As The CW has changed its financial model under new owners Nexstar, entertainment president Brad Schwartz has relied more on international co-productions from countries like Canada . Speaking on Tuesday at the Banff World Media Festival , Schwartz — who hails from Canada — acknowledged that in the past, Canadian acquisitions on U.S.
networks have often been seen in a lesser light. He’s hoping that perception is changing, however. “I would hate for anybody to ever think that Canada is the discount area, because that’s kind of our Canadian personalities in the first place,” Schwartz said.
“Canada has the advantage of having some great broadcasters that are required to invest a lot of money in Canadian content. And then there are tax credits and our American dollars go farther here. I think historically maybe people didn’t respect Canadian content as much.
And maybe there’s still a little bit of that in the background. I personally, as a personal ambition, have tried to change that.” Schwartz pointed to shows like “Schitt’s Creek” (which he developed and ran on Pop TV), “Letterkenny” and “Orphan Black” as some of the recent Emmy-winning and award-worthy shows originating from Canada.
“If I have been lucky enough or ambitious enough to have the relationships and be the one really diving in and championing that content to the world, then that makes me proud,” Schwartz said. “But the CW, we don’t have the budget that CBS and NBC or Netflix .
