Justin Trudeau and his former chief of staff Katie Telford are trading the halls of Parliament for the entertainment business with the launch of a “proudly Canadian” media company called Hope & Hard Work.
The former prime minister and his longtime aide announced a lineup of scripted and unscripted film and television projects on Friday, saying they were curated with a focus on Canadian stories that resonate both at home and around the world.
Trudeau and Telford launched the company at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday evening with a party at Malaparte, a rooftop event space at the TIFF Lightbox that overlooks the main artery of the film festival on King Street.
“At a time when the world is sort of saying, ‘what’s Canada doing that’s doing so well? How are they pulling together at a time when so many people are divided?’” the former prime minister said to the crowd. “These are stories that the world needs to hear.”
While Trudeau said it was not a political event, he was not shy about the rhetorical nature of his second act, telling the crowd at the Lightbox that his goal is to “empower us with knowledge and information” at a time when he says technology is dividing people.
“Changing someone’s mind is actually trying to get them to change their very identity, and people are, rightly, resistant to that,” he said, “but storytelling can sneak through.”
The launch puts Trudeau in company with other former political figures who have turned to entertainment as a platform — and signals a broader push by Canadian institutions to assert cultural soft power at a moment of geopolitical tension with the U.S.
Hope & Hard Work is named after a slogan Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada used throughout his nearly decade-long run as prime minister.
It’s a perspective that’s been echoed by Prime Minister Mark Carney as he faces heightened political tensions with the U.S. and looks to strengthen Canada’s allyship with Europe. Carney was instrumental in getting Canada involved in the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and advocating for more Canadian-made global hits that are set inside the country, like Crave’s hockey romance “Heated Rivalry.”
Trudeau and Telford said in a statement that they are seeking projects that promise “a mix of optimism and joyful entertainment.”
The initial slate includes TV series adaptations of several popular Canadian novels, including “Closer By Sea,” the bestseller by Perry Chafe, creator of CBC’s “Republic of Doyle.” The series is set in a small Newfoundland fishing town on the brink of collapse, and follows a 12-year-old boy as he grapples with his father’s death and the disappearance of a local teenage girl.
“Detective Aunty,” based on the book by Toronto author Uzma Jalaluddin, tells of a South Asian widow who becomes an unlikely investigator when her daughter is accused of murdering the landlord of her boutique clothing store.
“Backchannels” is set in the world of a new chief of staff as they navigate the world of politics, based on the book “The Right Hand: Conversations with the Chiefs of Staff to the World’s Most Powerful People,” by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks.
Other projects include “Le College,” a Montreal private school drama, an original series from “North of North” writers Jessie Gabe and Shebli Zarghami, and “Power Moves,” a rivals-to-lovers romantic comedy set in the world of politics and media from author Leesa Ronald.
Hope & Hard Work also secured a strategic partnership for unscripted and documentary TV with Earth Tones, a media company run by one-time MTV Canada host Aliya Jasmine Sovani and her sister Aliza Sovani.
Asked by the Star whether Hope & Hard Work will produce its content in Canada, Trudeau said only that it will be made with “Canadian values” — despite highlighting a slate of Canadian authors and creators.
The launch party was filled with Canadian stars, from Allan Hawco of “Republic of Doyle” to Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser, while girlfriend Katy Perry was not present.
Trudeau noted that while he’s new to the film scene, he and Telford have been “steeped” in the arts and culture world for 10 years as politicians, and hope to pull together an independent — and well-financed — production company.
It’s a playbook used by others — Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground and Prince Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions have both built on their post-public-life platforms to produce documentaries and scripted content.
“In elections we used to say, whoever tells the best story about who we are and where we wanna go, wins the election,” said the former prime minister. “And those stories matter now more than ever before.”
