flipping back and forth between sheets of questions while balancing myself as I knelt on the floor. It appeared the con ran out of chairs. The laughing and clapping in the background was from my little entourage, who were also on the floor, but were very supportive and clearly enjoyed the opportunity to sit-in on the interview.

Despite the initial fluster, it was a great experience and I was inspired by what these two trailblazing women had to say. Many thanks to Chris and the Durham County crew for making all this happen!



Update :: You can find a transcription of the interview here:
--> This Moment Of Tenderness

Note by chris: Sorry, no interview picture of Janis & Adrienne, instead: Michelle Forbes signing autographs for fans at the Anchor Bay booth, taken by loranc:

This Weekend, it's Fan Expo Toronto

It’s Fan Expo time in Canada!

Apparently, Michelle Forbes was busy this Friday morning with interviews.

Michelle on Breakfast Television Toronto ...




Source: bttoronto.ca



... and on CBC Radio Q live in studio. You can listen to the podcast tomorrow. Update:: The podcast is already online.

Don't miss the much anticipated Durham County panel and the autograph session tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre! More info on our sidebar, and on the official Durham County Facebook page.

A Nightmare In Suburbia - Durham County Reviews

While I'm looking forward to the third season, in a thrill of anticipation, the Durham County DVD reviews of the second season keep coming in.

Anh Khoi from Montreal writes:

"Despite being the most violent and darkest crime TV series you're very likely to see, Durham County finds a magic way to put substance over grittiness. Besides, the show contains the best performance I've ever seen in crime dramas [...]
Like the first season, the second season of Durham County is magic. The writing is still first-rate. Above all, some will find that the second season's pilot has way less difficulty to set the tone because the "villain" doesn't have a dichotomous personality. Besides, in the second season, the TV series goes way further when it comes to dealing with violence. In fact, while the first season dealt with violence expressed in an extroverted way, the second one talks about people who commit it by manipulating other people [...]
...despite its very heavy topic, Durham County's charms lie in its way it depicts its gallery of disturbed characters [...]
expect to see a performance full of depth from the actors, especially from Michelle Forbes."

Full review here at anhkhoi.blogspot

Gary writes:

"[Forbes] played the role of Verity with such humanity and intensity that you totally understood her actions, even while finding yourself repulsed by them.
You see her doing reprehensible things, and yet much like Ray Prager in Season 1, you can almost see the method to the madness. And with Verity there was a definite sense of madness about her, a result of trauma in her past.
At one moment you find yourself empathizing with what she's gone through and what she's currently going through, and then you see her poisoning some chocolates to harm someone close to Mike and your feelings change, and you see that this same person you're sympathizing with earlier you can see her in her full on evil mode, and then you can STILL feel for her later in scenes where she's falling apart. It takes a special kind of actress to pull that off, and not just make a one dimensional villain."

Full review at searchingforchetbaker.com



The Europeans, and here especially the German TV viewers, are a little late. Season 2 has yet to debut on 8 September (RTL Crime). All the more enthusiastic are the reviews of the S1 DVD set which just has been released in Germany.

dvdrome.com writes (translated by me):

"Durham County is a powerful piece of television, a drama, a thriller, a gloomy reflection of the Western middle class and its moral decline [...]
Durham County is the nightmare of a middle class suburbia. Thousands of nice small houses, surrounded by huge hydro towers which transport the convenience of civilisation to the County. The middle class lives here. Or are they just surviving? You can live here? Or do they merely close their eyes to reality? To the mortgages - for decades at the mercy of the banks? To years without prospects for the adolescents who, though living wealthy, yet don't see a bright future, a youth that generates odd little games whereby sex decays to a commodity and a murder in the neighborhood isn't daunting - but eventually a bit of excitement and variety? [...]
The first 4 episodes directed by Holly Dale are probably the best crime TV ever produced. The director remains an observer and leaves a judgement to the viewer. [...]
(On sound editing) A perfect sound is not a question of booms, it's the orchestration, the mixing, the sound effects ... in this series they are outstanding."

German source at dvdrome.com

Update:: Give away of Durham County DVDs

* "To celebrate the end of summer, the The Cultural Post organizes its first give away of DVDs for fans of Canadian films and TV shows. [...]1rst Prize:
Durham County is a very dark crime drama that takes place in a fictitious suburb of Toronto. There's a killer in the suburb of Durham County and Det. Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon) tries to find him/her. Besides, Mike also deal with his inner demons. Note that Michelle Forbes delivers a legendary performance as a manipulator."
Source: anhkhoi.blogspot
"Since both prizes are zone 1 DVDs, the contest is only opened to Canadians and Americans." (quote)
Dear Anh Khoi, all Europeans are perfectly able to watch NTSC and region 1 DVDs. Just saying :)
24 August: Anh Khoi opened the contest to more regions: "... if you don't live in North America but can read zone 1 DVDs, then feel free to participate."

* DVD S1 review in the August issue of the German magazine 'Cinema': (translated by me)
A surreal suburban nightmare and a gloomy character study, with a Making-of well done [...] Suspense on its highest level.

(Original text: 'Surrealer Vorstadtalbtraum und bittere Charakterstudie mit einem gelungenen Making-of [...] Spannung auf höchstem Niveau')

Cast & Producers of Durham County at FanExpo Toronto

Meet the cast & crew of Durham County season 2 in person at this year's Fan Expo Canada (Toronto, August 27-29 2010).



