#CLANDESTINY TORONTO COMEDY SERIES#

Vanessa Adams as seen in the Next Stop episode “Mosquito” (CBC) Without access to huge fundings or top actors, the creators were able to connect with a former co-worker and friend-Jordan Hayles and Vanessa Adams as the main cast members. 'We were treating each episode as its own film almost, united by similar themes of similar cultural backgrounds, similar settings all in different parts of Toronto,' Witmer said. They didn't have a structured outline or a specific number of episodes in mind when they started filming. Tichaona Tapambwa Small production, big talentĪfter sending early scripts and going through 'a lot of terrible ideas,' the team wrapped up their pre-production work and started rolling the camera in March 2018. We saw a gap and we were like, maybe Next Stop can fill that gap. 'We felt like we wanted to find the perfect middle ground, we wanted to marry those two things because we didn't see it in the market.

'They focus on even more so heavy dramatics or lean toward more sketch comedy,' Tapambwa said. So they decided to follow the anthology format but make it Toronto-specific.Īfter looking at a lot of great content produced by Black storytellers in Toronto, they noticed a lack of every day, anthology-style storytelling.

These popular shows are based in LA, Chicago and London, UK-none in Canada.

#CLANDESTINY TORONTO COMEDY SERIES#

Tapambwa said they drew a lot of inspiration from shows created by Black filmmakers such as Issa Rae and Cecile Emeke, as well as successful anthology series like Easy. 'And we were looking for the best way to enter in.' 'Let's actually put our best foot forward in this industry,' said co-creator Tichaona Tapambwa. But when all of them were laid off from their jobs, the three decided that they should finally give filmmaking a serious shot. Both Weekes and Witmer worked for Noisey, VICE, and Tapambwa had been part of a short film project. Weekses, Tapambwa and Witmer had all been involved in the media industry prior to Next Stop. 'It's to get the Toronto we see and live every day as first-generation… what we see in our city every day,' said co-creator Phil Witmer, who also worked on all the original music for the series. Filmed in 2018 and now streaming on CBC Gem, Next Stop is a four-part comedy series created by Jabbari Weekes, Tichaona Tapambwa and Phil Witmer.

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