Award-Winning Actors Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse Cast as Leads in CARDINAL, CTV's New Serialized Drama from Sienna Films and Entertainment One

– CARDINAL will premiere as part of CTV's 2016/17 schedule, with production beginning in February 2016 –

– Additional casting details will be announced soon –

­­To tweet this release: http://bmpr.ca/1jtDDAC

TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2015 /CNW/ - CTV, alongside producers Sienna Films and Entertainment One (eOne), announced today that Golden Globe^® nominee Billy Campbell and the multiple Genie Award-winning actress Karine Vanasse have been cast as series leads in CARDINAL (working title), the network's recently announced serialized, six-part, one-hour drama. The cinematic murder mystery series stars Campbell (THE KILLING) as the intelligent, reflective, and dogged detective named John Cardinal, from the northern city of Algonquin Bay, who is burdened by a wrong he committed years ago. Quebec native Vanasse (REVENGE) is confirmed to play Cardinal's partner Lise Delorme, a shrewd, tough, imaginative, and gifted investigator from the town's French Canadian community. CARDINAL is a gripping, character driven drama set to premiere as part of CTV's 2016/17 schedule, with production set to begin in February 2016.

**MEDIA NOTE** – Download photos of CARDINAL at BellMedia.ca/PR.

"It is an honour to have Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse on board CARDINAL," said Corrie Coe, Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. "These two enormously talented actors, with their wide range of film and television experience, are perfectly suited to bring these rich, complex characters to life."

Most recently, well-known actor Billy Campbell starred in AMC's hit series THE KILLING as Seattle City Councilman, and eventually mayor, Darren Richmond. Campbell is also known for his role as Rick Sammler on the beloved ABC drama ONCE AND AGAIN, which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series and won a People's Choice Award for Favourite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his performance. He is also known for his roles in THE 4400, and National Geographic Channel's docudrama KILLING LINCOLN. Campbell's most notable films include:  the cult classic The Rocketeer, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Enough.

Karine Vanasse is an award-winning Canadian actress. Her recent television credits include ABC's PAN AM and REVENGE, and the upcoming French series BLUE MOON. Over the course of her career she has had lead roles in over a dozen films, including the 2009 Canadian film Polytechnique, for which she earned a Genie Award for Best Female Performance. Vanasse also served as co-producer on the film and was the driving force behind the film, which was awarded eight other Genie Awards in 2010, including Best Picture. Vanasse was also nominated for an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Female Performance in 2006 for the mini-series October 1970 and in 2010 for her performance in Polytechnique.

CARDINAL is adapted from the award-winning novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the first of the John Cardinal Mysteries series, a series of six bestselling crime novels written by Ontario native and award-winning author Giles Blunt. The series begins with the discovery of Katie Pine, a missing 13-year-old whose body is discovered in the shaft-head of an abandoned mine. CARDINAL follows detective John Cardinal (Campbell) as he attempts to uncover the mystery of what happened to the young girl. At the same time, unbeknownst to Cardinal, he comes under investigation by his new partner, Lise Delorme (Vanasse), a tough investigator in her own right.

CARDINAL is produced by Sienna Films and eOne in association with Bell Media's CTV, with the financial participation of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the Canada Media Fund and the Cogeco Program Development Fund, and with the assistance of the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Super Écran has commissioned the series for French-language Canadian broadcast. eOne will distribute the series worldwide.

CARDINAL was first put into development by CTV in 2011. The series adaptation is developed for television and written by Canadian Screen Award-winner Aubrey Nealon (ORPHAN BLACK, SAVING HOPE), who also serves as an Executive Producer and Showrunner, directed by the award-winning Montréal native Daniel Grou (19-2, TU M'AIMES-TU?), also an Executive Producer, and is executive produced by Sienna Films duo Julia Sereny and Jennifer Kawaja (COMBAT HOSPITAL). For Bell Media, Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy is Production Executive; Tom Hastings is Director, Drama, Independent Production; and Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV. Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting, Bell Media.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter: 
@CTV_PR
@CTV_Television
Billy Campbell – @WOCampbell
Karine Vanasse – @karinevanasse

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/CTV

About Bell Media Independent Production
Bell Media has commissioned some of Canada's most-watched and most-acclaimed original programming, working with the best Canadian independent producers in the country. Hit series commissioned by CTV include ratings success stories SAVING HOPE, MOTIVE, the record-breaking THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, and MASTERCHEF CANADA. CTV recently announced its first-ever serialized drama CARDINAL. Among the original scripted series on Bell Media pay and specialty channels are the internationally acclaimed ORPHAN BLACK, the smash-hit thriller BITTEN, Space's most-watched original series KILLJOYS, Bravo's most-watched original drama 19-2, award-winning dramedy SENSITIVE SKIN, upcoming cult comedy LETTERKENNY, and the new original drama FRONTIER. Bell Media specialty channels are also home to hit factual series HIGHWAY THRU HELL, COLD WATER COWBOYS, and CANADA'S WORST DRIVER, among others.

About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 14 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at CTV.ca.

SOURCE CTV

Jessica Charbonneau, Publicist, CTV Networks, 416.384.3016 or [email protected]; Allie Page, Senior Manager, Communications, CTV Networks, 416.384.4596 or [email protected]