WHO WE ARE:

Family Channel is a premium, commercial-free network offering the best in family television entertainment in over 6 million homes across Canada. Dedicated to celebrating family life and providing a fun experience for all, Family airs a unique mix of series, movies and specials, with a large portion of programming supplied by Disney. Family Channel also offers Family OnDemand, a television-based Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) service and Family OnLine, an internet-based, streaming service, these services, available at no additional cost, present hit Disney movies and series plus top-rated Canadian series to subscribers when they want it, where they want it. Visit us at Family.ca.

Family Channel is a member of the Astral family. Astral is one of Canada’s largest media companies. It operates over 100 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 www.astral.com.

OUR TEAM

Director, Original Programming: Michael Goldsmith

Production Executive: Sarah Haasz  

Director, Programming: Donna Dos Reis

ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING

SERIES
For our tween audiences we have seen great success with live-action comedies, both single and multi-camera, that appeal to our focus of kids eight to 14. The channel is keen to find programming that complements our current comedic line up and that could also work on the newly launched Disney XD. Programming that has relatable characters and explores aspects of life that are important to our viewers such as family, friendship, school and discovering a sense of self, tend to perform well with our audiences. Comedy is key though, so writing needs to be sharp enough to make tweens and teens laugh out loud.

How to Pitch?
We encourage producers to research the channel and its lineup before emailing a one-page outline document to Michael Goldsmith (mgoldsmith@astral.com) or Sarah Haasz (currently on leave).

Review Process: We will respond to your proposal within 4 weeks of receipt (unless Astral and producers mutually agree to extend the deadline by an additional 4 week period). If we are interested in discussing your series further, we typically will set up a follow-up meeting to discuss the creative material. If we are interested in pursuing your project into development, we will ask you to submit additional information such as budget and financing. 

What do we develop?: Though the development process varies project to project, we typically will develop one script (pilot) and bible or season arc document in the first phase of series development. Phase two of development consists of additional scripts or a presentation pilot.