The Service

If you haven't signed up for our e-mail list yet, go to theservice.ca/ to sign up right now! Thanks for all your support!

23 hours ago | [YT] | 1

The Service

This is a huge update for all you fans of The Service, the spy documentary series I've been developing—so read on!

But first, a confession: I've never made an entire TV series by myself before. I've shot a lot of TV series as Director of Photography and Director, but I've never produced an entire series. Which makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to get a meeting with the likes of Netflix or major broadcasters. I know, shocking!

Which is why I’m excited to announce that I’ve finalized an agreement with Buck Productions to help bring this series to life! Check them out at buckproductions.com/

Buck is an international award-winning production company based in Toronto with an expansive portfolio across feature film, television, branded content, documentaries and commercials. But, more importantly, they’re really great people, and are as excited about this series as I am!

As everyone in the spy world knows, trust is everything, and it’s hard to come by. In Buck, I think I’ve found the perfect partner to pitch this series to broadcasters and streaming services and make history!

This doesn't mean we're going into full production mode right away (unless you want to invest and fund the entire series yourself, in which case, please reach out—seriously).

But, what it does mean is that an established production company will be a real champion for this series, pitching it to broadcasters and streaming services, helping open doors, and increasing the chances of getting it made sooner rather than later.

Viewers have waited long enough already for this series and, as the political and security situation in Canada and throughout the world becomes more complicated and volatile, viewers around the world need the kind of deep understanding and compelling storytelling this series will absolutely deliver!

But we still need you, maybe more than ever!

As we ramp up pitching this series to broadcasters and streaming services, with an established production company on board, your continued support—following and subscribing to our social media channels, sharing our videos, and discussing the series with your network—remain key to our success.

Public demand is everything, after all. So, if this is a series you'd love to see, keep sharing our videos and talking it up! It really does make a huge difference.

Thank you for your continued support on this incredible journey. Together, we're making history!

theservice.ca/

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 20

The Service

Hi everyone, welcome to the new YouTube Community for The Service! Now you can post on the channel, too. To get started, tell me in a post what you'd like to see in the documentary series we’re developing (BIG news about that coming in the new year, by the way). For example, what would YOU love to know about Canada’s intelligence community and the people who work in the shadows to keep Canada safe? What would you like to ask a former intelligence officer or spy?
Visit the Community: youtube.com/@TheService1984/community

1 month ago | [YT] | 11

The Service

Looking for Canadian spy-related holiday gifts?

We are now part of the Amazon Associates Program, which is another way to raise the money needed to make this groundbreaking documentary series.

Unfortunately, there are very few books, and virtually no TV shows or movies, about Canadian intelligence operations—which is one of the reasons we're making this series, of course!—but there are a couple of books we recommend if you're interested in learning more about this mysterious, often misunderstood world.

Whether for yourself or as a gift for an espionage buff in your life, both of these books provide lots of insight on what the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is all about. And, if you buy them using the Amazon Affiliate links here, we'll receive a commission from the sale, which will help us continue our work to bring the full series to life!

So, if you have some holiday shopping to do, or you're just looking for a fascinating read, consider one of these books. Thank you for your continued support!

Buy Andrew Kirsh's book I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees, Code Names, and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism here: amzn.to/4iQhAnk (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). In this fast-paced, extremely well-written book, Mr. Kirsh tells you everything you need to know about what it's really like to apply to and work for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as an intelligence officer. Perfect if you, or anyone you know, are contemplating applying to CSIS, or for anyone who wants to know what it's really like to work for Canada's most secretive organization.

Buy Top Secret Canada: Understanding the Canadian Intelligence and National Security Community, edited by Stephanie Carvin, Thomas Juneau, and Craig Forcese, here: amzn.to/4pR3pQV (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). For all you policy wonks and academics (I know you, of all people, are reading this), this is the only major edited, academic volume currently available, published in the past five years, about the Canadian intelligence community (IC). It provides a valuable and remarkably thorough introduction to the Canadian IC and includes a variety of perspectives and raises a number of important issues—many of which we intend to explore in dramatic fashion in The Service.

2 months ago | [YT] | 8

The Service

Today in Canadian Intelligence History – 6 December 1941

The first spy school in North America is built in Canada! On this day in 1941, British intelligence established Special Training School No. 103, the first school built specifically for training covert operatives in North America, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, between Whitby and Oshawa in Ontario, Canada.

Also known as Camp-X, the school was the brainchild of Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian soldier code-named “Intrepid" who ran North and South American operations for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and who was head of British Security Co-ordination (BSC) during the Second World War.

As historian Colonel (Retired) Bernd Horn writes in his book "Now Set Europe Aflame: The Canadian Connection to the Special Operations Executive," Stephenson, who had been sent to New York a year before by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), otherwise known as MI6, to covertly establish BSC, first proposed the camp at a dinner he hosted in Manhattan on 6 September 1941. The next day, Vancouver businessman Alfred James Taylor and Tommy Davies from SOE headquarters in London, along with two other BSC officials in Stephenson's absence, decided on the location for the camp, and less than a week later, Taylor had bought the land and agreed to provide it to the British free of charge—all without Canadian approval, at least at first!

Of course, the Canadian government soon agreed to the plan, although the circumstances surrounding the creation of this top secret spy school are, unsurprisingly, shrouded in intrigue and mystery.

2 months ago | [YT] | 9

The Service

Huge thanks to our first member, ‪@Bgwizard‬! The more people who join our channel, the more work we can bring you, and the closer we get to being able to make the full series—complete with full-scale cinematic reenactments and in-depth research—all to bring you some incredible stories you've never heard before, from a perspective you've likely never seen! Sign up today!

2 months ago | [YT] | 5

The Service

If we launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to produce a pilot episode of this series, complete with full-scale cinematic reenactments and the kind of in-depth research this would require, would you contribute?

2 months ago | [YT] | 2

The Service

Today in Canadian Intelligence History – August 1, 1945

On this day in 1945, Canada took a major leap in espionage history with the creation of the Joint Discrimination Unit (JDU) — our first unified signals intelligence (SIGINT) organization (signals intelligence refers to the collection and analysis of electronic signals and communications for gathering intelligence). 🔐🇨🇦

The JDU was born from the merger of the civilian Examination Unit (XU) and military Discrimination Units (DUs). Led by Lt-Col. Edward Drake (pictured here), the principal architect of Canadian signals intelligence, this new unit brought together codebreakers and intercept specialists under one roof, just as World War II was ending.

The JDU laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) — Canada’s top cyber and signals intelligence agency.

This post-war shift marked Canada’s entrance into global intelligence alliances like the UKUSA Agreement (a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as the Five Eyes), making Canada a key player in international security.

#CanadianHistory #CSE #CSIS #SIGINT #Espionage #FiveEyes #WWII #OnThisDay #CanadianIntelligence #CyberSecurity #HistoryMatters

6 months ago | [YT] | 6