Featured guests:

* ADRIENNE MITCHELL - Director / Executive Producer
* LAURIE FINSTAD KNIZHNIK - Writer / Executive Producer / Co Creator
* JANIS LUNDMAN - Executive Producer
* GREYSTON HOLT - Ray Prager Jr
* MICHELLE FORBES - Dr. Penelope Verrity (Saturday only)

Update ::
* Panel with Michelle Forbes, Greyston Holt, Adrienne Mitchell, Janis Lundman, Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik : 28 August · 12:30, ROOM 104A (Deluxe Pass required, acc. to the FanExpo site))
* 2:00pm: Cast and creators of DC S2 will be at the Anchor Bay Booth (#525) to meet fans and sign autographs (must provide proof of panel attendance to guarantee autograph)

And for those poor souls who can't make it to Canada, meet the producers of Durham County at their official Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/DurhamCountyTV

Fresh from the Canadian DVD bonus features - 38 minutes, interviews with cast and crew and 'Making Of':





Btw, the DVD includes two tracks, English and French :)

Update :: Quotes from a recent interview:

"Forbes [...] has an interesting take on visiting Canada. "It's funny to think that a very thin border separates the two of us. We look alike (in a multi-cultural sense). We sound alike. And yet it's a completely different feeling when you cross that border."
For her, the feeling is elation because she is fascinated by Canada's unique culture [...] Durham County offered stimulation."

Head over to torontosun.com to read more.

Second Season Durham County on German TV

Excellent news for the German Durham County fans! The German (Pay-for-TV) channel RTL Crime finally airs the second season this fall, of course the uncut and uncensored version, and dubbed in German. After a season one marathon (5 September), 6 new episodes start on 8 September, 20:15.

The official press release, translated by Randy:

"MORE UNCOMPROMISING, MORE THRILLING: THE SECOND SEASON OF "DURHAM COUNTY - IN THE FRENZY OF VIOLENCE" EXCLUSIVELY ON RTL CRIME FROM 8 SEPTEMBER

RTL Crime airs six new episodes of "Durham County - In the Frenzy of Violence." In the second season of the award-winning Canadian series, more terrifying secrets will be unveiled, that must be kept in the dark under all circumstances. New enemies take stage and new conflicts break open.

From 8 September 2010 on RTL Crime viewers will require a particularly strong set of nerves! After serial killer Ray,from the first season, goes to jail, a woman who puts everything in the shade with her behavior takes the stage. Therapist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes, known from "True Blood", "24") is a truly seductive opponent to Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon, known, among others, from "Flash Point") . Sexy, mysterious, and with murderous intent!

Mike is very depressed following the separation from his wife and easily becomes susceptible to his co-worker Pen's charms, who, a psychologist, acts as an advisor in their current investigation. However, the detective would never think it possible that Pen is very disturbed and poses life-threatening risk to him and his family... The depths of the human soul are opening up. An implacable war of life and death begins.

Michelle Forbes won the prize for Best Actress in the Monte Carlo TV Festival for her performance in the second season of "Durham County - In the frenzy of violence," Hugh Dillon was also nominated for Best Actor in Monte Carlo. The Directors Guild of Canada nominated the new season for Best Direction, Best Picture Editing and Best Production Design.
The series' first season won the majority of TV awards for the 2008 season in Canada, including five Gemini Awards, among others for Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Direction. It was also named The Best Prime-Time Series in the field of drama at the "FTPA Indie Awards 2008".

@the RTL PR folks: We're glad our blog served as a prompter :D



* DC Season 2 DVD set went on sale in Canada today. From a DVD review:
"Let’s just say if you can only make room for one new dramatic series in your schedule, let it be Durham County — it’s some of Canada’s finest television work."
Source: tvguide.ca

* I'd love to write about the third season on this blog as well, but haven't found a smart way to assimilate it, mirandazero.blogspot was meant as a site covering the work of Michelle Forbes, after all. And her characters have, as we all know too well, the unfortunate tendency to end up dead. How dead? Ultimately and perfectly dead.

We 'could' rename the blog title to:

You Are On The Global Frequency
Formerly known as: Michelle Forbes Community Blog

... and write about all the great stuff we love. What do you think?



(Alex Cardillo on set of Durham County)

UPDATE :: From the Durham County S2 DVD - Extras:



(Click to enlarge)

Durham County Nominated for three DGC Awards

The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) announced the 2010 DGC Awards nominees. Durham County scored three nominations:

* BEST DIRECTION - TV SERIES
Adrienne Mitchell for Durham County - "Little Lost Children"



* BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - TV SERIES
Donna Noonan for Durham County - "Little Lost Children"

* BEST PICTURE EDITING - TV SERIES
Teresa De Luca for Durham County - "Little Lost Children"

Congrats to the Durham County gang :)

The ceremony takes place Saturday, September 25, 2010 at the regal Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

On Set of Durham County

On set of Durham County Season 2, Alex Cardillo (Mark Verrity), shooting with screen mom, Michelle Forbes (Pen Verrity):

Durham County DVD Edition

* The DVD cover of the Canadian S2 edition (release date July 27, 2010), as it appears on amazon.ca:



* Adrienne Mitchell and Janis Lundman wrote on their facebook site that we'll get "some great behind the scenes interviews".
I compiled for ye'll a little teaser picture, taken from the (meanwhile taken down) extra features videos on the official durhamcounty.ca web site.
I'm in fact clueless about what we might see on the DVD:



Btw, Australia has already released a S2 DVD of Durham County if I'm not mistaken.

* A short overview of S1 DVD editions in other regions: Canada, USA, France (multilanguage English and French), Australia. Germany (multi-language English and German): release date 6. August 2010.

