Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 2010-2014 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Video
• 14 video cassettes : HDCAM SR (10 hrs)
• 55 video cassettes : HDCAM (40.5 hrs)
• 1 video cassette : Betacam SP (5 mins)
• 4 video cassettes : MiniDV (4 hrs)
• 411 optical discs : Professional Disc; XDCAM ; 50GB (616.5 hrs)
• 47 optical discs : Professional Disc; XDCAM ; 23GB (35 hrs)
• 878 optical discs : DVD (1135 hrs)
Audio
• 14 optical discs : CD (17.5 hrs)
• 44 optical discs : DVD (82 hrs)
Textual
• 716.5cm textual materials
• 5 books
• 11 optical discs : DVD
Photographic
• 10 Prints : b&w ; 8x10 in.
• 10 optical discs : CD
• 72 optical discs : DVD
Graphic
• 1 poster : col. ; 19.5x26.5 in.
• 1 poster : b&w ; 13x39 in.
• 3 X-rays : b&w ; 14x48 in.
• 1 folder graphic materials
Context area
Name of creator
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.
Name of creator
Biographical history
ROBERT LANG is an internationally recognized, award-winning filmmaker and television producer whose work has covered many documentary topics, from music programs and interactive media to science and social documentaries.
Lang founded the production company Kensington Communications in 1980, and in that role he has been responsible for hundreds of television programs, including: 3 seasons of 72 Hours: True Crime; the acclaimed four-part television series The Sacred Balance with David Suzuki; 5 seasons of the true crime series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science; the Gemini Award-winning 3-part series Diamond Road; the 5-part series Shameless Idealists; and 3 seasons of the hit documentary program Museum Secrets.
He has worked as a director on many music productions with artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Jackie Richardson, Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Toure.
Among his many award-winning documentaries and TV specials are the Gemini-winning Separate Lives, One Warm Line: the Legacy of Stan Rogers, Diamond Road, and The Equalizer (Canadian Screen Award).
Lang has produced many interactive digital projects over the years, from River of Sand interactive website (1998), to The Sacred Balance online (2003), Diamond Road interactive documentary (2007), Museum Secrets Interactive (2011), ScopifyROM, a mobile app to enhance the museum experience at the Royal Ontario Museum (2013) and Risk Navigator mobile app (2017).
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This series was filmed with rare access to behind-the-scenes curatorial work and the collections of 22 of the greatest museums in the world during three seasons. It was a global hit, narrated by Colm Feore, distributed by BBC and broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide.
The History Channel commissioned a fourth season Museum Secrets, which was set to feature the British Museum, Rijksmuseum, Danish Museum and others. But the channel had just decided to pivot their brand into less history and more 'scripted reality' shows, and Museum Secrets was not renewed. This series includes research, development, and planning records for season four.
This series includes shoot tapes for all episodes on Professional Disk (XDCAM); rough and fine cuts, preview versions, and audio elements on DVD; and various broadcast versions of episodes on HDCAM and DVD.
Textual records include extensive research, location and appearance releases, correspondence with curators and historians, funding applications, tax credit applications, development documents, travel information, budgets and financial statements, cast & crew agreements, and scripts and transcripts.
Records related to the Museum Secrets interactive website and ROM iPhone app include development documents, marketing plans, correspondence and agreements with vendors, mock-ups, and web-exclusive content on DVD.
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
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
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created Aug. 15, 2022 by Al Stanton-Hagan
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Museum Secrets on KensingtonTV - https://kensingtontv.com/index.php/2014/09/20/museum-secrets/
Museum Secrets on IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1830154/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1