A few weeks ago, on the last set visit I’ll probably get to make for a while, I drove out to Newmarket, Ont., to interview the cast of The Wedding Planners. The eight-episode series premieres Friday, March 27 on Citytv.
Interviews took place in one of several century-old churches that surround the quaint-looking main street of the city. Another church served as a holding centre, with the adjoining gym turned into a cast and crew lunch room.
The series stars Michael Seater (Life with Derek), Kimberly-Sue Murray (Shadowhunters) and Madeline Leon (Ponysitters Club) as three siblings who run a wedding planning business. The program falls neatly into City’s “Fall in Love Fridays” package of Harlequin film fare.
I asked the cast to single out a tune they’d like sung at their own weddings. Check out the above video for their answers and listen in as they sing a few bars. The ladies, who spontaneously harmonized and should sing on the series, threw themselves into a lively rendition of “Going to the Chapel.”
The production company behind The Wedding Planners is called “Brain Power,” and it has its own family business structure. The company has financed 17 features and many hours of television series episodes, including many Christmas-themed titles.
Executive producer Beth Stevenson led reporters and influencers through a large house that is secluded in the woods about 20 minutes outside Newmarket. (The company also has production facilities in Barrie.) Stevenson explained that the house was purchased with the express purpose of turning into the home and display centre for the fictional “Clarkson Wedding Essentials” business run by the three siblings. The tour took us through several upstairs rooms that have been dressed to look like a wedding dress display and sewing centre and the businesses main office.
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Pretty ingenious, I thought. If you’re going to risk getting into the Canadian TV and film production business, better make sure your business plan also includes real estate. Clearly, the folks behind Brain Power are not novices, having cranked out family-style TV-movies, many featured now on Amazon Prime, for several years.
The cast and crew had the good fortune to wrap production before the corona virus began to impact filmmaking across Canada and the rest of the world. If you’re looking to escape the dire headlines of the day, Friday’s premiere of The Wedding Planners on Citytv probably can’t come fast enough.
