Seth Rogen, Elliot Page, Will Arnett are working with Bell Media on new projects. Amy Sussman/Getty Images; Santiago Felipe/Getty Images; Presley Ann/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Bell Media in the last year has doubled down on bringing homegrown stars in Hollywood back to Canada to make TV series by unveiling development and production deals with Seth Rogen, Elliot Page and Will Arnett, among others. An early success is the gay hockey romance series Heated Rivalry, picked up by HBO Max in the U.S. and created by Letterkenny director Jacob Tierney for Bell Media's Crave streaming platform north of the border. The six-part drama is based on the novel series by Rachel Reid and was brought to Bell Media by Tierney and Brendan Brady through their production banner Accent Aigu Entertainment. Related Stories Movies Hong Kong's Leading Stars Hit the Road With High Hopes to Rejuvenate Film Industry Movies China Box Office: Bi Gan's Mesmerizing Art House Drama 'Resurrection' Opens to $16.5 Million "Our team have been very excited about this project since it first came to us. We encouraged Jacob to option the books. And there's more than one book, so there could be more success," Justin Stockman, vp of content development & programming for Bell Media, tells The Hollywood Reporter. Tierney, long a movie director with credits like The Trotsky and Preggoland, helmed a slew of Letterkenny and Shoresy episodes and executive produces The Traitors Canada for Bell Media, which all gave comfort for Stockman to get behind Heated Rivalry. Hudson Williams (left) as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie (right) as Ilya Rozanov in 'Heated Rivalry.' Sabrina Lantos/Bell Media/HBO Max "Everything about this project felt a little risky because of the nature it," Stockman said of a steamy drama where hockey is only a backdrop to a secret love affair between Canadian hockey star Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, and his Russian rival Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storie). "It definitely lowered our risk because we're working with someone who's a known quantity and we know is super talented and has delivered for us many times before," he adds. Bell Media rolled out other development deals, including partnering with Rogen and his Point Grey Pictures and Lionsgate to produce an upcoming scripted show in Canada that has yet to be announced after the breakout success of The Studio; Page and his Pageboy Productions signed a deal to create content for the CTV network and streamer Crave, starting with the Slo Pitch comedy from Shaftesbury that just completed production; Bell Media and Fremantle partnered on the return of Match Game, hosted by Canadian Martin Short and shot in Montreal; and comedian Tom Green as part of a co-development deal with Bell Media hosts the Crave interview series Tom Green's Funny Farm. But in among the deals announced with top Canadian talent and creatives was news Bell Media had expanded internationally by distributing content to markets outside Canada via London-based Sphere Abacus, in which it acquired a majority stake in March 2025. The strategy to expand the reach of Canadian content and creators worldwide followed Canadian producer Sphere Media, in which Bell Media already had a minority stake, acquiring UK distributor Abacus to create Sphere Abacus. So taking the majority stake in Sphere Abacus, which has handled distribution of Heated Rivalry beyond Canada, allowed his company to "own more of the television value chain," Stockman explains. Previously, Bell Media licensed local series with global appeal from Canadian indie producers who then got any upside when those shows were sold into international markets via distributors who paid advances and helped arrange financing. Connor Storrie (left) as Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams (right) as Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander in 'Heated Rivalry.' HBO Max/Bell Media An example is the CTV original series Sullivan's Crossing, a romantic drama picked up stateside by The CW, before seizing a bigger audience with Netflix and as Fremantle handled international distribution. "We love this show. It's a great hit for us. It's selling all over the world. Fremantle are reaping the rewards of being the distributor, which they deserve, because they put the money in to get it funded and took that risk," Stockman says. It turns out his his Bell Media team for years had eyed international distribution as a good business to get into. But it took the Canadian company hiring the A&E Networks and Nielsen veteran Sean Cohan as president in Oct. 2023 to finally drive incremental revenue growth outside Canada by doing a tie-up with Sphere Abacus. "We just needed the right eyes on it, which is Sean," Stockman recounts. Tapping Canadian talent and creativ