A day after racking up a leading 19 nominations for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards, it's been announced that The Porter will not be getting a second season.
The Porter, a joint production between CBC and BET+, tells the story of Black train porters in 1920s Montreal, Detroit and Chicago.
Inspired by true events, the eight-part series followed the workers' attempts to secure safer working conditions through forming the first Black-led labour union in North America.
Speaking with the Canadian Press, executive producer Jennifer Kawaja shared that CBC had greenlit and pushed for a second season "until the bitter end," with the American BET+ opting not to support.
CP also notes, per Kawaja, that production company Sphere Media made attempts in the US and UK to find an alternate backer, though networks weren't interested in "the Canadian point of view" of the story's subjects.
Along with elevating Black Canadian talent in its cast and creative team, The Porter also featured original music composed by Kaia Kater, who spoke with Exclaim! last February about the series and her compositions.
"I feel like [The Porter] was created by people who had the goal to present Black Canadian experiences as, of course, overshadowed by the terrors of racism and the terrors of colourism," the artist shared. "And yet, also present this other side that I find was lacking in Canadian television, which is this dynamism and this joy. And I really hope that we can create more room in the Canadian media industry for those stories, because they deserve to be told."
The Porter's 2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations include honours for Best Drama Series, Best Lead Performer, and Best Original Music in multiple categories. As previously reported, the televised awards ceremony takes place April 16.
The Porter, a joint production between CBC and BET+, tells the story of Black train porters in 1920s Montreal, Detroit and Chicago.
Inspired by true events, the eight-part series followed the workers' attempts to secure safer working conditions through forming the first Black-led labour union in North America.
Speaking with the Canadian Press, executive producer Jennifer Kawaja shared that CBC had greenlit and pushed for a second season "until the bitter end," with the American BET+ opting not to support.
CP also notes, per Kawaja, that production company Sphere Media made attempts in the US and UK to find an alternate backer, though networks weren't interested in "the Canadian point of view" of the story's subjects.
Along with elevating Black Canadian talent in its cast and creative team, The Porter also featured original music composed by Kaia Kater, who spoke with Exclaim! last February about the series and her compositions.
"I feel like [The Porter] was created by people who had the goal to present Black Canadian experiences as, of course, overshadowed by the terrors of racism and the terrors of colourism," the artist shared. "And yet, also present this other side that I find was lacking in Canadian television, which is this dynamism and this joy. And I really hope that we can create more room in the Canadian media industry for those stories, because they deserve to be told."
The Porter's 2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations include honours for Best Drama Series, Best Lead Performer, and Best Original Music in multiple categories. As previously reported, the televised awards ceremony takes place April 16.