And finally, Amazon customers about the S1 DVD:
* A brilliant piece of storytelling. This is extremely intelligent, bleak, thrilling noir, with a great deal of subtext into dynamics between men and women, and male violence toward women. The writing is exemplary, as is the cinematography and performances. ... The best piece of television storytelling I've seen since The Wire.
* It's a great crime drama that I am really surprised hasn't had any advertising on any other channel. It has great characters with depth, mystery/crime plots, along with some family drama, great sets, slightly creepy, sometimes super creepy, great acting...what can I say, I love the show. I am so thrilled to have a second season coming out...
* A "killer" series!

Update :: DVD releases Season 2:
* Canada: 27 July 2010 (NTSC, amazon.ca)
* Europe: 20 October 2010 (PAL, amazon.fr)
* USA: November 2010 (NTSC, amazon.com)

Michelle Forbes - Durham County - Golden Nymph in Monaco

Tonight at the Monte-Carlo TV festival, Michelle Forbes won the Golden Nymph Award - Outstanding Actress - Drama TV Series, for her performance in Durham County season 2. In absentia.
The annually held Monte-Carlo TV festival honours the best in international TV programming, on a magnificent location, the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, at the French Riviera. And she wasn't (t)here :((



Congratulations to Michelle Forbes and to the creators of Durham County!

More winners:
Outstanding drama series Europe: Forbrydelsen II/ The Killing (woohoo!!)
Oustanding drama series international: Mad Men (AMC)
Outstanding actress mini-series: Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander - Millennium Trilogy



Friday update by Chris&Ekström@airport, list of Golden Nymph winners 2010:

CATÉGORIE FILMS DE TELEVISION
Meilleur Film de télévision : Goldfish (NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation) - Japon
Meilleure Mise en scène : Vera Glagoleva pour One War - Russie
Meilleur Acteur : Pierre Vernier, dans Farewell De Gaulle, Farewell - France
Meilleure Actrice : Julie Walters, pour Mo - Grande-Bretagne

CATÉGORIE MINI-SÉRIES
Meilleure Mini-Série : Once Upon a Time The City of Fools - Italie
Meilleure Actrice : Noomi Rapace, dans Millenium - Suède
Meilleur Acteur : Fabrizio Gifuni, dans Once Upon a Time The City of Fools - Italie

CATÉGORIE SÉRIES DRAMATIQUES
Meilleur Acteur : Michael C. Hall, dans Dexter - Etats-Unis
Meilleure Actrice : Michelle Forbes, dans la saison 2 de Durham County - Canada
Meilleur Producteur International : Lionsgate, pour Mad Men - Etats-Unis
Meilleur Producteur Européen : Danish Broadcasting Corporation, pour The Killing II - Danemark

CATÉGORIE SÉRIES COMIQUES
Meilleur Acteur : Steve Carell, dans The Office - Etats-Unis
Meilleure Actrice : Diana Amft, dans Le Journal de Meg - Allemagne
Meilleur Producteur International : NBC Universal, pour 30 Rock - Etats-Unis
Meilleur Producteur Européen : BBC Productions, pour The Thick of It - Grande-Bretagne

Durham County News

* Durham County season 2 fan video, set to the song "Bitter" by Remy Zero. Focuses on Mike/Pen, contains spoilers for S2. Check it out:



* Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell, two of the DC producers, have a facebook site:
http://www.facebook.com/DurhamCountyTV
.... and a Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/DurhamCountyTV

* Durham County 2 - Behind the scenes with the crew:


Source: Facebook DC

---> "Anchor bay is doing an incredible job of packaging the DVD of season 2. Some great behind the scenes interviews in store for fans." :)

* Reminder: The series Durham County S2 and Michelle Forbes and Hugh Dillon are nominated for the Golden Nymph Award at the upcoming Monte Carlo TV Festival (the winner will be announced June 10th). As far as I know no one of the crew or actors will be attending :(
They don't know the Grimaldi Forum, do they? You'll miss a beautiful location, guys!

* Durham County season 3, without Michelle, but hey, that's the fate when playing the killer:
- "In the heart-stopping third season of Durham, Mike Sweeney’s new task force investigates the brutal murder of two young boys along the 401 highway corridor, while one of their own officers struggles to bury a dangerous secret."
- " Durham County 3 airs on HBO Canada (Movie Central & The Movie Network) this fall!" - "As season 3 is shot in the fall and into the winter, we think its going to work well airing in the fall. Put the fire on, get a glass of red wine, and descend into the wonderful madness of Durham."
* EXCLUSIVE PICTURES** Durham County - Season 3

* Clips from Durham County - Seasons 1 & 2, a compilation by Back Alley Films:



Update ::
The second season of Durham County will come out on DVD July 27th, 2010 in Canada. You can pre-order DC on the Canadian portal of Amazon.

Golden Nymph Awards

The Monte Carlo Television Festival announced the nominations for the Golden Nymph Awards 2010.



I'm absolutely thrilled to report:
* Nominated in the category Outstanding Actress - Drama TV Series: Michelle Forbes, Durham County Season 2.
* Nominated in the category Outstanding International Producer - Drama TV Series: Janis Lundman, Adrienne Mitchell, Laurie Finstad Knizhnik and Michael Prupas for Durham County Season 2.
* Also nominated Hugh Dillon for Outstanding Actor.

The festival will be held June 6 to 10. The 'Golden Nymphs' are honoring the best of worldwide television programming.

Tragedy, Laughter and Acceptance

Below are the best parts of another insightful interview with Michelle on Durham County:

"The beauty of her acting is that we see the character, not the actress...she disappears behind their personalities. 'My [project] choices are instinctual a lot of the time,' she said.

