Series - Series 1: Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science

Identity area

Reference code

Title

Series 1: Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science

Date(s)

  • 1997-2003 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

Video
• 92 video cassettes: Digital Betacam (ca. 35.5 hrs)
• 235 video cassettes: Betacam SP (ca. 95.5 hrs)
• 2 video cassettes: Betacam (ca. 1 hr)
• 1 video cassette: U-matic (ca. 30 mins)
• 4 video cassettes: VHS (ca. 1.5 hrs)
• 54 DVDs (ca. 24 hrs)
Audio
• 41 audio cassettes: DA8 (ca. 10.5 hrs)
• 38 CDs (ca. 51 hrs)
• 31 DVDs (ca. 62 hrs)
Photographic
• 1 optical disc : DVD
Textual
• 1 CD
• 63 Floppy disks ; 3.5 in.
Graphic
• 9 Floppy Disks ; 3.5 in

Context area

Name of creator

(1997-2008)

Administrative history

Creative Anarchy is a Toronto-based film production company. Creative Anarchy co-produced the crime documentary series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science with Kensington Communications, and co-produced a similar series, 72 Hours: True Crime with Kensington Communications and Meech-Grant Productions.

Name of creator

(1980-)

Administrative history

Kensington Communications is a production company founded in 1980 in Toronto’s Kensington Market that has produced documentary and factual films, television shows, and multimedia projects for more than 40 years. Kensington has produced documentaries and series for the CBC and NFB, and its productions have been broadcast internationally on Discovery Channel, TLC, BBC, ZDF Arte, and other networks.
Early productions in the 1980s focused on social issues such as blended families (Stepdancing, 1986), youth suicide (Childhood’s End, 1981), and addiction (Out of the Past, 1989).
Many of Kensington’s productions have featured Earth’s natural environment and human activities that threaten it: Fragile Harvest (1986, the Nature of Things), Sacred Rhythm (1990), Sacred Balance with David Suzuki (2002), and Port Hope: A Question of Power (2005, The Nature of Things).
Kensington also has a history of producing iconic music documentaries. One Warm Line: The Legacy of Stan Rogers (1990), Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky (1990), My Beat: The Life & Times of Bruce Cockburn (2001), and the City Sonic App (2009) all highlight Canadian music and musicians.
Kensington Communications worked with Bruce Cockburn over decades from the 1980s to the 2010s to produce short documentaries and advertisements for USC (formerly known as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada) about their work in Nepal.
Kensington produced two successful crime series that focused on the role of forensics in solving real crimes – Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science, and 72 Hours: True Crime.
Recent TV productions include The Shadow Of Gold (2019), Risk Factor (2017), The Equalizer (2016), and three seasons of the popular international TV series Museum Secrets, which goes behind the scenes at great museums of the world.
Kensington Communications has also been a leader in using multimedia websites to enhance documentary and television content. River of Sand, Sacred Balance, Diamond Road, Raw Opium, and Museum Secrets all included website content. Museum Secrets included a tie-in app called Scopify to help visitors navigate the Royal Ontario Museum, and the documentary Risk Factor was accompanied by the Risk Navigator app.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science is a true crime series focused on the role of forensic science in solving real crimes. The show blended police accounts and documentary interviews with dramatic reenactments, narrated by Graham Greene.

Exhibit A aired 65 episodes across 5 seasons from 1997-2003 on Discovery Channel in Canada and TLC in the US. It was also syndicated worldwide, and different broadcast versions of Exhibit A episodes are included in this series.

“Pièces à Conviction” is the French version of “Exhibit A”

Exhibit A won a Gemini Award in 2001 for Best Photography in an Informational Program, and won a CSC Award of Excellence in 2000 for Documentary Cinematography. The program also received 8 Gemini nominations.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

No further accruals expected.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Preservation concerns may limit access. Please consult an archivist

Conditions governing reproduction

Media Commons does not own copyright of collection materials. Consult rights holder for reproduction(s).

Language of material

  • English
  • French

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Finding aids

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Access points

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    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    University of Toronto Media Commons Archives

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Created Aug. 15, 2022 by Al Stanton-Hagan

    Language(s)

    • English

    Script(s)

      Sources

      Accession area