MUMBAI: Canadian media company Shaw Media has sealed a deal with Endemol to produce the first ever Canadian installment of the wildly popular international sensation, Big Brother, and has teamed up with Canadian production heavyweight Insight Productions on the production of the series.

The inaugural season of Big Brother Canada will air during the 2012/13 broadcast season exclusively on Slice?.

The ?Big Brother? franchise aired 25 formats in 87 countries in 2011 and continues to roll out in new territories.

Shaw Media senior VP of content Barbara Williams said, ?Big Brother has become a worldwide phenomenon and we?re proud to team up with Endemol and Insight Productions to launch the fan favourite format in Canada. The production of this format is hugely exciting as it takes us into unchartered territory, filming live around-the-clock and enabling fans to interact with the series in ways we?ve never explored before."

Endemol US chairman David Goldberg said, ?After more than a decade, Big Brother is still a ratings winner in the major territories across the globe. Global has been a great partner from the beginning, when they brought the US version of Big Brother to Canada 13 seasons ago.

We look forward to seeing this proven format continue its home-grown success with the first-ever Canadian edition of the series,? he continued.

True to the US format, ?Big Brother Canada? will hand pick a diverse group of competitive contestants in the ?Big Brother? house outfitted wall to wall with cameras and microphones to capture the house guests? every move.

Week to week the house guests compete in a series of
challenges and vote each other out until one claims victory and takes home the grand prize. Fans of ?Big Brother? can connect with the series outside of the three-day-a-week broadcast through a myriad of digital extensions including live streaming and social engagement opportunities that allow online users to impact decisions in the house.

MUMBAI: The first episode of the mini-series ?Titanic? will be screened at the television trade event MipTV 2012 on 1 April in the Grand Auditorium in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

Hosted by distributor ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Lookout Point, the gala screening will be followed by a conversation with creators and cast members of ?Titanic?, and the writer Julian Fellowes.

Titanic is a co-production from ITV Studios with Shaw Media, Deep Indigo Productions and Lookout Point in the United Kingdom, Sienna Films Inc. in Canada and Mid Atlantic Films in Hungary, where it was filmed.

The mini-series is distributed by ITV Studios Global Entertainment, and has already been sold in more than 80 countries. Produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark and Chris Thompson, the series of four one-hour episodes is scheduled for broadcast in March/April 2012, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ?Titanic?.

Following the screening of episode one at MipTV, writer Julian Fellowes, who won an Oscar for ?Gosford Park?, will take part in a Q&Asession on the stage of the Grand Auditorium. He will be accompanied by cast members, who will also be attending the MipTV 2012 Opening Party Red Carpet.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment MD Maria Kyriacou said, "This fantastic drama offers a vividly different experience of the ship?s last hours alongside a snapshot of what was a unique and uncertain moment in history. With our partners, we?re looking forward to celebrating this wonderful production in Cannes."

Lookout Point MD and ?Titanic? executive producer Simon Vaughan said, "MipTV and Mipcom had been hugely important to the financing of Titanic. Julian and I were here with ITVS GE 18 months ago talking to potential partners and co-producers, so it feels most fitting to celebrate its launch with a gala screening here in Cannes. We are extremely proud to have the chance to screen it to our friends and colleagues in this way."

Reed Midem director of the television division Laurine Garaude said, "We are delighted and honoured to host this exceptional gala screening of such a prestigious drama mini-series. As a major co-production, it coincides particularly well with our focus on drama co-production at this MIPTV and will be one of its highlights".