Amid a groundswell of Canadian nationalism at The Hollywood Reporter’s Access Canada Summit in Toronto, Christina Jennings, founder of Murdoch Mysteries studio Shaftesbury, sounded an alarm over her country’s cultural sovereignty.
“It’s fair to say we’re a little frightened right now about our destiny. We’re under siege,” Jennings told a keynote conversation about her period police procedural to kick off the Access Canada Summit and moderated by Jeanie Pyun, The Hollywood Reporter‘s deputy editorial director.
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens Canada with yet more economic tariffs and 51st-state taunts, Jennings, Shaftesbury’s chairwoman and president, sounded a patriotic note: “I am unabashedly proud to be Canadian. I love this damn country. I love everything about us. We punch above our weight. We dream big. We’re not afraid to fail. We just need to stand behind this country and our industry right now as we are under real threat.”
Murdoch Mysteries
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Jennings recounted a recent Murdoch Mysteries episode released on July 1, Canada Day, where Detective William Murdoch, a fictional, Victorian-era investigator played by Yannick Bisson, leans into Canadian nostalgia and patriotism during a stirring speech on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
At one point, Murdoch declares “Canada is the world’s second largest country, but its citizens are second to none.” Jennings said the clip of the Murdoch speech nabbed over 30 million views on social media platforms within 72 hours.
During her keynote appearance, Jennings noted Murdoch Mysteries as a locally-produced Canadian TV show sold into 120 international markets had contributed during its two decades over $1 billion to the national economy and created over 10,000 jobs.
One of the secrets to the series’ success, she added, was its main character, investigator Murdoch, and being set in Toronto. “For those who care about history, he (Murdoch) was a man who believed in science when cops basically believed in beating people up to get the truth and putting them in jail and hanging them quickly. He was the opposite of that,” Jennings argued.
