CBC Gem Original Comedy Series ZARQA Starts Production on Season 2
Regina (May 2, 2023) — The comical chaos continues as cameras roll on Season 2 of the CBC Gem original comedy series ZARQA (6x11). From award-winning Canadian film and television producer, author, journalist, and internationally renowned thought leader for Muslim women in media, Zarqa Nawaz (Little Mosque on the Prairie), and produced by Nawaz’s Regina-based production company FUNdamentalist Films, production on Season 2 of ZARQA is underway now until May 16 in Regina, SK.
L to R: Aliza Vellani and Zarqa Nawaz in Season 2 of ZARQA
The six-episode season will premiere on CBC Gem later this year and follows Zarqa’s (Nawaz) pursuit of a holier-than-thou social influencer’s friendship and clout that backfires when she gets cancelled, sending her life spiralling out of control as she attempts to claw her way out of the latest hole she’s dug.
Joining the cast are Aliza Vellani (Sweet Tooth), Greg Ochitwa (Corner Gas), Mark Claxton (Corner Gas), Kayvon Khoshkam (No Way! Podcast), and Pam Haig Bartley (theatrical productions My Chernobyl, True West), alongside returning cast members Nawaz, Husnain Sher (Queens), Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek), Nimet Kanji (Battlestar Galactica), Omar Alex Khan (Frankie Drake Mysteries), Gerald Lenton-Young (Corner Gas), Katie Murphy (theatrical productions We Will Rock You, Footloose), Rob van Meenen (Supernatural), Anand Rajaram (Homeschooled), Kris Alvarez (Burnt Sienna), Darianne Galden (Come Dawn), Sangeeta Gupta (Donkeyhead, Guardians), and Danny Balkwill (Canadian Idol).
Nawaz serves as creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director on the series. Alongside her, Sadiya Durrani (Little Mosque on the Prairie, Overlord and the Underwoods) serves as showrunner, executive producer, and writer, Ell McEachern (Treaty Road, Staying Wild) and Hannah Hermanson (Treaty Road, Staying Wild) serve as producers, Eva Thomas and Ambika Vas are writers, and Candy Fox (ahkâmêyimo nitânis / Keep Going My Daughter, The Other Side, Treaty Road) and Liz Whitmere (Up To Here, Cat’s Got Your Tongue) direct. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports, Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content, Zach Feldberg is Director of Current Production, Comedy and Head of Scripted Gem Originals, and Rebecca DiPasquale is Executive in Charge of Production, Comedy and Scripted Gem Originals.
A CBC Gem original series, ZARQA went to camera with the financial support of the Bell Fund, Creative Saskatchewan, and the Canada Media Fund.
Season 1 of ZARQA is streaming now on CBC Gem.
ZARQA Online
Official trailer: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/705168113
Instagram: @therealzarqa
Twitter: @ZarqaNawaz
Facebook: @zarqanawaz
Website: www.zarqanawaz.com
Hashtag: #ZARQATheSeries
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About Zarqa Nawaz
Zarqa Nawaz is a Canadian producer for film and television, a published author, public speaker, journalist, and former broadcaster. She created, wrote, directed, and produced episodes for the international CBC comedy series Little Mosque on the Prairie, which won a Gemini Award as well as Best International Television Series and Best Screenplay at the 2007 RomaFictionFest. The television series was inspired by Me and the Mosque, Zarqa’s ground-breaking National Film Board documentary which premiered at the Montreal International Film Festival, examining how patriarchal cultural traditions have become mixed up with theology.
In addition, Nawaz has sold four pilots to ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox Studios, has written a bestselling comedic memoir, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque (published by HarperCollins), was an advice columnist for The Globe & Mail, a broadcast personality for CBC Radio, the host of CBC Saskatchewan’s "The Morning Edition,” and anchored CBC Saskatchewan News at 6.
In addition to launching her new self-titled CBC Gem series in 2022, in which she stars, writes, and produces, Nawaz will also debut her new novel, Jameela Green Ruins Everything (Simon & Schuster Canada in Canada, and Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, in the U.S.). The new book is a satire about a disillusioned American Muslim woman who becomes embroiled in a plot to infiltrate an international terrorist organization and, in the process, reconnects with her loved ones and her faith.
A frequent public speaker on Islam and comedy, Nawaz received a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Saskatchewan for her interfaith work in the community. In recognition of her contribution to the world of arts, she received The Brampton Walk of Fame in 2019. Nawaz lives in Regina with her loving but long suffering family and is the proud mother of four children.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
Media Contacts
Steph Perron, BAE Communications
steph@baecommunications.ca
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR
tanya.koivusalo@cbc.ca