'[Pen Verrity's] confronted with her own failures as a wife, a mother, a psychiatrist. Pen's so far gone; she's drowning...'

'It's still not acceptable for women to express outrage,' she said. 'It's just not socially acceptable. They're expected to keep a lid on it.'

'[Finstad]'s not afraid to walk boldly into this world,' Forbes said. 'She's able to show the frail, dark side of the human condition...'

'...I wanted to be part of [DC],' she said.'It was something you won't find in Hollywood, which I love.'

...despite the serious nature of Durham County, 'The great thing is Laurie and Adrienne have such a great sense of humor, and Michelle Forbes has an incredible sense of humor...'

'My way of dealing with tragedy is laughter...Directors sometimes worry when they see me laughing before a scene.'"
Source: chicagonow.com

Police shows are almost always just about the crimes. But what are the psychic after-effects? That's what we're exploring.

Note: Dear reader, you may have noticed that this and the previous post
have been edited a number of times. I received a bollocking by Chris, [-: I've quoted too much. - Randy

Michelle Shines in Durham County

Season 2 of Durham County has just aired and there are already two interviews with Michelle. Enjoy!

"On Durham County you play a very conflicted woman - part victim/part villain and very sad -what do you think of Pen Verrity?
Michelle Forbes: It was an amazing opportunity to play someone as tricky and as complicated as Pen, and how [series creator] Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik came up with this character, I have no idea. But I think Laurie takes a cold stark look at true womanhood on many different levels, including the ugly parts of being female that we don’t want to look at. I think one of the things that fascinated me the most is what happens to a woman’s psychology when she’s not a good mother. It’s the one thing you are biologically predisposed to do, and if you don’t have that maternal instinct, what happens to you psychologically when you fail at being a mother and at being a wife? She truly explores the darker side of what happens to us as human beings.

What do you think makes this series so special?
I think that Adrienne [Mitchell], Laurie and Janice [Lundman] have an uncompromising vision. They want to explore the darker aspects of our humanity and they do it with a beautiful visual style. They have a unique voice that belongs just to them and they haven’t had to compromise it yet. So I think it’s just their voice. that’s what makes Durham different. And Adrienne Mitchell’s visual stamp - that bleak landscape sort of lends itself to the story and created a full environment for it...

What have been some of your favorite roles?
There have been so many. I would say those on Homicide: Life on the Street, True Blood and In Treatment."
Source: channelguidemagblog.com

[...]“I thought [Durham County] was so visually stunning and haunting - the music was haunting, the visuals were haunting - I had to be a part of it,” Forbes said... “It was something outside of the Hollywood box, which I love. It was psychologically daring, and I am really, really pleased and proud to be a part of it.”

[...] “I don’t like the ‘Twin Peaks’ parallel,” Forbes said. “A lot of people have said that, and I’m a little perplexed by it. It’s misleading. People expect to see a Log Lady. ‘Twin Peaks’ is one of the most phenomenal series America’s ever produced, and I think ‘Durham County’ is fantastic. They’re just not anything alike.”

[...] “It was an entirely new group of actors and an entirely different production team,” she said. “Because I’ve been around so long, it’s rare to walk onto a set and not know half the people, whether they’re crew or actors. But it was delightful to walk into an entirely new company and not know anyone. I love walking into new companies and countries and cultures. It was very different in that sense, having the Canadian outlook.”
Source: BostonHerald.com

Following last night's premiere, what (some) people are saying (while others remains speechless):

oh man, you'll love it. Michelle is scary amazing as Pen.
Watching Durham County. So far, highly recommended
Creepy, dark & twisty.
this Durham County shit is crazy!!!
It pains me that Durham County commercials say "True Blood's Michelle Forbes" and not "Homicide: Life on the Street's Michelle Forbes."
Source: twitter

Also, S2 of BSG has been acknowledged as one of the Top TV Seasons of the decade thanks to the wonderfully-written and performed story arc involving Admiral Cain.

#6. Battlestar Galactica, Season 2 (Sci-Fi, 2005-06)
Probably the most engrossed I've been by a TV series this decade...The characters all got deeper, darker, more complex, and the critiques (of the Iraq war, specifically) never more trenchant.

Top Episode: "Resurrection Ship, Part 2," where the conflict between Adama and Michelle Forbes's Admiral Cain came to a chilling conclusion.
Source: Low Resolution Blogspot

(9) Season Two is Battlestar Galactica at its best...the "Pegasus" saga, where another Battlestar commanded by the royal c-word Admiral Cain (played to perfection by Michelle Forbes of Star Trek: TNG and Homicide) shows up and starts really ****ing everything up. These episodes really could be the best of the whole series.
Source: www.cultureblues.com

Durham County 2nd Season US Premiere Only Days Away

Michelle Forbes is not the kind of actor who avoids variety and challenging roles. If you liked her as the tough Admiral Cain in Battlestar Galactica, the enchanting Maryann in True Blood or the lovely but troubled Kate in In Treatment, you should definitely add Pen Verrity from Durham County to the mix. A new, challenging role takes her to the award winning Canadian series with an unique, dark and realistic tone. The first season, which contains 6 episodes, anatomized male violence through the story of Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon) and investigated how it affected us. Michelle joins the cast in the second season as Pen Verrity, the sexy, mysterious forensic psychiatrist, who has more skeletons in her closet, than we can imagine. Women can be as nasty as men, that’s for sure.



