Durham County A Deeply Dark and Riveting Television Movie Series Coming Soon

May 27, 2008

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Muse Distribution International Appoints Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada To Distribute
Durham County
A Deeply Dark and Riveting Television Series

“The darkest TV show in Canadian history.”
- Toronto Star

Toronto, ON – Muse Distribution International has engaged Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada, a leader in the crime and horror genre, as its exclusive service agent in Canada to distribute Durham County, the sophisticated and powerful series that explores violence in a suburban setting, in the Canadian home entertainment market.
Durham County is “a landmark in Canadian television,” says Jerry Woodburn, General Manager of Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada. “I am extremely proud to be working with Muse Distribution on the DVD release of such potent drama. Fans of Anchor Bay will see that Durham County is a perfect fit for us, and will complement our catalogue immensely.”
Durham County is an emotionally compelling six-episode dramatic series that combines police procedural with family melodrama. It explores the complex relationship between a homicide cop, Mike Sweeney, played by Hugh Dillon (Hard Core Logo, Flashpoint) and his adversary, Ray Prager, who appears to be a serial killer, played by Justin Louis (Trump Unauthorized). They have a shared history that goes all the way back to high school; as well as unfinished business and dark secrets. You think you can leave your past behind. But you can’t…
Durham County is a riveting and visually stunning drama rounded out by a cast of complex characters. Hélène Joy (Murdoch Mysteries) plays Sweeney’s wife Audrey who has recently returned home from the hospital after a battle with breast cancer, and Laurence Leboeuf (Human Trafficking) is their 16 year old daughter with a dark streak. Ray’s wife Traci Sonya Salomaa (The Collector) is a knockout blonde in her early thirties and Greyston Holt (A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story ) is their son Ray Jr, a talented writer who is belittled by his father and an outsider at school.
NOW Magazine praises Durham County as ‘Dark, moody, and emotionally taut…it’s one of the of best Canadian shows of the year.’ According to The Globe and Mail this crime drama is ‘a compelling…very fine, somber and smart drama’, and that ‘(Hugh) Dillon is outstanding as Sweeney.’
The first season of Durham County has aired in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central and recently had a national network broadcast premiere on Global Television May 19, 2008, Durham County will also air in French in October 2008 on the Mystère Channel in Quebec. Muse Distribution International and Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada anticipate a late summer DVD release for the first six episodes.
What sets Durham County apart from other crime dramas is the unique perspective brought to the genre by the predominantly female team behind the series, a co-creating team that includes Janis Lundman (Executive Producer), Adrienne Mitchell (Executive Producer/Director) and Writer - Laurie Finstad Knizhnik. “What really compelled us was the whole question of what makes a person become a monster,” explains Mitchell. “What are the circumstances and the forces that make a seemingly ordinary man cross the line into committing acts of horrible violence?”
They say there’s only six degrees of separation between you and anyone else in the world, but sometimes it’s not even that. Sometimes the most brutal evil you can imagine is already in your world. Sometimes he’s just across the street.

Durham County is written by Laurie Finstad Knizhnik (Bliss, Cold Squad) and helmed by award-winning directors Holly Dale for episodes 1-4 (Cold Case, Absolution, The Collector) and Adrienne Mitchell for episodes 5-6 (Bliss, Drop The Beat, Straight Up) and Executive Producers are Michael Prupas (This is Wonderland, Human Trafficking, Wind in the Willows) of Muse Entertainment Enterprises and Janis Lundman (Bliss, Drop The Beat, Talk 16) and Adrienne Mitchell of Back Alley Film Productions Ltd.
Durham County is a co-production between Muse Entertainment Enterprises and Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. and will be distributed on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada on behalf of Muse Distribution International
Muse Entertainment Enterprises is a leading independent feature film and television producer known for well-crafted, high-quality productions. Muse’s most recent productions include the comedy feature The Deal starring William H. Macy and Meg Ryan, and the television mini-series Durham County. Since its founding in 1998, Muse has produced, co-produced and provided production services on more than 100 theatrical features, TV movies, mini-series and series. Among its many award-winning productions are the mini-series Human Trafficking and Answered by Fire, the TV series This is Wonderland and Tales from the Neverending Story and the TV films The Wind in the Willows and The Many Trials of One Jane Doe. Muse was the production services producer of the award-winning feature films I’m Not There and The Fountain and of the TV movies The Wool Cap and Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story. The company’s head office and its Quebec production centre are based in Montreal. Muse also maintains development and production operations in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles.
Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. has been producing entertaining and provocative film and television in Canada for over 15 years. Founded by Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell, the company is synonymous with high-quality, innovative productions that aim to entertain both domestic and international audiences. With their strong backgrounds in producing (Lundman/Mitchell) and directing (Mitchell) the two partners have produced award winning human-interest documentaries (Talk 6, Talk 19, Lawn and Order) and cutting edge dramatic television series (Straight Up, Drop The Beat and Bliss). Their most recent 6 X 1 hour dramatic series, Durham County, combines police procedural with family melodrama and explores violence and the hope for love that drives it. Back Alley Films has worked with co-producing partners Alliance Atlantis, Galafilm and Muse Entertainment and with broadcasters CBC, CTV, Global Television, Showcase, The Movie Network, Movie Central and Oxygen Media. Back Alley Films offices are located in Toronto and Montreal.
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a division of Starz Media. Starz Media is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes Film Roman and Anchor Bay Entertainment as well as the Manga Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming – including theatrical films – and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media is a wholly owned subsidiary of Starz, LLC which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. and which is attributed to Liberty Capital Group, www.starzmedia.com.