Immediately upon encountering Drew Antzis and Tamara Bick, it’s abundantly clear that the couple have a unique chemistry that’s as comfortable for each as it is rooted in some good-natured chiding.
Now the Peterborough-based actors and improv artists are taking their easy banter and good-natured ribbing to a whole other level, co-starring in Janet & Steve, a new Bell Fibe TV1 episodic series that will be filmed in Peterborough this September.
Written by Antzis and Bick, and produced by them along with Paradigm Pictures founder and cinematographer Pawel Dwulit, the five 12-minute episodes will explore the absurd yet wholly relatable quarrels of a couple navigating life after their move to sleepy Peterborough from the frenzied madness of Los Angeles.
According to a press release from Paradigm, “If Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm had a dinner party with Modern Family, they’d serve Janet & Steve as dessert.”
While production won’t begin until mid-September, Antzis and Bick are busy now, finalizing the scripts for each episode. Dwulit, meanwhile, is scouting potential shooting locations.
“Some of the ones (locations) that come to mind are the Farmers’ Market and the Peterborough Axe Club,” notes Dwulit.
“It’s going to be about 10 days of filming. The shots, the blocking — everything is pre-planned as soon as locations are confirmed. We’re going to be editing through the winter and then we’ll deliver the five episodes by the end of January. They (Bell Fibe TV1) are going to broadcast the show in the spring of 2026 for 90 days.”
Beyond that, should season one “catch a beat,” the hope is “we can get season two green lit.”
At the heart of the project is the Central Ontario Film Initiative (COFI), a not-for-profit supported by Community Futures Peterborough and the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce that has three aims: promote and market central Ontario as a destination for film and commercial production; develop, nurture and organize talent and resources to increase capacity for film and commercial productions in the region; and advocate various levels of government to reduce any barriers to film and commercial production in central Ontario.
“Drew and Tamara were part of a group that pitched the Central Ontario Film Initiative idea to Mayor Jeff Leal, Jasbir (Raina), Peterborough’s Chief Administrative Officer, and the city clerk (John Kennedy),” notes Dwulit, adding “They loved it.”
“We have a really good opportunity to attract bigger productions here. For one, we get 10 per cent more tax credit than Toronto and, two, we have resources here. We can hire locally and benefit from that.”
“We’re trying create a local database of (filming) locations, of crew and city-owned resources as well as equipment that’s available for rent … a hyperlocal approach to benefit the local economy directly by attracting productions.”
But while that’s all vital for a production to meet with any success, those appearing on camera as the central characters have to be of a calibre that will attract, and keep, viewers’ attention. In Antzis and Bick, Janet & Steve is being well-served by a real-life high-energy couple who have lived and experienced the very premise of the show.
Peterborough-raised and an Adam Scott Collegiate alumnus, and a Second City veteran, Bick relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her comedy career. It was there that she met Bronx-born Antzis, who was working as a director with the popular website Funny or Die.
The pair hit it off, personally and professionally, honing their craft as filmmakers, writers, directors and producers at their own production company, Bick/Antzis. They primarily created web commercials for big name companies, working in the process with the likes of Alec Baldwin, Will Farrell, and Mike Myers, to name a few.
Acting-wise, Bick landed guest spots on episodes of Men Behaving Badly and Seinfeld, for the latter portraying Louise in the season eight episode titled “The Abstinence.”
Antzis, meanwhile, turned heads with his co-direction of, and cinematography for, The Landlord, a 2007 short comedy film starring Will Farrell and Adam McKay.
Come 2015, the couple was living in Peterborough — a move prompted by Bick’s desire to live closer to family. Once settled here, they drew on the success of their 2012 to 2014 YouTube series Settle This Thing to bring a live version of the series to The Theatre On King. Like the web series, it was left up to their audience to decide who was in the right to settle arguments between the two.
“The arguments were relationship stuff, like should I wear socks with flip-flops,” explains Antzis, adding “No, I shouldn’t, as it turned out.”
“We ended up doing fringe festivals in Montreal, Chicago, and Toronto,” adds Bick. “It was really a lot of fun and it was very well received.”
Noting “We’ve argued a lot,” Antzis says there’s a lot of material from Settle This Thing to draw on for Janet & Steve.
As for Peterborough being the shooting location, Dwulit says having lived in the city for 10 years now introduces a familiarity factor.
“I met Drew in 2018 when I started the 48-Hour Film Challenge. Since then, we’ve kind of been partnering up on narrative projects and comedy stuff. We did a proof of concept (for Janet & Steve) in 2022 called The Lottery Ticket, an eight-minute short film based on their show (Settle This Thing). It has that bickering and that back-and-forth that made the show. I was like ‘We need to do something that we can develop into a series.'”
“We pitched it last year. They made us revisit it, and we pitched it again this year, and we got it. It’s been a long-term goal of mine to be able to work on narrative as a production company owner and director of photography. It’s amazing that we get to do this in our own backyard.”
VIDEO: “The Lottery Ticket” (2021) starring Drew Antzis and Tamara Bick
Noting “We’re in the business of making fun of ourselves in a friendly way,” Antzis says “We’re going to be poking fun at things in Los Angeles, things in Peterborough, ourselves, everything.”
“Mostly Drew,” retorts Bick, noting “the hope and the dream” is that viewers of Janet & Steve can relate wholly to the principal characters as they navigate their relationship and life in general.
Working with each other, she says, offers a unique benefit.
“If you can work with your husband, you can work with anybody,” she laughs, adding “I can work with animals. Dogs, cats … anyone that doesn’t behave properly.”
“But there’s definitely a comfortability in working with some you’ve worked with a lot and you know very well. There’s a shorthand.”
“And a trust,” adds Antzis.
With Peterborough well known, past and present, for its producing of acclaimed musicians, Dwulit says “the region has a lot to offer. Getting our show out there and getting eyeballs on it is going help promote the region for film.”
“You can shoot almost any type of show here, and there’s a lot of resources already here. It’s really exciting in that sense. The people we’re meeting are excited to learn and jump on board in different roles. We’re embracing a small-footprint high-level production model, which I think is where the industry is now going.”
Long-term, adds Dwulit, beyond the hope that Bell Fibe TV1 will give the go-ahead for a second season, licensing Janet & Steve for other markets is on the radar.
“These guys (Antzis and Bick) are very creative. It’ll be its own thing by the end of season one. It will be very defined in a way. It’ll be really fun where they write it next.”
For more information on Paradigm Pictures and projects it has had a hand in, visit paradigmpictures.tv.
Meanwhile, more information about the Central Ontario Film Initiative can be found at filmcentralontario.com.
