Canadian Comedian Jasmeet Singh Raina Sets ‘Late Bloomer’ Series With Crave, Pier 21 Films (EXCLUSIVE)

By Naman Ramachandran, Variety

Canadian streaming service Crave has partnered with Pier 21 Films on eight-part series “Late Bloomer,” created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina, also known as Jus Reign.

The series is inspired by Raina’s life as a Punjabi Sikh millennial and online celebrity. The show follows burgeoning content creator Jasmeet Dutta as he tries to balance his ambitions for success with his commitment to his family, community and culture. Production is underway in Toronto and Hamilton.

As Jus Reign, Raina is a global social media star and was one of Much Digital Studios’ first content creators in 2015. Raina became known for his deadpan comedic style and commentary on race and pop culture and is part of a group of storytellers who charted the way for increased South Asian representation in mainstream media.

The series features an ensemble cast including Baljinder Singh Atwal, Sandeep Bali, Ashley Ganger, Sugenja Sri, Sachin Mahashi and Ahamed Weinberg.

“Late Bloomer” is produced by Pier 21 Films, in association with Bell Media, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Bell Fund and tax credit assistance from the Government of Ontario and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. The series is distributed internationally by Cineflix Rights. Raina is the executive producer, star and creator and Baljinder Dhawan is executive producer. Shebli Zarghami is executive producer and showrunner.

Laszlo Barna, Nicole Butler, Karen Tsang, and Vanessa Steinmetz serve as executive producers for Pier 21 Films and Robbie David is series producer. Lakna Edirisinghe is co-executive producer. Consulting producers are Russell Peters, Clayton Peters and Peter Huang, who also serves as director for the series.

For Bell Media, Mike McShane is director of digital development, original Programming; Rachel Goldstein-Couto is head of development, original programming; production executive is Chris Kelley; Sarah Fowlie is head of production, original programming; Carlyn Klebuc is general manager, original programming; Justin Stockman is VP, content development and programming; and Karine Moses is senior VP, content development and news.

Raina said: “I’m looking forward to this next step in my storytelling and filmmaking endeavours, showcasing South Asian perspectives that mainstream audiences have yet to see.”

Butler added: “We couldn’t be more excited to share with global audiences and fans of Jus Reign a brilliant and surprising new side of Jasmeet through ‘Late Bloomer.’”