Etan Vlessing / Playback
The CBC has made a point of betting on event-TV like the Summer and Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.
So it’s fitting that the pubcaster on Wednesday said it acquired the six-episode event series Ascension, commissioned by the U.S. Syfy channel from Vancouver’s Lionsgate and Sea to Sky Studios in association with Jason Blum’s L.A.-based Blumhouse Productions.
The miniseries is currently being shot in Montreal in association with local producer Lift Off Productions.
The CBC is set to air the event series in November 2014.
Ascension, created and showrun by Philip Levens (Smallville) portrays a space ship launched in 1963 by the U.S. government as a covert mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage to populate a new world.
Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, the mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their mission.
Brian Van Holt, Tricia Helfer, Jacqueline Byers and Andrea Roth topline the futuristic drama.
Levens will executive produce the series along with Blum, Ivan Fecan, Tim Gamble and Brett Burlock.
The series is co-financed and distributed by Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television.