Penelope is quite troubled, to say the least, because of what’s happening and because of some trauma that had not been dealt with or transformed when she was younger,” {…}. “All of this comes bubbling to the surface. There’s a certain fracturing of her soul and her mind, and she’s desperately trying to grab onto Mike Sweeney.” said Forbes. This character is not less complex than she played before. “I was really seduced by the darkness of it, by the truth of it. Laurie Finstad (Knizhnik), our writer, has this extraordinary ability to hold up this frail, human dark side of ourselves and confront it. That was what was so compelling to me and made me jump at the chance to be a part of it.
Source: Tv,eh?

The writing is extraordinary, sensitive and very expressive, as is the cinematography. The show is perfectly cast, which adds to its quality. Every part of the production seem to work flawlessly. Michelle plays Pen Verrity with much complexity. Her ability to express a dozen emotions in one look comes to the surface now more than ever before. As we witness Pen desperately try to control herself and others, we constantly swing between feelings of hate, pity, love, sympathy, frustration towards her. She leaves us in a daze. If you thought Maryann was scary, you haven’t seen anything yet. Durham County challenged my intelligence and I loved it.



Switch your television on on Sunday, January 3 from 9:00 – 11:00 PM, ET and tune into ION Television and watch the second season of Durham County which launches with episodes 1 and 2 back to back. In case you missed the beginning of the story, they’ve set up a marathon of the first season on January 2. - Akima

Pre-order DC Season 1 from Amazon.com. (Available from January 19th, 2010)


Here's a мищка joining us and our polar friends in wishing all a peaceful end to 2009, and a strong start to 2010!

Durham County Season 2 Premiere on ION

Finally!

“Durham County”, ION Television’s Critically Acclaimed Crime Series, to Launch Second Season as Two-Hour Premiere on Sunday, January 3, 2010

Network to Marathon Season One on Saturday, January 2; New Season Moves to Sunday Nights

“True Blood” and “In Treatment” Actress Michelle Forbes Joins “Durham County” Cast

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The lesson that “love hurts” is well learned by the characters who inhabit the eerie suburb of “Durham County,” when the second season of ION Television’s critically acclaimed original primetime series launches with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, January 3 from 9:00 – 11:00 PM, ET. A marathon of the series’ first season will precede the season two launch, airing from 5:00 – 11:00 PM, ET on Saturday, January 2. “Durham County,” which debuted this past fall, returns to the bleak and disturbing landscape of an alienated suburbia with a new star villain – Michelle Forbes, known for her intense portrayals on the hit HBO series “True Blood” and “In Treatment” this year. The show will be broadcast in its new regular timeslot at 10:00 PM, ET on Sundays beginning Sunday, January 10.

Produced by Muse Entertainment and Back Alley Films, “Durham County” unfolds season two in the aftermath of the devastating impact of serial killer Ray Prager (Romano Orzari) on the lives of its characters, anchored by Homicide Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon, CBS’ “Flashpoint”), his now estranged wife Audrey (Hélène Joy) and their traumatized teenage daughter Sadie (Laurence Leboeuf). While the true villain of the first season turned out to be Sweeney’s former high school classmate and new neighbor, the evil threat in the second season comes from a woman who develops a close bond with Mike, the brilliant, but deeply troubled forensic psychiatrist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes). Rejected by her husband and grieving for a daughter we can’t be certain she didn’t kill, she sets her sights on having Mike Sweeney – at any cost.

“The successful debut of ‘Durham County’ fulfilled our expectations as our first original series, particularly among our key 25–54 demographic,” said Leslie Chesloff, Executive Vice President, Programming, ION Media Networks. “In season two, our protagonist is trying to keep his broken family together in the aftermath of a serial killer, while he is lured into an incredibly dangerous place by a seductive woman. Viewers will be on their seats wondering what Pen will do next, who she might target and whether Mike will realize the terrible threat she poses before it’s too late. Season two will be a real nail-biter!”

“Durham County” is written by Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik (“Bliss”) and helmed by directors Adrienne Mitchell, Alain DesRochers (Nitro) and Rachel Talalay (Terminal City). Michael Prupas (“Human Trafficking”) of Muse Entertainment and Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell (“Bliss”) of Back Alley Films serve as executive producers. The series has received 13 Gemini Award nominations, including five wins: Best Actor for Justin Louis, Best Actress for Hélène Joy, Best Direction for Holly Dale, Best Writing for Laurie Finstad Knizhnik and Best Sound. In addition, the show was nominated for four Director’s Guild of Canada Awards, winning two and taking home the CFTPA’s Indie Award for “Best Dramatic Series.”

The program was also recognized with nominations from the Writer’s Guild of Canada and ACTRA Montreal. In a deal signed last January with ITV Global Entertainment, ION Television acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the critically acclaimed and award-winning original TV series, “Durham County.” In addition, the network secured all U.S. television, digital media rights, internet streaming and video-on-demand rights for the program.

Source: businesswire.com

...and a little treat: a tune from Hugh Dillons's recently-released solo album 'Works Well With Others'. Available on iTunes. I can highly recommend. :)

Champagne and Delicacies

True Blood event in Paris
* The weekly French magazine Télérama (Le Monde) is said to feature Michelle Forbes in its edition of November 25.
* More about the Paris True Blood soirée last week:
"Arrive ensuite le moment de découvrir qui sont les acteurs de la série venus tout spécialement pour l'événement! Montent alors sur la scène dans l'ordre d'arrivée: Michelle Forbes, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammel et Alexander Skarsgard. Les interprètes de l'énigmatique Maryann Forrester, la toujours directe Tara Thorton, le gérant beau gosse Sam Merlotte et l'anti-vampire Bill, vampire Eric Northman. Je dois dire qu'ils ont vraiment la classe ces acteurs américains, sauf peut-être Alexander Skargard qui ne fera pas oublié son pantalon orange par son nœud papillon... Ça va faire cliché mais les deux actrices sont encore plus belles en vrai!"
Source: allocine.fr



