TORONTO, CANADA – April 2, 2019 – Entertainment One’s Podcast Network announces the debut of This is Deadsville, their first musical podcast. This is Deadsville tells the tale of a fictional Southwest Ontario town whose once thriving factory closes, forcing the entire town out of work. It is told through spoken word with nine original songs.

The musical is written and directed by Toronto native, Jeffrey Case, who didn’t set out to write a musical fiction. “I started experimenting with the idea of creating a concept album for the podcast generation,” Case explains. After demoing four songs (Deadsville, Ordinary Man, Knew it Well, and Headed West) Case enlisted production duo Joel Simpson and Jennifer Ashley (Ashley & Simpson/Randomocity Records).

After the music recording sessions were complete, Case knew that seizing the podcast listener

hinged on his ability to bring the spoken word segments to life. “My goal was to have the spoken word sound like a real conversation,” he says.

With the help of marketing legend Ron Tite and Emmy-nominated writer Sandy Marshall, Case assembled an amazing cast who gathered one chilly October day at Toronto’s Astrolab Studios. Rather than have the actors simply read the script, Case allowed them to breathe life into the characters through improvisation.

This Is Deadsville is released in two parts. The first half of the musical opens in a small radio station, where a veteran radio host interviews the Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent, Jack Smith. Smith tells the tale of how the once booming King Motorcycle Company falls on hard times, is sold and is shut down, forcing the entire town out of work.

Case hopes that the This Is Deadsville podcast doesn’t just entertain listeners, but to also provoke them. “I would really like the podcast to challenge the listeners, to consider how Canada can support our small towns in a world where trade is global and jobs are not guaranteed.”

Entertainment One’s This is Deadsville is now online and can be streamed on all major podcast platforms such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Stitcher.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES

Contact: Kimberly Hacuman

Email: podcast@entonegroup.com
Call: 416-646-2400 ext. 4713

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About Jefferey Case, Creator of This is Deadsville

Toronto native, Jeffrey Case, is a creator who uses both song and spoken word to tell stories. This Is Deadsville is his first podcast. He has two others currently in development. Case is also a trained singer, marketer, speaker and an award winning innovator.

About the Stars of This is Deadsville

RON TITE was trained at Second City and has been a comedian, speaker, host and award winning advertising writer and executive creative director. He has also written for a number of

television series. Named one of the Top 10 Creative Canadians by Marketing magazine, Ron is

the president of The Tite Group, a content marketing agency based in Toronto. Ron speaks at

over forty events every year and hosts The Art Of conferences across Canada.

RALPH MACLEOD is the co-founder of The Social Capital. Prior to this he was the co-founder,

workshop director, and general manager of the Bad Dog Theatre Company. He oversaw the

latter company’s growth from a fledgling group into the second-largest improv training centre in the country. He has produced, created, directed, and written several shows including Hip

Waiters, Hot Doctors in Love, Macro Neato, Win Ralph’s Stein Full of Money, Hardboiled, and

several others. He has been training improvisers for over a decade and several of his former

students can be seen on film, TV, and television commercials. Many have gone on to work

professionally at Second City in Chicago and Toronto. Ralph also works as a corporate trainer

and his list of clients have included Bell, Xerox, University of Toronto, the National Advertiser

Benevolent Society, and several more.

PAUL BARNES is a Dora Award nominee in 2017 for Superdude & Mr. Rude, is a graduate of

the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Second City Conservatory Program.

An actor, comedian, and puppeteer, he has spent four years as a cast member of the Second

City's Educational and Family Companies. He is also a principal cast member on the TVO/Jim

Henson kid's show Hi Opie! , and performs with various improv and sketch troupes around

Toronto such as Improv Against Humanity, Dog Science, We Happy Few and Men with

Mustaches. He is delighted that he gets to spend his adult working life playing with toys and

making pretend. Recently he starred in a Toronto Fringe Festival favorite, The Pineapple Club.

PENELOPE CORRIN is a Canadian actress. Penelope graduated from Canterbury Arts High

School. She continued her education in Vancouver and is a graduate of the UBC BFA Acting

program. She was a regular performer with the Royal Canadian Air Farce as well as its

successor program Air Farce Live.

About Entertainment One

Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a global independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. The Company’s diversified expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales; family programming, merchandising and licensing; digital content; and live entertainment. Through its global reach and expansive scale, powered by deep local market knowledge, the Company delivers the best content to the world. 

Entertainment One’s robust network includes international feature film distribution company Sierra/Affinity; Amblin Partners with DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, and Reliance Entertainment; Makeready with Brad Weston; unscripted television production companies Whizz Kid Entertainment and Renegade 83; live entertainment leaders Round Room Live; world-class music labels Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang; and award-winning emerging content and technology studio Secret Location.