The Sanctuary Network
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; Factors to Take into Account
 
; Factors to Take into Account
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* Independently Financed
 
''Sanctuary'' is a completely privately financed TV series; not funded by large production companies like the mass amounts of other regular TV shows. During the time the web series was transitioning into becoming a TV series, due to running out of money from not making enough revenue back from viewer webisode purchases as the show was heavily pirated across the internet, ''Sanctuary'' creators had to sell the mass majority (if not all) of the show's rights to their private financier "The Beedie Group" (an industrial development company - who were fans of the science fiction show) in order for them to invest heavily in the show as a single TV episode of ''Sanctuary'' typically cost $2 million in production expenditures.
 
''Sanctuary'' is a completely privately financed TV series; not funded by large production companies like the mass amounts of other regular TV shows. During the time the web series was transitioning into becoming a TV series, due to running out of money from not making enough revenue back from viewer webisode purchases as the show was heavily pirated across the internet, ''Sanctuary'' creators had to sell the mass majority (if not all) of the show's rights to their private financier "The Beedie Group" (an industrial development company - who were fans of the science fiction show) in order for them to invest heavily in the show as a single TV episode of ''Sanctuary'' typically cost $2 million in production expenditures.
   
  +
* Parent Company
 
SyFy's parent company NBC Universal had been recently acquired by Comcast on January 28th, 2011. Because of recent changes in ownership and other ongoing trade-dealings etc., by the time early 2012 rolled around for the usual television show renewal process and announcements, SyFy was put on hold; not being able to green-light series productions. SyFy itself wanted to renew ''Sanctuary'' for a fifth season consisting of six episodes.
 
SyFy's parent company NBC Universal had been recently acquired by Comcast on January 28th, 2011. Because of recent changes in ownership and other ongoing trade-dealings etc., by the time early 2012 rolled around for the usual television show renewal process and announcements, SyFy was put on hold; not being able to green-light series productions. SyFy itself wanted to renew ''Sanctuary'' for a fifth season consisting of six episodes.
 
: Note: Around this time, Networks had started a new practice to give popular shows 6-episode final seasons in order to wrap up storylines; so as to not end on a cliffhanger that would frustrate audiences.
 
: Note: Around this time, Networks had started a new practice to give popular shows 6-episode final seasons in order to wrap up storylines; so as to not end on a cliffhanger that would frustrate audiences.
 
Even though all other international markets had wanted to see ''Sanctuary'' continue and had agreed on a fifth season renewal, the Beedie Group would not move forward without a confirmation of backing support from the major US market.
 
Even though all other international markets had wanted to see ''Sanctuary'' continue and had agreed on a fifth season renewal, the Beedie Group would not move forward without a confirmation of backing support from the major US market.
   
  +
* Lease Renewal
 
At the same time ''Sanctuary'' was stalled on renewal from SyFy, the lease for the building the show used to film in had come up for renewal as well. To continue to use the building, The Beedie Group would have to sign a new contract to rent the property for a span of 3 more years.
 
At the same time ''Sanctuary'' was stalled on renewal from SyFy, the lease for the building the show used to film in had come up for renewal as well. To continue to use the building, The Beedie Group would have to sign a new contract to rent the property for a span of 3 more years.
   
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; Announcement from SyFy
 
; Announcement from SyFy
Now that the show had lost their location space and their financial backer(s), SyFy in turn had to announce the cancellation of the series in May 2012.
+
Now that the show had lost their location space and their major financial backer(s), SyFy in turn had to announce the cancellation of the series in May 2012.
   
 
== The Future of ''Sanctuary''==
 
== The Future of ''Sanctuary''==

Revision as of 20:33, 27 February 2020

Sanctuary   Season   One   Two   Three   Four   Overview    

Template:Infocard Season

Premise

Known plans for season 5 included working from the new Underground Sanctuary and the long awaited for return of fan-favorite series regular character Ashley Magnus. Amanda Tapping has stated in several interviews and at convention panels that Helen had found a way to save her daughter during her 113 year trip back through time without interfering with the course of the natural timeline. Amanda had conferred with Emilie about this, to which she was on board to reprise her character. Unfortunately the show was cancelled before this plan could be filmed and shown in-universe.

Cancellation

Several factors had culminated into the ultimate decision by SyFy to officially cancel of the show, preventing Sanctuary from having a fifth season.

Factors to Take into Account
  • Independently Financed

Sanctuary is a completely privately financed TV series; not funded by large production companies like the mass amounts of other regular TV shows. During the time the web series was transitioning into becoming a TV series, due to running out of money from not making enough revenue back from viewer webisode purchases as the show was heavily pirated across the internet, Sanctuary creators had to sell the mass majority (if not all) of the show's rights to their private financier "The Beedie Group" (an industrial development company - who were fans of the science fiction show) in order for them to invest heavily in the show as a single TV episode of Sanctuary typically cost $2 million in production expenditures.

  • Parent Company

SyFy's parent company NBC Universal had been recently acquired by Comcast on January 28th, 2011. Because of recent changes in ownership and other ongoing trade-dealings etc., by the time early 2012 rolled around for the usual television show renewal process and announcements, SyFy was put on hold; not being able to green-light series productions. SyFy itself wanted to renew Sanctuary for a fifth season consisting of six episodes.

Note: Around this time, Networks had started a new practice to give popular shows 6-episode final seasons in order to wrap up storylines; so as to not end on a cliffhanger that would frustrate audiences.

Even though all other international markets had wanted to see Sanctuary continue and had agreed on a fifth season renewal, the Beedie Group would not move forward without a confirmation of backing support from the major US market.

  • Lease Renewal

At the same time Sanctuary was stalled on renewal from SyFy, the lease for the building the show used to film in had come up for renewal as well. To continue to use the building, The Beedie Group would have to sign a new contract to rent the property for a span of 3 more years.

Decision From The Beedie Group

Due to the uncertainly of renewal caused by delayed response from SyFy, eventually hearing back (too late) from SyFy about having a 6-episode long Season 5, and having to sign a 3-year lease to rent the property, the Beedie Group made the financial decision to stem their losses by not resigning the lease and by pulling their funding.

Note: Sanctuary was a passion project for the Beedie group and not the company's primary focus nor did the show have a large sum in ROI; waning the groups interest in providing continued finance. Many cast and crew penny-pinched the entire run of the series, volunteering portions of their pay to go back into the show as they valued the experience to work on the project more so than their monetary compensation for their time and efforts. A notable example of this was Amanda Tapping who took a small pay as an actor and donated her added pay for being an Executive Producer. When the decision to not to renew the lease occurred, the cast and crew were suddenly left on short notice with a mad-rush to vacate and clear out all of their belongings and show items, etc. from the entire building and offices. Many of the show items / props that were saved were donated to the charity organization "Sanctuary For Kids" and auctioned off in order to raise funds.
Announcement from SyFy

Now that the show had lost their location space and their major financial backer(s), SyFy in turn had to announce the cancellation of the series in May 2012.

The Future of Sanctuary

Due to The Beedie Group owning the rights to the Sanctuary IP, they control the release and dissemination of Sanctuary related materials. Even though Damien Kindler, Martin Wood, and Amanda Tapping had wanted to officially release original music created for the show by Andrew Lockington, they couldn't move forward with the plan without approval. Any future seasons, web-series, movies, spin-offs, reboots, comics, books, apps, video games, etc. with the Sanctuary IP are essentially dead-in-the-water unless the Beedie Group are willing to either sell the rights or decide to get re-involved with the project.

References, External Links, and Websites