* "Après un résumé de la saison 1 en image, le premier épisode de la deuxième commence. A la fin des 50 minutes, je décide de m’éclipser avant le second pour me diriger vers le Hard Rock café où se tient la soirée privée « en présence des acteurs ».
Entrée sur listing et bracelet, et là, c’est le choc visuel. On en prend pleins les mirettes. Pourquoi?
Simplement parce qu’au rez-de-chaussée, ils ont reconstitué le décor du Merlotte’s. Les enseignes sont là, les têtes d’animaux, la disposition des tables, les hamburgers (oui, les même que ceux servis dans la série), et surtout, à mon plus grand bonheur, du Tru Blood. Bon, certes, c’était du soda à l’orange (excellent ceci-dit), mais le packaging est tout simplement fabuleux (imaginez, au bar « Bonsoir, deux Tru blood s’il vous plait »).
Le temps de manger un bout, le premier étage ouvre et la claque visuelle est encore plus grande. Fumigène, lumière et rideaux rouges et un panneau. Nous voilà à Fangtasia, le bar des vampires.
Bouteille de sang derrière le comptoir, poche de sang au plafond, seringue de soupe tomate et fiole de coulis de cerise, une ambiance très glauque tout en restant jovial.
« En présence des acteurs » donc. Oui et non. D’abord dans une partie VIP (forcément, on était une bonne centaine), ils ont eu la gentillesse de sortir assez souvent pour quelques photos et autographes. Ils ont simplement été adorables, très ouverts et disponibles."
Source: cloneweb.net

* Rumour has it that there was a champagne party @ The Ritz in Paris :)

Durham County
* Durham County season 2 re-airs in Canada on 'Canal Mystère', first episode starts November 23.
* In Czechia they are already showing episode 4 of season two. - It looks like I'm missing more European air dates. Sorry for that.
* A multilingual English-German DVD of the first season of Durham County will be released in December.

The Chosen One
Michelle's short film The Chosen One has got a trailer on IMDb. Now .... here's the link: http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1403127065/

Diplomacy
Don't believe what they're trying to tell you about aging 'gracefully'. I missed the screening of Diplomacy in Leiden (that's a few minutes from where I live) two weeks ago. Of course, the lads from the Leiden Film Festival don't answer my email.

MF Community Inside
* We were having a talk at the 'Messiah Revisited' article planning more 'Revisited' postings. So far the plan is ... Randy: Razor. Chris: Wonderland. Nicole: Swimming with Sharks. Akima: Durham County - for the January US premiere. Akima was first, and you'll never see my non-written posting 'A Love Letter to a Murderess'. - Would you like to join us?
* I was thinking of a multilingual mirror of this blog ... the advantage would be that the contributors can write in their native language, and the translated text would get published here.
* There's hope that we get another quiz soon ;-)
* Embedded Vimeo videos don't play on the iPhone nor on Androids or any other mobile device. :(
* We've got a no-nonsense listing of Michelle's work. It's a compilation of the IMDb listing, all episodes included.

Durham, Recycling and Dark Comedy

Sad news for everyone in the US who has been eager to see Michelle in the second season of Durham County. You will have to be patient for a couple more months. 'Promotional' art by moi.



The official press release:

Mystery, Betrayal and Terrifying Secrets Are Unleashed When ION Television’s Durham County Launches Its Second Season in January 2010

“True Blood” and “In Treatment” Actress Michelle Forbes Joins Durham County Cast for Season Two

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The lesson that “love hurts” is well learned by the characters who inhabit the eerie suburb of Durham County when the original scripted primetime series launches its second season on ION Television in January, 2010. The series, which debuted this fall, returns to the bleak and disturbing landscape of an alienated suburbia with a new star villain – Michelle Forbes, known for her intense portrayals on the hit HBO series “True Blood” and “In Treatment” this year.

Produced by Muse Entertainment and Back Alley Films, Durham County unfolds season two in the aftermath of the devastating impact of serial killer Ray Prager (Romano Orzari) on the lives of its characters, anchored by Homicide Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon, CBS’ “Flashpoint”), his now estranged wife Audrey (Hélène Joy) and their traumatized teenage daughter Sadie (Laurence Leboeuf). While the true villain of the first season turned out to be Sweeney’s former high school classmate and new neighbor, the evil threat in the second season comes from a woman who develops a close bond with Mike, the brilliant, but deeply troubled forensic psychiatrist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes). Rejected by her husband and grieving for a daughter we can’t be certain she didn’t kill, she sets her sights on having Mike Sweeney – at any cost.

“Durham County has more than fulfilled our expectations for our first original series in its successful debut this fall, particularly with our key 25–54 demographic,” said Leslie Chesloff, Executive Vice President, Programming, ION Media Networks. “In season two, our protagonist is trying to keep his broken family together in the aftermath of a serial killer, while he is lured into an incredibly dangerous place by a seductive woman. Viewers will be on their seats wondering what Pen will do next, who she might target and whether Mike will realize the terrible threat she poses before it’s too late.”

“We are thrilled at the way audiences have embraced this series and are excited that ION Television is bringing this award-winning show back for another electrifying season in January,” said Michael Prupas, President of Muse Entertainment and executive producer of Durham County.

Co-creator and Executive Producer Janis Lundman of Back Alley Films adds, “We think viewers will be intrigued by the new female villain, Michelle Forbes, who they will recognize from her portrayal of an equally menacing character on ‘True Blood.’ In addition, they will be drawn into our hero’s struggle to heal his broken family and deal with the separation from his wife while he becomes increasingly drawn to this damaged woman.”

