Ms. Natalie Cole reports

CASTING DETAILS ANNOUNCED AS PRODUCTION BEGINS ON NEW SPACE ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES KILLJOYS

British actress Hannah John-Kamen, known for her starring role in West End musical Viva Forever; Canadian genre favourite Aaron Ashmore (Smallville); and Luke Macfarlane of London, Ont., best known for his role as Scotty Wandell on Brothers & Sisters, have been cast as the leads in BCE Inc.'s Space, Syfy and Temple Street Productions' coming original adventure drama series Killjoys. Commissioned by Space and produced by Temple Street Productions for Space and Syfy, the 10-episode, one-hour series begins production in Toronto on Aug. 5, 2014. Created and written by showrunner Michelle Lovretta (Lost Girl) and directed by genre guru Chris Grismer (Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars), Killjoys follows a trio of interplanetary bounty hunters (Ms. John-Kamen, Mr. Ashmore and Mr. Macfarlane), or Killjoys, as they chase deadly warrants throughout the Quad, a distant planetary system on the brink of a bloody class war. With additional casting still to be announced, Killjoys is set to premiere in 2015 on Space.

"Hannah, Aaron and Luke are the perfect combination to lead this exciting new drama series," said Corrie Coe, senior vice-president, independent production, Bell Media. "With only two weeks remaining until the start of production, we look forward to seeing the universe this trio will bring to life with our stellar partners, Temple Street Productions and Syfy."

"We're absolutely thrilled to have Hannah, Aaron and Luke sign on to play our stalwart team of bounty hunters," commented Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier, executive producers and co-presidents of Temple Street Productions. "We're looking forward to getting production under way with this killer ensemble and our partners Space and Syfy."

In Killjoys, Ms. John-Kamen stars as the gorgeous, complicated and deadly Dutch. A top-level Killjoy, she's a much loved and charming presence in her community, with a unique gift for earning people's trust and respect regardless of their class. Under her banter and protective flirtations, there is pain, maturity and a deep solemnity resulting from a dark secret past.

Mr. Ashmore takes on the role of John Jaqobis, a Level 3 Killjoy who, despite his profession, is a peacemaker who hates conflict. Cheerful and kind-hearted, John prefers not to fight, but his sarcastic wit has put him into the fray enough over the years to teach him how to do it well and dirty. Give this man any machine or situation, and he can fix it, build it and fly it.

Mr. Macfarlane stars as D'avin, a handsome, rugged, sarcastic and incredibly loyal former soldier. He dreamed of enlisting in the military since boyhood, and his hard-won expertise in tactics, manoeuvres and hand-to-hand combat make him an instant asset to the Killjoy team.

Killjoys was created by Ms. Lovretta, who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Executive producers are Mr. Fortier and Mr. Schneeberg of Temple Street Productions. Director and consulting producer is Chris Grismer. Producer is Karen Troubetzkoy. Writer and consulting producer is Jeremy Boxen. Writers are Emily Andras, Adam Barken and Aaron Martin. Universal Cable Productions distributes the series around the world.

Killjoys is produced by Temple Street Productions, in association with Bell Media and Syfy. Production executives for Bell Media are Trish Williams and Rebecca DiPasquale. Corrie Coe is senior vice-president, independent production, Bell Media. Catherine MacLeod is senior vice-president, specialty channels, and Bell Media Production. Phil King is president, CTV, sports and entertainment programming.