Shaftesbury Films

Background

Shaftesbury Films is a Canadian film and television company founded by Christine Jennings in 1987. In 2021, AMC Networks purchased a minority stake in the company, giving them distribution rights to all of Shaftesbury's titles outside of Canada.

1st Logo (April 16, 2000-August 31, 2010)

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Visuals: Against a black background, there is a large yellow bell swaying inside an invisible box. The bell then suddenly stops moving as the text "S H A F T E S B U R Y" appears fading in right below.

Variants:

• In later years, "SHAFTESBURY" is already present at the bottom of the screen and is also larger compared to the bell.
• The size of the logo would slightly vary.
• A slightly shorter version also exists.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A calm piano/string fanfare with a bell ringing, composed by Gary Koftinoff. Otherwise, the closing theme of the show or movie plays over it or none.

Availability: Seen on Shaftesbury movies and TV series from the era, such as Life with Derek, ReGenesis, Aaron Stone, and season 1 of Murdoch Mysteries.

2nd Logo (February 10, 2009-January 8, 2018)

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Visuals: The word "Shaftesbury" moves very close to the camera and places itself in the blue space, above a moving globe.

Variants:

• On kid-oriented series from the company, four multicolored cards with the letters of the word "KIDS" in them fly underneath "Shaftesbury".
  • A cropped 4:3 version of this variant was seen on the pilot of Overruled!.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A peaceful string fanfare composed by Robert Carli, the ending theme of the show, or silence. The Shaftesbury Kids variation has a whimsical arrangement of the fanfare.

Availability: Seen on series from the company from the era, such as The Listener, Backpackers and episodes of Murdoch Mysteries from season 2 to part of 11. The Shaftesbury Kids variation is seen on Overruled!, Connor Undercover, Baxter, and the Life with Derek series finale "Vacation with Derek".

3rd Logo (November 6, 2017-)

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Visuals: On a white background, a red line draws from the right before it forms a shape, then the bolded text "SHAFTESBURY" appears letter by letter, in white outlined in black, as a red line draws itself underneath the text. The line curves twice and overlaps itself behind the company name, which colors itself black. A line with three dots at the top (resembling a rollercoaster car with people in it) slides up on the curve and stops midway on the left side.

Variant: A shortened version exists.

Technique: 2D animation by Haft2 Inc.

Audio: The ending theme of the show, a fantasy-oriented four-note theme composed by Kristjan Bergey and Robert Carli, or none.

Availability: Seen on episodes of Murdoch Mysteries starting sometime in the 11th season, and on other programs from the company, such as Hudson and Rex, Slasher, The Sounds, Dead Still, and Frankie Drake Mysteries.