Unis TV, Bell Media set collaboration with Surf Bay, côte Ouest

June 17 2025

As seen in Playback By Jamie Casemore

Unis TV and Bell Media have teamed up for the first time with the B.C. French-language drama Surf Bay, côte Ouest.

The 10 x 23-minute series is created by Anthony Cauchy and began production on May 26, wrapping July 9, Caunchy told Playback Daily. It is produced by his Vancouver-based banner Locomotive Media and Magali Gillon-Krizaj for her Reign Films, with Dominic Desjardins (Paris Paris) as director.

Surf Bay, côte Ouest will premiere on Unis TV in 2026 and begin streaming on Crave in 2027. It received support from the Canada Media Fund and Creative BC along with B.C. provincial and federal tax credits. Attraction Distribution is the Canadian distributor.

Cauchy has been in B.C. for more than a decade, previously working with Unis TV to help support producers in the western region before founding Locomotive.

Surf Bay, côte Ouest features a multi-provincial writing team with Ontario-based Paul Ruban (En résidence) and Desjardins, Alberta-based Marie-Claire Marcotte (Running with Violet) and Quebec-based Sophie Bernier. It stars Camille Felton (Fugueuse; pictured) as a professional surfer who risks her career and standing in her community when she stands up against tourism development threatening an ancient forest.

The series cast also includes Mia Wistaff (Due Process), Tony Hiu Joong Giroux (Fort Salem), Henri Picard (Le plongeur), France Perras (Heart of Clay), Jessica Heafey (Le monde de Gabrielle Roy), Karl Walcott (Riverdale), Emilie Leclerc (Heliophilia), Jackie Blackmore (Evelyne), Everick Golding (The Flash) and Ben Cotton (When Calls the Heart).

“Supporting Unis TV in this fiction initiative aligns perfectly with Crave’s mission: To develop and actively promote the richness of Canadian culture in both French and English,” said Suzane Landry, Bell Media’s VP of content development and programming, in a statement.

Jérôme Hellio, TV5 Quebec Canada and Unis TV director of content, added that the series also supports Unis TV’s mission to “support regional talent and tell universal stories deeply rooted in their local communities.”

Image courtesy of Unis TV