CBC’s new sitcom, ‘Small Achievable Goals,’ is slated to carry out shooting in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, between October 16 and November 28, 2024. Jennifer Whalen and Meredith Macneill are the driving forces behind the show as creators and lead actresses. They are joined by executive producers Jennifer Kawaja, Bruno Dube, and Elise Cousineau. The show is scheduled for a Winter 2025 release.
The sitcom will follow Jan and Kris, two women navigating life’s ups and downs with humor, heart, and a hefty dose of hormonal havoc. Jan’s battling her boss, her marriage, and her newfound penchant for public outbursts thanks to menopause. Meanwhile, single mom Kris is wading through the murky waters of middle-aged dating while fighting the aging process with every beauty trend she can find. When the women are forced to work together on a podcast, they make for unlikely companions and give each other company in their mutual cluelessness. Their friendship spurs them on a journey of transformation as they tackle workplace challenges, dating dilemmas, and health scares, possibly emerging as marginally improved versions of themselves.
Jennifer Whalen and Meredith Macneill are acclaimed writers and actresses who have previously worked together on CBC’s ‘Baroness Von Sketch Show’ – a sketch comedy series about the humorous insights of women in daily lives – and on ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes,’ a sketch comedy show that pokes fun at current news and political events. Jennifer Whalen has most recently written for Freevee’s ‘Pretty Hard Cases,’ a comedy crime drama about two female detectives from different departments coming together to navigate a broken system. Meredith Macneill takes on the lead role of Det. Samantha Wazowski in the series. She has also acted in ‘Haven’ as Ona Fortuna, ‘Your Money or Your Wife’ as Annie, and ‘North Mountain’ as Mona.
Whalen’s latest acting role is that of Ella in ‘Sugar Highs,’ a show about unemployed men wanting to get high without working menial jobs and resorting to finding sugar daddies for themselves. Whalen’s writing credits extend to ‘InSecurity,’ ‘The Dating Guy,’ and ‘The Ron James Show.’ Alongside ‘Small Achievable Goals,’ CBC has also greenlit a sitcom revolving around hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Inspired and created by Quinton Nyce and Darren Metz, the show will follow the Indigenous hip-hop sensation, their hustle, and their chaotic journey to stardom.
Known as the Hollywood North alongside Vancouver, Toronto and its neighboring city, Hamilton, are bustling filmmaking hubs with many notable projects employing their backdrops in 2024. Peacock’s scripted series ‘Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy’ is slated to shoot in Toronto in September. Daniel Grou’s ‘Kill Me Now’ will also begin shooting in the same month and narrate the poignant tale of a disabled teen whose family and friends are forced to confront uncomfortable realities when his condition worsens. Some recent productions shot in Hamilton include ‘Abducted off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story,’ ‘Turtles All the Way Down,’ and ‘The Big Cigar.’
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