EMMY(R) AWARD WINNER ARCHIE PANJABI RETURNS WITH KRIS HOLDEN-RIED FOR SEASON THREE OF THE AWARD-WINNING GLOBAL ORIGINAL SERIES DEPARTURE

EMMY(R) AWARD WINNER ERIC McCORMACK JOINS THE SERIES

With production underway, the award-winning drama series features returning star Mark Rendall with Jake Weber, Patrick Sabongui, Cihang Ma, Brit MacRae and Savonna Spracklin joining the cast

Archie Panjabi is the first South Asian British actress to lead a Canadian drama series into a third season

Departure Season Three is a Shaftesbury Production, in Association with Corus Entertainment, Starlings Television and Red Arrow Studios International; Pope Productions is the Co-Producer

TORONTO, September 16, 2021 - Shaftesbury announced today that season three of the thriller drama, Departure has begun production in St. John's, Newfoundland and Toronto. Produced by Shaftesbury, in association with Corus Entertainment, Starlings Television and Red Arrow Studios International, the gripping drama is directed by Canadian Screen Award winner, T.J. Scott (Orphan Black, Star Trek: Discovery), who is also one of the series executive producers. Departure is created by Vincent Shiao with Jackie May serving as showrunner.

Over 500 passengers are aboard The Queen of the Narrows ferry, destined for St. John's Newfoundland. For many, this is an adventure of a lifetime with whale watching and iceberg sightings along the way. A beautiful evening on board begins to turn as the ferry enters stormy weather. Within a few hours, a loud bang is reported throughout the vessel, throwing passengers into panic, who clamor to reach lifeboats as the ferry begins to take on water with alarming speed. What unfolds is an unimaginable nightmare with serious loss of life as the ship sinks in record time.

The investigation team, led by Kendra Malley (Emmy(R) Award winner, Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife) and Dominic Hayes (Kris Holden-Ried, Clarice) begin to unravel the many parts of the investigation, all in search of one answer: why did the Queen of the Narrows sink so quickly? Returning to the team this season is Mark Rendall (ReGenisis) with Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Jake Weber (American Gothic), Patrick Sabongui (Homeland), Cihang Ma (Hudson & Rex), Brit MacRae (Hidden Springs) and Savonna Spracklin (Tribal) joining the cast this season.

Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie and Archie Panjabi are Departure's executive producers, joined by Paul Pope, Jackie May, Vincent Shiao and T.J. Scott. Patrick Cassavetti is the series producer.

For Corus, Lisa Godfrey is the Senior Vice President of Original Content and Corus Studios Rachel Nelson is Director of Original Content, Scripted & Factual, Kathleen Meek is Manager of Original Content.

Executive producing for Starlings are Chris Philip and Karine Martin, along with Propagate Content's Ben Silverman; Red Arrow Studios International's Tim Gerhartz and Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia; and Sleeping Giant's David A. Stern and D. Matt Geller.

Departure is directed by T.J. Scott and created by Vincent Shiao.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Twitter - @GlobalTV - @GlobalTV_PR - @CorusPR Facebook - Instagram

Corus Entertainment Inc. Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B) is a leading media and content company that develops and delivers high quality brands and content across platforms for audiences around the world. Engaging audiences since 1999, the company's portfolio of multimedia offerings encompass 33 specialty television services, 39 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, a suite of digital and streaming assets, animation software, technology and media services. Corus is an internationally-renowned content creator and distributor through Nelvana, a world class animation studio expert in all formats and Corus Studios, a globally recognized producer of hit scripted and unscripted content. The company also owns innovative full-service social digital agency so.da, lifestyle entertainment company Kin Canada, leading 2D animation software supplier Toon Boom and children's book publishing house, Kids Can Press. Corus' roster of premium brands includes Global Television, W Network, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY(R), Showcase, Adult Swim, National Geographic, Disney Channel Canada, YTV, Global News, Globalnews.ca, Q107, Country 105, and CFOX, along with broadly distributed Canadian streaming platforms STACKTV, Nick+, the Global TV App and Curiouscast. For more information visit www.corusent.com.

Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television, film, and digital. Shaftesbury's current slate includes 15 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, Acorn TV, and UKTV, four seasons of critically acclaimed horror series Slasher, four seasons of Hudson & Rex for Citytv/Rogers Sports and Media, and two seasons of Departure for Global/Corus Entertainment, starring Emmy(R) Award-winner Archie Panjabi and the late Academy Award(R)-winner Christopher Plummer. Building on a library of award-winning kids' programs, Shaftesbury also has an extensive slate of new kids and family programming including The Solutioneers, Miikshi, What the Stink?, and Emerald Code. Shaftesbury's in-house, Emmy(R) Award-winning immersive and branded entertainment studio, Shaftesbury XR, works with broadcasters and brands to create ground-breaking stories and games in digital, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. www.shaftesbury.ca

Starlings Television is a division of Starlings Entertainment, a collection of interconnected companies that focus on financing and producing smartly budgeted, highly commercial live action and animated films and television programs along with other media. The fast-growing global production and development slate at 3-year-old Starlings Television includes, in addition to Departure, YA sci-fi action series Pandora, with two seasons on The CW; murder mystery series Sherlock's Daughter with UK production company StoryFirst and distribution partner Mediawan; Alexander the Great, a collaboration with Ben Silverman/Propagate, IP-owner ZDF-Enterprises/G5fiction (the latter led by multi-award-winning producer Uwe Kersken) and Antenna, with a pilot and bible from writer/showrunner Michael Hirst, the creator of Vikings and The Tudors; and Romanovs' spy thriller Red Winter, written by Stephen Kronish (24, The Kennedys) with Russia's top broadcaster, Russia 1 and ZDF-Enterprises/G5fiction. www.starlingsentertainment.com

Red Arrow Studios International is a world-leading TV distributor of scripted, formats and factual shows from a global network of in-house production companies, outstanding third-party producers and digital-content partners. With offices in Munich, London and Los Angeles, Red Arrow Studios International co-produces and finances global entertainment, and distributes acclaimed content to over 200 territories worldwide. Red Arrow Studios International is part of Red Arrow Studios, which is comprised of an acclaimed network of international production companies and labels in seven territories; digital studio, Studio71; and film distributor Gravitas Ventures. Red Arrow Studios is a ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE company, one of Europe's leading media groups.

-30-