Rick Boland

Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, are a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies and are now also sold on DVD. The Minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991 as part of a one-off heavily-promoted history quiz show hosted by Rex Murphy. The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television and CTV Network. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman's CRB Foundation, Canada Post Power Broadcasting, and the National Film Board. They were devised, developed and largely narrated by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully. In 2009 Historica merged with The Dominion Institute to become The Historica-Dominion Institute. While the foundations have not paid networks to air Minutes, they have made them freely available, and in the early years paid to have them run in cinemas across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each minute counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content requirements.

Jake Doyle and his ex-cop father, Malachy, run a Newfoundland detective agency. Their rugged seaside town never lacks for intriguing cases, and the Doyles don't always land on the right side of the law.

The Untold Story of the Suffragists of Newfoundland (1999) is a docu-drama celebrating the thirty year struggle by the women of Newfoundland to win the right to vote.

In this chilling, atmospheric thriller, Katelyn (Lindy Booth) seeks answers about the brutal murder that claimed her mother's life 20 years ago in the lighthouse where they lived, a crime for which her grief-and-guilt-crazed father has long held the blame. When developers descend on the abandoned lighthouse and begin to vanish mysteriously, Katelyn comes face-to-face with the evil haunts the family's former abode.

On September 11th, 2001, 38 planes headed to New York City were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. A town of 9,000 took in 7,000 passengers for 4 days until American airspace reopened.

The Hatching Matching and Dispatching story continues in A Christmas Fury - an outrageously funny TV movie with unexpected heart.

When Draper Doyle’s father drops dead two days after his birthday, Draper realises that he his memories of visiting his father two days previously have vanished. With the help of Uncle Reg, he attempts to piece his memory back together.

Faustus is a clerk in St. John's at the Newfoundland Department of Education. He dreams of becoming ruler of Newfoundland and seceding from Canada. In the real world, Faustus' boss Eddie Peddle plans to indoctrinate the citizenry of Newfoundland with a cult-like geometric theory known as Total Education, but Peddle may be foiled by the revelation of a secret from his past career.

Honey Reddigan is a celebrity at the Sweet Bea baking factory. She has just published her first romance novel, Carmen the Bee Keeper's Lover. Carmen, Honey's fictional heroine, is everything Honey ain't. In walks Edmund Goobie—a charming, commitment-phobic local TV personality. They begin a hot affair that quickly approaches relationship status. But happily-ever-after is not in the cards for this quirky couple. The affair comes to an end when they purchase a bread maker together and realize that they want different things. The monumental fight over the appliance forces Honey to change her life.

A young girl in central Newfoundland becomes convinced she is connected to one of the last Beothuk people. As she and her father search for her mother’s grave near Red Indian Lake, an accompanying archaeologist with similar beliefs joins them, and their journey explores questions of heritage, memory, and identity.

As the new millennium approaches, God considers pulling the plug on the planet unless St. John the Baptist finds a reason to spare humanity. John travels to the Newfoundland city that bears his name where he becomes entangled in the lives of talk-show host Marietta, her husband Rick. (Toronto International Film Festival)

Margaret is a grandmother serving out a sentence in a minimum security prison. Daniel, her grandson, is a gifted classical guitar student who loves his nan very much. They've always had a deep connection, rooted in music. The day before his graduation, Margaret gets authorization to attend Daniel's concert ceremony. During the next 24 hours, they play music together, discuss the nature of family, and freedom, and get reacquainted after a long time apart. On the day of the ceremony, Daniel reveals a hidden intention - to help Margaret regain her freedom.

When a single mom, facing eviction, is offered a night’s work, she unsuccessfully seeks a babysitter for her two small children. Desperate, she reaches out to the last person she wants to ask for a favour.

A short drama that takes a humourous look at the consumer society.

Inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signals in Newfoundland and is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.