“This season we explore what happens to people after their lives have been affected by a serial killer and the darkest side of their psyches are exposed, which also shows them the way to true compassion,” said Co-creator and Executive Producer/Director Adrienne Mitchell. “Season two also shifts more focus to the complex characters of the Sweeney’s daughter Sadie, played poignantly by Laurence LeBoeuf, and the neighbor’s abandoned son, Ray Jr., portrayed by the talented Greyston Holt,” she adds.

Durham County is written by Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik (“Bliss”) and helmed by directors Adrienne Mitchell, Alain DesRochers (Nitro) and Rachel Talalay (Terminal City). Michael Prupas (“Human Trafficking”) of Muse Entertainment and Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell (“Bliss”) of Back Alley Films serve as executive producers. The series has received 13 Gemini Award nominations, including five wins: Best Actor for Justin Louis, Best Actress for Hélène Joy, Best Direction for Holly Dale, Best Writing for Laurie Finstad Knizhnik and Best Sound. In addition, the show was nominated for four Director’s Guild of Canada Awards, winning two and taking home the CFTPA’s Indie Award for “Best Dramatic Series.”

The program was also recognized with nominations from the Writer’s Guild of Canada and ACTRA Montreal. In a deal signed last January with ITV Global Entertainment, ION Television acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the critically acclaimed and award-winning original TV series, Durham County. In addition, the network secured all U.S. television, digital media rights, internet streaming and video-on-demand rights for the program.

Bits and pieces:

Mother Nature Network has shed some light on the environmentally friendly ways of celebrities. Michelle Forbes, it claims, keeps her energy output low by driving as little as possible, or getting hybrid-owning friends to drive her. “And I’m a Nazi about recycling.”

Hands up! Who's recycling and driving or pedalling their way around in an environmentally-friendly way?

According to IMDB, Michelle has now been officially cast as Sylvia. Hollywood Reporter is letting us know that Highland Park will follow the formula of a 'dark comedy'. Cinematical remarks: "I wish more filmmakers would get creative and do similar to keep these institutions running. I mean, if we can have a bajillion stripper movies, can't we have a least a handful or 50 library flicks that not only entertain, but also do great things for the communities across the country?"

There can be a lighter side to Durham County :)

Video Clip - Michelle Forbes on Durham County

Durham County Season 2 :: 3 scenes from episode 6, Surviving the Fall
Pen Verrity - Michelle Forbes
Hugh Dillon - Mike Sweeney
Laurence Leboeuf - Sadie Sweeney
Ray Prager - Romano Orzari



»» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TNBZb1nhe0

Durham County 2 - Surviving the Fall

The final hour of Durham County's second season airs tonight: Surviving the Fall.



* If you haven't been following the last epsiodes, you'd be better off waiting for the reruns (starting on August 24) or the DVD.
* Filming of season 3 starts in September.

***********************

[Durham County] is not really about the suburbs. If there's any tincture of truth in that definition, then Durham County is about a suburb of the mind, and a sick mind at that. It is great, grown-up TV (it will air later on conventional TV). Let's classify it as that. It's disturbing and bleak, and it's wrong to reduce it to a drama about the suburbs. It's about angry, unhappy people who could be anywhere.
What's really striking about this second season is that while it follows in part the same plotline, it offers a reverse picture of evil and malice. The first was anchored in male rage. This time, the devil is a depressed woman filled with pain and loathing [...]
This second Durham County is as sumptuously dark and bleak as the first. But if that was about the mania of male rage, this season has been emphatically about the ferocity of female duplicity and destructiveness. In large part, it's been dominated by one female figure, Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes), a forensic psychiatrist who, it emerges, has more anger and neuroses that all the patients she's analyzed, combined.
In fact, if you've been watching really good TV this summer, and that means watching True Blood and Durham County, you've seen a lot of Forbes playing women who are sugar-sweet on the surface and bitter agents of evil underneath. Forbes currently has a monopoly on such appalling women. And she's very, very good at it.
The Pen Verrity character is an excellent creation, a woman who could be a child murderer and who we know is responsible for the shocking murder of another woman. But she's also a cauldron of self-loathing. In one scene this season, she behaved in a manner that was a deliberate echo of a stunning scene of self-mutilation in Ingmar Bergman's movie Cries and Whispers [...]
This Durham County isn't about Ray. It isn't even about Mike Sweeney. It's about Pen Verrity and it's about Mike's daughter Sadie. As Sadie, Leboeuf has been marvellously good – a teenaged girl who has been through traumatic events but is shrewd enough to keep her own counsel and make her own decisions. In tonight's finale, everything will really depend on the Sadie character.
Source: theglobeandmail.com



Tonight's finale, directed with sensitivity and emotional grace by Rachel Talalay, is both unpredictable and in keeping with Durham County's solemn, introspective tone. The climactic courtroom scenes are nicely understated: There are none of the histrionics viewers have come to expect of typical TV dramas, but the tension is no less palpable for it. This is tough, uncompromising drama.
Sure, Durham County is disturbing -- intentionally so -- and unpleasant to watch. And I could have done without the artsy, horror-film ending. But it's worth seeing -- for its topical, important story, and for the fine acting. This is the series that won last year's Gemini Award as Canada's best TV drama, and based on tonight's evidence it's hard to imagine it won't win again.
Source: edmontonjournal

