JR Digs - History of JR DiGS

History of JR DiGS

JR's grandfather made his living as a professional photographer and at some point, he got his hands on one of his 8mm movie cameras. It was very expensive to get the two minute reels of film developed and it still is to this day; however, the late 80s brought along video cameras, which, JR quickly began to utilize. One of his first recordings can be viewed here. Back then, he lacked proper audio equipment and mics, but he compensated by holding a plush toy penis to peoples' faces and telling them to talk loudly. This type of visual comedy on a shoestring budget became JR's special signature.

In the summer of 1999, JR had not only finished university, but he also owned and operated a very successful skateboard shop. Aside from shaping, manufacturing and distributing his own JR DiGS branded skim boards, he was also busy designing and manufacturing his own clothing line called "Shags Clothing Co." After reaching his goal of selling more than 10,000 pairs of pants, he expanded the clothing line to include shorts, hats, hoody's, t-shirts and a variety of other items.

The venture proved to be very successful and profitable. All of his profits would later be used to finance another dream of his - the dream to have his own TV show on network television. He used some of his profits to hire a production team from Burlington, ON, in order to create a pilot episode for the JR DiGS show. This venture cost him $4,000. The problem was that JR Digs had no ties to people in the television networks and neither did his production team. The following winter JR was connected to the right people in "The Comedy Network"; however, his submission was rejected.

The following spring came around, yet despite his discouragement of not getting his show on national television, he still pursued his dream. He contacted a local television network in Burlington, ON where he met with a program manager. The Program manager commented that the pilot episode was very well-polished and entertaining, but did not fit the venue which was currently offered. This put a complete halt in his career.

Everything changed when one night while watching infomercials on TV, JR decided the best thing would be to gain popularity by airing his show during purchased airtime. Eventually, he expected his show to be picked up by network stations once a fan-base was established. This came at a great cost; $30,000 to be exact. JR hit a financial wall as his show became more popular and yet no network station seemed to take any interest in it.

JR was faced with a dilemma, which was how to keep producing a show with no money. What had started with the relentless pursuing of a dream, turned into a financial nightmare from which there was no turning back. His debt had risen to $70,000 and still with no network deals, JR's confidence in his dream of having a late night television talk show was obliterated. The only thing on his mind now was surviving.

All seemed like it would end in the fall of 2001. Fortunately, his show's good ratings roused the attention of a large sponsor; that sponsor was Molson Canadian. JR re-aired season one of his series and generated revenue from advertisements. The revenue; however, was swallowed up by the fees associated with purchasing airtime, so no profit was being generated. Molson may have been providing the funding to re-air episodes, but there was no budget to have new episodes made. JR put his attention toward getting more sponsorship so that the series would not fizzle out. The following summer JR landed a deal with Sony PlayStation and Molson had returned. With his new sponsorship, he now had to deliver the new episodes he had been promising.

With the help of a government grant, JR was able to hire a student employee. The employee came with his own computer and editing software. On a weekly basis JR and his crew of one taped, ingested, cut, and delivered a new episode of the JR digs show weekly. The limited crew size and the etched-in-stone deadlines showed in production quality and content. JR has admitted to not being entirely proud of this season as it did not meet his standards, as he was busier playing the role of producer than he was entertainer.

Still in debt even after a good run, JR turned to an investor that was interested in financing the production of a new season. Unfortunately, the investor pulled out and left JR to pay for booked airtime debts alone. This put him well over 100 thousand dollars in debt. In the spring of 2003, JR produced by himself a new season of his show by himself. His studio was a couch in his apartment and the camera was set on a tripod. He eventually found a new student editor to aid him in cutting footage on a weekly basis. Again the budget constraints, small crew and tight schedule limited the success of the series. That fall, global began to air his show after Saturday Night Live in every province except for Ontario where it would continue to air after mad TV. The problem was that he still owed a lot of money to Global for overdue airtime, and unless he paid this debt soon, his series would be pulled entirely from the air. So that winter JR did sold the only asset he had left; He sold his skateboard shops. The gave him enough money to negotiate a new term with Global and to start making monthly payments on his outstanding debts.

A financial turn of events occurred in the spring of 2004, when JR landed a very large sponsorship deal with Labatt. The Deal allowed him to finally pay off his overdue airtime with Global, and buy his own editing suite. Labatt opted to extend their sponsorship through to the end of the summer, which allowed JR to completely clear his credit card debts and lines of credit. Now that all financial pressure had been alleviated, JR could now focus on production value and content.

In the fall of 2004, JR Digs rented a studio, a crew and an audience. The show contained music, special interviews, and the clips to which JR's fans had become accustomed. He invited a drama class to participate on one of his episodes; however, the episode had to be temporarily pulled due to one parent not wanting her child to be on TV. The show had already been cut and the delivery date was to close for a recut to be possible. The episode was replaces with a rerun from a previous season. This upset not only JR and his team but the drama class that was expecting to see themselves of national TV. In fact he received a lot of push to air the episode and he did which turned out to be a terrible mistake as the parent contacted Global and threatened them with legal action. In response to the threats by the parent, the JR digs show was taken off the air entirely. eventually the show was put back onto the air for another season.

During his downtime when his show was taken off the air. JR had the time to act in a film students film which ended up making it into a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. He met many talented film makers there and became inspired to make a series showcasing the behind the scenes of small productions, this series was called "In the Can".

JR was later taken into a project called "Be Real" which ran for 13 episodes. The project had a large budget, crew, and equipment. This project went on to win him his first Gemini award.

On his way to the Gemini Awards, JR purchased and old ford van. This trip eventually culminated into a new series called "Man with a Van", where the van became a portable studio. He would drive around the city of Hamilton, ON interviewing passersby, he would have short entertaining clips, and finish off the show with a celebrity interview. During the credits he would play old footage of himself pranking telemarketers. This project landed him a Gemini nomination and the winner of the award is still to be determined

As of recent, JR has been creating a new series called "Hell Ya Hamilton" which is still in production. It will be JR's first scripted series with a proper budget. This new series will be part of a new show called "JR DiGS Late Night Television". The new show will be first showcasing a series created by Nocturnal Emissions (a small up and coming production team) entitled "In the Key of Z" in which JR DiGS plays the part of Len. This series is to air in the fall