{{Short description|Canadian film and television production company}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{About|the Canadian production company|other uses|Shaftesbury (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox company | name = Shaftesbury Films, Inc. | logo = Shaftesbury Logo 2018.svg | logo_caption = Logo used since 2018 | type = Private | industry = {{Plainlist| * Film * Television * Digital media }} | founded = {{Start date and age|1987}} | founder = Christina Jennings | hq_location = 18 Logan Avenue | hq_location_city = Toronto, Ontario | hq_location_country = Canada | key_people = {{Plainlist| * Christina Jennings (Chairwoman and CEO) * Scott Garvie (Senior VP, Business & Legal Affairs) * Rob Fox (EVP of Production, AMC Studios) * Benjamin Davis (EVP of Original Programming, AMC Networks and AMC Studios) }} | owner = {{Nowrap|AMC Networks (minority stake)}} | divisions = Shaftesbury Kids | website = {{URL|https://shaftesbury.ca/}} }} '''Shaftesbury Films, Inc.''' is a Canadian privately-owned production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987, that specializes in film, television, and digital media production. Its headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario.

== Background == Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television and digital platforms. Shaftesbury's slate includes 19 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, UKTV, and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment; detective drama Frankie Drake for CBC; Houdini & Doyle for Sony Pictures Television, Corus Entertainment, ITV, and Fox; thriller series ''Slasher'' for NBCUniversal's Chiller and now available on Netflix; and CBC Kids series The Moblees. Shaftesbury's digital arm, Smokebomb Entertainment, produces original digital, convergent, and branded entertainment projects including the YouTube series and upcoming movie Carmilla; mystery series V Morgan Is Dead; fashion comedy series MsLabelled, produced in partnership with Shaw Media and Tetley Tea; supernatural drama Inhuman Condition; and the ''Slasher'' VR app for iOS, Android, and Oculus Rift. In June 2014, Shaftesbury partnered with Youth Culture to launch shift2, a branded entertainment agency.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://shaftesbury.ca/|title=Home Page|website=SHAFTESBURY}}</ref> In 2013, the company signed a first look deal with ABC.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Marechal|first=A. J.|date=2013-02-12|title=Shaftesbury signs first-look deal with ABC|url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/shaftesbury-signs-first-look-deal-with-abc-1118066120/|access-date=2021-01-18|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Productions == Productions include ''Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures'' for HBO Canada, based on the Giller-prize winning book by Dr. Vincent Lam; five seasons of ''The Listener'' for CTV and Fox International Channels; and now in season ten of ''Murdoch Mysteries'' for Citytv/CBC and UKTV's Alibi. Shaftesbury also produced a variety of award-winning programming, including the global hit series ''Life with Derek'' and the movie follow-up to the series, ''Vacation with Derek''. Shaftesbury's newest series, ''Good Dog'', is a half-hour comedy created, written and directed by Ken Finkleman that premiered on HBO Canada in 2011.

== Divisions == Shaftesbury's divisions include '''Smokebomb Entertainment''', the company's digital media division responsible for the development and production of original online series and companion web experiences for Shaftesbury's slate of properties; Shaftesbury Kids, their division responsible for several children's TV shows and movies; and Shaftesbury Sales Company, which manages international sales and distribution for the company's content.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bailey|first1=Patricia|title=Decade In Review: Christina Jennings is Playback's Producer of the Decade|url=http://playbackonline.ca/2010/12/22/decade-in-review-christina-jennings-is-playbacks-producer-of-the-decade/|website=playbackonline.ca|publisher=Playback|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>

==Television== The company's television series projects have included:

