THE MASTERMINDS
Dennis Nicholson
Creator/Director/Writer
Dennis is a Canadian Filmmaker from Sydney NS. In 2011 he graduated from the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART) in London ON. Soon after he finished school he branched out to Directing and Producing whilst concurrently working in the Sound Department of top Canadian TV Shows and movies including CBC’s ‘Kim’s Convenience’ and Amazon’s ‘The Boys’.
From 2012 to 2019 Dennis directed a total of 9 short films including comedic spy thriller ‘Double Crossed’, wondrous kid’s adventure film ‘Canadian Sniper’, and social media addicted ‘#basicbaes’, which earned several awards in the USA and Canada.
Dennis’ first feature film ‘Kitty Mammas’ was picked up by Gravitas Ventures for North American distribution and was released in January of 2021. The comedic mockumentary film stars Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (of ‘Kim’s Convenience’ fame) as a disgraced fertility doctor who runs a clinical trial in which four women give birth to kittens.
Oliver Ward
Creator/Actor/Writer
Oliver Ward is a DIY-DSLR generation film-maker. Eager to accept any challenge, his work ethic has resulted in an exciting career that has taken him from New York, to Toronto to Muskoka.
In 2012 Oliver co-founded The Blue Flame Collective, a Toronto-based film production community dedicated to the creation, production and promotion of independent Canadian Film. The BFC produced over thirty award-winning short films.
Oliver has written three award-winning short films, ‘Mr. West’, ‘Sensitivity Training’ & ‘Sensitivity Training II’. He is also the creator of ‘Three Guys and a Witch’, a successful webseries hosted on multiple platforms and featured in Vincent Terrace’s book: ‘Internet Comedy Television Series’. Oliver also directed ‘Mr. West’ which screened at various film festivals including Ekran - Toronto’s Polish Film Festival.
As a TV editor, Oliver spent three years on Les Stroud’s Survivorman. Oliver also collaborated with Vice Journalist Claire Ward on her multi-award-winning documentary The Cola Road.
André Sills
Creator/Actor/Writer
André is a world-class theatre and stage performer from Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from the George Brown theatre program in 2004. André has captured the hearts and minds of theatre audiences across North America, most notably with award-winning leading roles in Stratford Festival successes such as ‘An Octorone’ and ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and Shaw Festival’s groundbreaking ‘Coriolanious' directed by Robert Le Page. He was part of the original cast for the smash-hit stage play ‘Kim’s Convenience’ taking it from Toronto’s Fringe Festival to stages across Canada during its nationwide tour.
André has won numerous prestigious awards: most notably the My Entertainment World Critics’ Pick Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance in ‘An Octoroon’, as well as the Toronto Theatre Critic’s Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Male Performance for his performance in ‘Master Harold.. and the Boys.’
SERIES OVERVIEW
Story and Concept:
Private Idiots is an original Private Investigator comedy series set in current-day Toronto. The series focuses on two PI’s following a scientist who is a key figure in the corona-19 pandemic. To pass the time during their stakeouts, Steve and Boise hotly debate the polarizing topics of 2020. From Covid conspiracies to the toilet paper crisis, from Tiger King to the Karen apocalypse, every triggering topic is debated. The character’s egos, motives, and pride clash in hilarious ways, but ultimately the two PIs use their differences and abilities to come together and solve the case. Together, somehow, they are a formidable team.
Tone/Comedic Style:
The comedy of Private Idiots comes from the banter between Steve and Boise and the interaction of their distinct personalities and styles. Set in the real world with real consequences, the dialogue of the characters makes use of observational comedy drawing attention to current trends, social norms, viewpoints and stereotypes. The show make use of profanity and controversial topics, giving the show an edge over watered-down TV procedurals and comedies that must adhere to strict censorship.
The title ‘Private Idiots’ pokes fun at the insensitivity and brashness of the characters. Today every topic has the potential to offend someone, even if no offence is given. In every scene of the series someone is being insensitive, and someone is claiming offence over race, gender, diet, parenting, anything really! The tone of the insensitivity is never truly mean or intentional; instead, it is born out of the character’s ignorance or naiveté. The series focuses on the perceptions both PI’s have about the 2020 global pandemic. Episodes explore current subjects including COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, Racism, Social Media Addiction, Cancel Culture, online dating and most notably marble racing.
Look and Feel:
PI will utilize long takes of dialogue to give the show an organically cinematic feel and pacing. There is one angle. That’s it. Allowing the audience to truly feel like they are eavesdropping on a conversation that maybe they shouldn’t be.
