Win HD TV picks up Jason Barbeck’s Watcher pilot as MOW
By Jamie Casemore
Writer-director-producer Jason Barbeck also co-stars in the dramatic thriller, which serves as a pilot for a planned eight-episode series.
Broadcaster Win HD TV has picked up Watcher (pictured), an Indigenous drama from writer, director and producer Jason Barbeck (A History of Violence).
The 60-minute TV movie serves as the pilot of a planned eight-episode series, for which Barbeck and his team are seeking a broadcaster and additional funding.
While Win HD TV is traditionally focused on content for Canada’s Caribbean diaspora, Barbeck told Playback Daily that the broadcaster was intrigued by the project’s Indigenous aspect and agreed to air the film. The premiere is slated for April. Watcher stars Indigenous actor Gerald Auger (Hell on Wheels) as an experienced Woodland Cree tracker who must team with a former city detective, played by Barbeck, to save a missing Indigenous girl.
The cast also includes Geneva Waye, Brian Kaulback (Murdoch Mysteries), Georgina Lightning (Older Than America), Dana Solomon (Anne with an E), Patricia Hegedus (Hercules) and Colm Feore (Landman).
The film is produced by Barbeck through his Windsor, Ontario-based Watcher Pilot Productions, in association with Auger’s Calgary-based 4 Directional Studios. Gerald Auger, Brian Kaulback, Dale Hildebrand and Nicholette Williams are executive producers.
Watcher began shooting in North Bay, Ontario in early December and wrapped on January 9. Sales and distribution are being handled by Toronto-based Trimuse Entertainment.
The film was supported by the Canada Media Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.
Image courtesy of Watcher Pilot Productions
Originla article posted @ playbackonline.ca on 19/01/2026