Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan are very successful producers who have shot many popular TV series throughout Canada, including their long-running shows The Dead Zone, Haven, and the original series Private Eyes. Now, they have returned to British Columbia — where they began their television careers — with their two latest series, Wild Cards & Private Eyes West Coast.
Here is our conversation with Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller.
Shawn Piller was wearing a Los Angeles (LA) Dodgers baseball cap.
HNMAG: Are you a Dodger’s Fan?
Shawn Piller: I was born and raised in LA, a huge Dodgers fan. I went to Manny Mota baseball camp. My grandmother wrote the theme song for the Dodgers, “It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame.”
HNMAG: Where did you two first meet?
Lloyd Segan: I first met Shawn’s dad, Michael Piller. I was as a motion picture producer with a first look deal at a studio, and Michael’s agent asked me to read a feature film script he wrote.
I was already quite familiar with Michael Piller’s work as television showrunner for Star Trek franchises The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager (the latter two shows he co-created), so I was excited to read his script right away.
It was a fabulous script, but I didn’t know how to make it into a movie. I told his agent how great it was, and asked if he could arrange for me to meet Michael – I also asked if 15 percent of the meeting could be about Star Trek.
Shawn Piller: Sidney Pollack and Harrison Ford optioned that script, and they were going to make it. It was basically The Verdict. It was called Oversight.
Lloyd Segan: Michael entered the meeting wearing his USS Enterprise baseball cap, and instantly we made a connection.The meeting was supposed to be less than an hour, and it lasted for several.
A few years later, when the TV series The Dead Zone was put in development , and the network asked me who I wanted to work with as creator and showrunner, I told them there was only one name on my list, and that was Michael Piller. Given the largeness of Michael’s success, the network thought I had no chance of getting him, but they gave me their blessing to try.
Cut to: The next time I met with Michael was with his son and producing partner Shawn Piller, as they had formed a production company called Piller Squared.
Shawn Piller: Our logo was “Yes no, Yes no, Yes no, you’re grounded.”
Lloyd Segan: That began our extraordinary, nearly three decades-long collaboration. In fact, I am speaking with you today from that very office where it all started, and where I fell head over heels for Shawn’s way into storytelling and his infusion of humanity for each character.
Shawn Piller: And Lloyd was the perfect partner to what Michael and I were missing. We made a fantastic team.
Lloyd Segan: Indeed, our successful tenure together is based on care, trust, and respect for one another — and for the people we are graced to work with. This is true for both the challenging and triumphant times.
Michael’s spirit remains pervasive through his mantra: “if it’s not on the page, it can’t be on the screen”,
And always ask” What is it about?”
We are fortunate to continue to work with people we enjoy collaborating with, while also continuing to welcome and nurture new people into our family from production to production.
In fact, members of our crew on Wild Cards go all the way back to The Dead Zone. Two such members just received Leo Awards for their work on the series.
Shawn Piller: For my dad and myself, the missing part of the puzzle was Lloyd. Like me, Lloyd is dyslexic. When people say no, he hears on, and then it’s let’s go. Every show we’ve made has gone at least five seasons. We’ve produced over hundreds of hours of television.
HNMAG: You also do much of this in Canada.
Shawn Piller: We were one of the first producers to do this in Canada on a significantly leaner budget, all over Canada. From Vancouver to Toronto, to Halifax, and Montreal, now in Victoria for the first time for Private Eyes West Coast.
HNMAG: Most Canadian productions that are shot in Canada and set in the US. You don’t just have one show set in Canada but two. How does that happen?
Shawn Piller: Growing up in LA, I didn’t know much about Canada. My first Canadian friend I met in film school, and years later that same friend introduced us to the creator of Wild Cards (Michael Konyves).
Most people don’t realize how many of their favourite shows were created by Canadians, or their favorite talent: writer, directors, actors, musical artists, comedians. It wasn’t until later that you discovered that Jim Carrey, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, John Candy, Victor Garber, Michael J. Fox, Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, Coby Smulders, William Shatner, Seth Rogen, Jason Priestley, Michael Cera, Elliot Page, Rachel McAdams, Pamela Anderson, James Cameron, Will Arnett, Keanu Reeves, Justin Bieber, Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, The Weekend, just to name a few enormously talented people…
So Lloyd and I wanted to make a series that celebrated this community. And we did so by setting the show in a city that brought such talented people together. Our aim was to fashion a love letter to the location we choose.
For the original series of Private Eyes, we chose the vibrancy of Toronto. However, we had to fight to have it set there.
We thought it was visually compelling and wonderful for audiences to experience the unique aspects of the city, the streetcars, and the distinct neighbourhoods , along with the identifiers like the CN Tower and Waterfront.
Because we were not from there, we could see the city for all of its glory and could highlight that — NOT to use it as other productions have as a generic urban center.
