Agnew moving back to Etobicoke

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The host of BiteTV's The Conventioneers, Global's Brain Battle, and Newstalk 1010 CFRB's Live Audio Wrestling (the LAW), is also an Etobicoke native. Jason Agnew, executive producer at BiteTV, said the decision to move back to his hometown was an easy one.

"Mississauga is a little too far," he said. "I love Etobicoke, and I wanted to be closer to my family."

As one of his duties at BiteTV, Agnew hosts the Conventioneers. It's a reality comedy show where he and co-host Matt Chin pay visits to conventions and trade shows, poking fun where they can. Agnew said he got the idea for the show shortly after Chin became Agnew's intern at BiteTV. Chin, who had been producing a Tom Green style show from his garage, turned out to be the perfect on-screen contrast to Agnew.

"We look so different. He's short and skinny, I'm tall and kind of awkward," said Agnew. "So every weekend or so we go to conventions... we're making fun of them, or blending in by sticking out, which is kind of our thing."

Agnew said the antics on the show are light-hearted but the people featured in the shows don't always think so.

"Some people see what we're doing and have fun with it, but others ask us to leave fast," he said. Agnew explains in one episode he and Chin went to a hobby show. When he decided to strip down to his underwear and jump into a pool of water, which was meant to be used by model boaters, the patrons were not amused.

"We were promptly removed," he recalls.

He said accessibility is what sets BiteTV apart from other channels.

"If a young film-maker, or performer, wants to get a show on one of the 'heavy channels'...there's a lot of red tape," he explained. "For us, send me an e-mail, send me a pitch, and if we like it, come in for a meeting."

Agnew said he was blown away when the channel won an Emmy in 2007 for outstanding interactive channel.

"I'm the senior producer on the channel right now, and if I get to cultivate the Matt Chin's of the world, then I've completely fulfilled my gig," he said.

Chin said Agnew's open-minded approach helped him to feel comfortable and grow as a comedian.

"Jason is a great guy to work with," he said. "He was open to working with me even though I'm a lot younger, and it's really helped me along."

Agnew said his first gig was working in the cutting room for the LAW, a professional wrestling radio program on which Agnew is now the host.

"I do really well with guy programming," he said. He said he's been a "wrestling geek" since he was very young. He said he'd known he was destined for television since he was in Grade 9.

"I think the first thing somebody asked me to do was to hold a camera for a wedding, and I just thought 'this is cool.'"

One of the first people to notice Agnew had talent was a media teacher at Bishop Allen High school, Luana Fanelli. She said Agnew was by far one of the most unique students she'd ever taught.

"His humour, his irony, he was very creative and imaginative," she said. "I knew he had to pursue that creativity somehow."

Agnew said Fanelli's encouragement cemented his goal to break into the television industry.

Fanelli said she keeps an eye out for up-and-coming stars.

"You can't stifle creativity. You have to recognize that in a student and let them go with it," she said.

Agnew got a lot of his early inspiration from watching Saturday Night Live and professional wrestling when he was a kid. He loves his job so much he rarely goes on vacation.

"For anyone getting into the industry, you've got to love what you do because then it doesn't feel like work," he said.