* ''11 Cameras'' * ''Aaron Stone'' * ''The Atwood Stories'' * ''Backpackers'' * ''Baxter'' * ''Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures'' * ''The Borderline'' * ''Connor Undercover'' * ''Dark Oracle'' (co-produced with Cookie Jar Entertainment) * ''Dead Still'' * ''Fool Canada'' * ''Frankie Drake Mysteries'' * ''From Spain with Love with Annie Sibonney'' * ''Good Dog'' * ''Good God'' * ''Houdini & Doyle'' * ''Hudson & Rex'' * ''The Jane Show'' * ''Life with Derek'' * ''The Listener'' * ''Mischief City'' * ''The Moblees'' * ''Murdoch Mysteries'' * ''Overruled!'' * ''ReGenesis'' * ''Ruby and the Well'' * ''Screech Owls'' * ''The Shields Stories'' * ''SisterS'' (co-produced with Peer Pressure Productions) * ''Slasher'' * ''The Sounds'' * ''Splashlings''

==Film== Television films produced by Shaftesbury have included: * ''External Affairs'', an adaptation of Timothy Findley's play ''The Stillborn Lover'' * ''Diverted'' * ''In the Dark'' * Michael Ignatieff's novel ''Scar Tissue'' * ''Hemingway vs. Callaghan'', an adaptation of Morley Callaghan's ''That Summer in Paris'' * ''Except the Dying'', ''Poor Tom Is Cold'' and ''Under the Dragon's Tail'', the first three novels in Maureen Jennings' ''Murdoch Mysteries'' franchise which was later adapted by the company into a weekly series * ''Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story'', a dramatization of the murder trial of Evelyn Dick * ''Terry'', a biopic of Terry Fox * six Joanne Kilbourn mysteries, based on the novels by Gail Bowen * ''Eight Days To Live'' * ''In God's Country'' * ''Mount Pleasant'' * ''The Good Times Are Killing Me'' * ''Skyrunners'' * ''Me and Luke'' * ''The Summit'' * ''Sleep Murder'' * ''She Drives Me Crazy'' * ''The Robber Bride'' * ''Lay Them Straight''

Cinema films have included: * ''Swann'', based on the novel by Carol Shields, * ''Conquest'' * ''Painted Angels'' * ''Camilla'' * ''Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity'' * ''People Hold On'' * ''An American Dream: The Education of William Bowman''

Digital films, produced by digital arm '''Smokebomb Entertainment''', include: * ''Darken''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pinto|first1=Jordan|title=Smokebomb goes Darken|url=http://playbackonline.ca/2016/07/19/smokebomb-goes-darken/|website=Playback Online|publisher=Brunico Communications Ltd.|accessdate=2 August 2016}}</ref>

==Digital== The company's digital series projects, produced by digital arm '''Smokebomb Entertainment''', have included:

* ''Backpackers'' * ''Carmilla'' * ''Emerald Code'' * ''Houdini & Doyle: World of Wonders'' * ''Inhuman Condition''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cummins|first1=Julianna|title=IPF invests nearly $2M across 17 web series|url=http://playbackonline.ca/2014/06/23/ipf-invests-nearly-2m-across-17-web-series/|website=Playback Online|publisher=Brunico Communications Ltd.|accessdate=24 June 2014}}</ref> * ''MsLabelled'' * ''Murdoch Mysteries: The Curse of the Lost Pharaohs'' * ''Murdoch Mysteries: The Murdoch Effect'' * ''Murdoch Mysteries: Nightmare on Queen Street'' * ''State of Syn'' * ''Unlikely Heroes'' * ''Gay Mean Girls''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Pinto |first=Jordan |title=Babe Nation’s Ghost BFF returns for season two |url=https://playbackonline.ca/2020/07/07/babe-nations-ghost-bff-returns-for-season-two/ |access-date=2025-12-13}}</ref> * Ghost BFF<ref name=":0" />

The company's digital arm also oversees '''KindaTV''', the company's distribution channel through YouTube hosted by Natasha Negovanlis.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Official website|https://shaftesbury.ca/}} *[http://mediacommons.library.utoronto.ca/fonds/shaftesbury-films-inc Shaftesbury Films Inc. archives] at the University of Toronto Media Commons

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Category:Companies based in Toronto Category:Mass media companies established in 1987 Category:Film production companies of Canada Category:Television production companies of Canada