SKINS, A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES FROM MOVIE CENTRAL AND THE MOVIE NETWORK, DEBUTS
JANUARY 17

• The North American adaptation of the groundbreaking U.K. series
• Premieres Monday, January 17, 2011 on Movie Central and The Movie Network
• Featuring six Canadian lead cast members selected from open casting calls

TORONTO, Dec. 17 /CNW/ - This January, Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) and Astral's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) are taking viewers inside the lives of a group of high school friends as they stumble through the mine field of adolescence, one raw, raunchy, wild step at a time. Skins, the North American adaptation of the edgy U.K. series, begins Monday, January 17 at 9 p.m. PT on Movie Central and 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network.

The series is directed by Canadian directors Scott Smith (Call Me Fitz) and Samir Rehem (Testees), and features an ensemble cast that includes six Canadians in leading roles. Skins is produced as a Canada/UK co-venture from Entertainment One and Company Pictures, in association with Movie Central and The Movie Network and with MTV in the U.S. The series was shot in Toronto from August to December 2010, and is helmed by executive producer and showrunner Brian Elsley, creator of the original U.K. series. In addition to Elsley, Skins is executive produced by Laszlo Barna, Margaret O'Brien and Michael Rosenberg of Entertainment One and Charles Pattinson, George Faber, Matt Jones and Chris Clough of Company Pictures.

"We're thrilled to be partners on this exceptional series adaptation and proud to have the production take place in Canada with so many talented young Canadians," said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama, Corus Entertainment.

"We jumped at the chance to collaborate with the talented producers behind the hit U.K. series to help bring this cult show to life for Canadian audiences," said Aubie Greenberg, Director, Original Programming, Movie Services, Astral Television Networks. "Skins fits in perfectly with the cutting edge boundary pushing series our TMN subscribers expect."

Set in an urban North American city, the 10-part, one-hour drama follows the lives of nine classmates and their complex relationships, the politics of friendship and the difficulties of everyday high school life. The group includes: Tony (James Newman), a good-looking, witty manipulator who wants everything and usually gets it; Eura (Eleanor Zichy), Tony's younger sister who is mysterious, elusive, beautiful and completely in control, (while acting totally out of control); Tony's girlfriend, Michelle (Rachel Thevenard), gorgeous and clever, just not clever enough to realize Tony may not be the right one for her; Tony's best friend Stanley (Daniel Flaherty), who may just be the right one for Michelle; Cadie (Britne Oldford), possibly dysfunctional and stuck in a pretend relationship with Stanley; Chris (Jesse Carere) no drug is too obscure for him to try, no sexual mountain too high for him to climb; and Tea (Sofia Black-D'Elia), who complicates everyone's life, and happens to like girls. Rounding out the group are Abbud (Ron Mustafaa), whose parents would prefer he be at a mosque rather than a rave, and Daisy (Camille Cresencia-Mills), the responsible one in the group just itching to break some rules of her own.

Skins is a high-definition production that will be simulcast on The Movie Network and Movie Central's High Definition channels. All new episodes will be available on demand and on The Movie Network OnLine following the network premieres.

Movie Central is a commercial-free premium pay TV service available in western Canada. Movie Central premieres the best in Hollywood, international and Canadian films across nine 24-hour movie channels, including dedicated high-definition feeds, a Movie Central On Demand service and exclusive HBO content on HBO Canada. Movie Central is also the first window for Showtime content and home to cutting-edge Canadian series. A major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry, Movie Central, through The Corus Made with Pay Fund, supports many critically-acclaimed and award-winning Canadian series and films. Visit the Movie Central website at www.moviecentral.ca.

Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

The Movie Network is a pay television service available in eastern Canada. With premiere access to Hollywood hit movies, new and exclusive HBO content, critically-acclaimed Showtime series and first-rate Canadian programming, this pay-television service presents Canadians with some of the best television entertainment available. The Movie Network service includes five 24-hour multiplex channels - M, HBO Canada, MExcess, MFun! and MFest - which deliver diverse and entertaining programs in an uncut and commercial-free television environment. The Movie Network also offers The Movie Network HD, HBO Canada HD, MExcess HD and MFun! HD, four dedicated high-definition channels providing hundreds of titles in HD; The Movie Network OnDemand, a Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, available in select areas across eastern Canada; and, TMN OnLine an Internet-based content streaming service available to BellTV, Rogers and Videotron subscribers. For more information, please visit www.themovienetwork.ca .

The Movie Network is a member of the Astral family. Astral (TSX: ACM.A/ACM.B) is one of Canada's largest media companies. It operates several of the country's most popular pay and specialty television, radio, out-of-home advertising and digital media properties. Astral plays a central role in community life across the country by offering diverse, rich and vibrant programming that meets the tastes and needs of consumers and advertisers. To learn more about Astral, visit astral.com.

For access to The Movie Network's media room or Movie Central's press site, please visit http://tv.astral.com or http://mediacentre.corusent.com.

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