Lloyd Segan: Toronto is the entire package. Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America. It has one hundred and eighty spoken languages. It’s truly an international destination. When we presented that to our collegues overseeing international sales at the time, they embraced that vision. And it became their differentiator. A sense of place and what we are sharing with audiences is important. The localism and specific place in a show translate into internationalism. That brings people into a place they have never seen before. It gives an audience something new to discover.
Shawn Piller: All our shows are also about hope and family…
Lloyd Segan: And community!
HNMAG: Private Eyes is moving from Toronto to Victoria. It’s a different look, culture, and climate.
Lloyd Segan: When Corus and Lionsgate wanted to do a spin-off of the show, we were thrilled, and we saw it as an opportunity to bring a totally new chapter to the franchise.
Part of that new chapter was a new location. We looked expansively at different parts of Canada. In addition to Toronto, Shawn and I had the privilege of shooting in Nova Scotia, Montreal, and Vancouver. We had scouted Vancouver Island and even shot an episode of The Dead Zone there, but we had not had the opportunity to produce a series on the island. Well, as it turns out, Sarah Dodd, who co-created the spinoff with Jennifer Kassabian, is originally from Vancouver Island, which lent authenticity to shooing the new series there. Tether this with our collective love for the topograph and its exceptional gorgeousness.
Because it’s surrounded by water, visitors can arrive by plane or boat–and it’s distinctivley different than the Maritime Provinces. It’s the warmest part of Canada in the winter.
There are spectacular mountains in the background. Architecturally, the island has a has mélange of colonial and indigenous influences. It’s a vibrant University community and it’s the capital of the Province. It’s packed with opportunity for storytelling. Hence, it became a wonderful choice to locate the aptly named new show: Private Eyes West Coast.
Shawn Piller: We considered Halifax, but it was very busy there [with other productions, likely in part due to the growth sparked by] our previous show, Haven .For all the reasons Lloyd mentioned, we were blown away by Victoria. It also has less rain than Vancouver. And having Sarah Dodd be from there -well -She was a major cheat sheet for us.
Lloyd Segan:.. For Wild Cards, we just wanted to return to Vancouver. We knew it was important to set it in a Northwest, metropolitan, beautiful part of the world. It has an abundance of multiculturalism, but it is completely different than Toronto. It’s been so amazing to reconnect with our Vancouver production family, as we are fortunate to be returning to shoot our third and fourth seasons back to back.
HNMAG: Where in the US is Wild Cards broadcast?
Lloyd Segan: It’s a CBC-commissioned show. We partnered with Blink49 Studios.and Front Street Pictures. It’s on the CW, and Amazon Prime has the second window.
Shawn Piller: It’s CW top drama and became an Amazon’s top 10 charting series-
HNMAG: Viewers in the US can use their Prime membership to see it.
Lloyd Segan: In January, the 2nd season of Wild Cards premiered on CW, and the 1st season premiered on Amazon Prime. That tethering exploded the show. That’s the plan for January 2026 as well. The international buyers love the show, as it has also garnered large loyal audiences around the world.
Shawn Piller: In Canada, of course, the CBC and CBC Gem have enjoyed great success with the series, and Netflix Canada also picked it up.
Lloyd Segan: Shawn and I are privileged and love making television shows in Canada. We hope to continue to do so. It’s been a good journey.
Shawn Piller: It’s been a great journey,
Lloyd Segan: Shawn fell in love with Canada so much that he wanted to make it his home.
Shawn Piller: and I became a Canadian citizen.
HNMAG: Congratulations.
Shawn Piller: On the final season of the original Private Eyes, during the pandemic, I got 100% on the history test. Then I challenged everyone to an 8th-grade history test on the crew and crushed again.
Lloyd Segan: We are privileged to be able to work with people from the United States and Canada in all capacities and positions. We are constantly cross-pollinating. The borders to us are seamless. We are always looking for the best talent regardless of nationality. And we embrace the differences each community offers to our productions.
Shawn Piller: The second largest Canadian city is Los Angeles, and Lloyd and I are working hard on bringing them home.
Lloyd Segan: I am a universal person. We bring our individual culture and identity to what we are creating. Human emotions connect us together. .
We can watch a Korean drama without understanding a word, but still feel what the characters are feeling. When we create something universal, it brings us together. That’s the beauty of what we do.
Everyone involved with making a production is important. . We are all part of a magical community that gets to make something for people other than ourselves. Our work is shared all over the world. What we do is spiritually uplifting . It’s medicine for the soul.
Shawn Piller: What’s important to Canada is the CBC. We are so lucky to have that. I see how they support the arts and make an investment in our culture. I’m proud of being part of that. All the unions work together. We make our shows for about half of what US productions spend, and they look as good, if not better. And that is because Canada continues have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to a population that includes some of the most talented people in the world.
Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller are experienced, proficient, and creative EPs. From shooting across the country, they know that Canada is a beautiful country with many entertaining stories to share. More importantly, they also know the world is more than ready to see productions set in Canada. We are rooting for both Wild Cards and Private Eyes West Coast to not just go on to have gigantic international success with many seasons, but also to set a trend of TV shows set in Canada.