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Former prime minister Justin Trudeau and longtime Liberal strategist Katie Telford are launching a new Canadian media company called Hope and Hard Work.

The company was announced Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trudeau and Telford unveiled a lineup of scripted and unscripted projects focused on Canadian stories intended to resonate both in Canada and internationally.

The initial slate includes television adaptations of several Canadian novels.

One project, Closer by Sea, based on the bestseller by Perry Chafe, is set in a small Newfoundland fishing village facing collapse. The story follows a 12-year-old boy dealing with his father's death and the disappearance of a local teenage girl.

Another project, Backchannels, is set in the world of politics and follows a new chief of staff navigating the pressures of the job. It is based on The Right Hand, a book featuring conversations with chiefs of staff to powerful political figures.

The company also announced Le Collage, a Montreal private-school drama, an original series from the writers of North of North, and Power Moves, a romantic comedy centred on rivals working in the world of power and politics.