Update
»» Screencaps of episode 6 are online

Alors que la date du procès approche, et qu’on ne sait pas si Sadie va oui ou non témoigner, Mike fait semblant d’être toujours épris de Verrity, encore psychiatre auprès de sa fille, qui a récupéré la garde de son fils, et se met à voir Ray Prager. Ce dernier point apparaît un peu comme une facilité scénaristique. Au départ, cela tombe un peu comme un cheveu sur la soupe, et la fin viendra appuyer son utilité, donnant à tout ceci des tournures de raccourcis [...]
On peut alors se tourner vers le Dr. Verrity, et là, l’épisode, concentré en grande partie sur Sadie, faiblit fortement de rythme et aligne assez mal ces scènes, perdu dans la conclusion de cette intrigue. Elle se trouve liée à Ray Prager, une façon très malhabile d’ouvrir sur la toute fin quelques portes, alors que Penn a trouvé un moyen de mettre un terme à ses souffrances, sans le faire elle-même. Assez lâche, mais suffisamment en accord avec sa personnalité plus manipulatrice et passive, qu’active – seule sa rage semble réellement la pousser vers ses plus sombres démons, et ce ne sont pas ceux qui l’auraient conduit à cette fin.
Source: critictoo.com



--OH, SADIE. Laurence Leboeuf needs to win a Gemini for this show. CONUNDRUM: Michelle Forbes also needs to win a Gemini for this show, leaving me with an IMPOSSIBLE DILEMMA re: who to root for [...]
--I like that, even with Pen's "confession", it was left ambiguous as to the mechanics of how Bonnie got into the pool: it's possible to read the progression of photos as Pen simply watching (and DOCUMENTING, PEN, WTF) Bonnie fall in, or as Pen moving closer because she would eventually, actively push her. Not that she's less culpable one way or the other for Bonnie's death--'cause she's wholly culpable, even if she didn't deliberately aggravate Bonnie's salt diabetes to the point where the poor kid tried to use the swimming pool for drinking water--but I think the uncertainty is an excellent narrative trick: we can know Pen killed her daughter with each act that led up to Bonnie's actual drowning, and we can know she killed her by not hauling her out of the pool in time to resuscitate her, but we can't be sure she's directly responsible for Bonnie being in the pool. (Again, obviously, she's guilty as hell: as with Glenn, who I'll get to momentarily, sometimes the passive crime is equal to--sometimes greater than--the active crime. I just like that, in wrapping up the story of Bonnie's murder/Pen's psychology, the show's denied us that one little absolute.) [...]
--Tom gets to keep his title of The Only Good Cop In Durham County*, as Glenn did indeed turn out, like all Ray's other cronies, to be operating from a very wrong premise in life. Namely, that if you only watch your buddies beat, rape and murder a woman, you're not culpable for what happened to her. - *The Only Good Man, one might argue. Discussion about the perceived political/social message behind the all-female showrunners' decision to make The Only Good Man In Durham County a gay man.
Source: serrico.livejournal.com

Durham County 2 - Boys Do Things

Another gripping episode of Durham County awaits the Canadian viewers tonight. Episode 5 of Durham County is called Boys Do Things.



For the past few weeks we have been profiling the story, the characters, the actors, and the creative team of Durham County. Now we would like to introduce the production crew to you, who would usually get a smaller share of the limelight:

Cinematographer: Éric Cayla
Production Designer: Donna Noonan
Costume Designer: Janet Campbell
Still Photographer: Jan Thijs - »» Link to his website
Web Design: James Taylor - »» mediaflash.ca
Series Original Music: Tom Third
(Couldn't find exact credits for the composer and songs for season 2)



Since there is very little background material for the second season of DC, we provide a small article by the costume designer Janet Campbell, written in February 2008 for the Gemini Awards selection committee:

Durham County Costumes

In Durham County the visual design is as much a part of the narrative as the writing and the performances of the cast. When I began the project I was presented with the script’s broad theme of darkness lurking under the mask of small town tranquility and a compelling collection of visual images portraying bleak landscapes, decaying swamps, stark hydro towers, and industrial debris. My first approach was to take these visual themes and see how the images translated into clothing. Using current images from fashion I prepared my own layout to echo, on the human body, not only the muted palate of producer Adrienne’s Mitchell’s photos but also how she used splashes of color and various textures to give contrast and life to the tableau. The challenge was to use the surreal and foreboding thread of the narrative while having the actors look both appealing and natural in their costumes.

As the cast began to take shape I narrowed my focus down from the global design concept to that of the individual characters created by Laurie Finstad Knizhnik. While the scripts were my template, it wasn’t until I watched the audition tapes of the actors chosen that I my final concept for of the show’s central characters finally took shape. I approached the two main protagonists Mike (Hugh Dillon) and Ray (Justin Louis) and their flawed humanity by using the series’ conceptual shades of gray to emphasize that there is no clear line between good and evil in these two characters. With Hugh I was able to accentuate the intensity of his pale blue eyes and draw upon his personal edgy style by using cold colors. The cool palate was consistent with Mike’s emotional distance. In contrast Justin’s Ray wore muted earth tones to embody the volcano simmering beneath the surface. The working class ethic of this superbly vain character was translated into costume by his body hugging t-shirts and jeans. Into the sullen world inhabited by Mike and Ray I also smattered costumes in vivid green, electric blues, vibrant reds, and eerily glowing whites to further highlight the bleak landscape of Durham County.

Source: planetjanetinc.blogspot.com

Perhaps an interview from last year would be of some interest to you: TV-eh? podcast from May 11, 2008. Diane Kristine talks to the series' writer Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik and director Adrienne Mitchell about season one (first 15 minutes of the podcast).



Source: tv-eh.com

Uploaded screencaps of episode 5 »» to the gallery --chris