When it comes naming your new TV show, Sex&Violence packs a wallop. Set to premier on OUTtv on November 17, it is a series that promises to break your heart as well as break a few boundaries. The series was written and directed by Halifax born Thom Fitzgerald, and one of the stars crowning the cast list is none other than Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis.

When I asked Thom what more could we expect in the show besides the title, he replied with "What the Hell more do you want?" A fair question but, as it turns out, it is the simplest of people’s actions that reveal the nuances of their characters and, for that, Sex&Violence is aptly named in more ways than one.

GC: First off, tell us a bit about the series.

TF: Sex&Violence follows social workers, therapists, lawyers, cops who work with victims of domestic abuse - and abusers. It looks at how violence seeps its way into the lives of the professionals who deal with it every day.

GC: Who are the characters?

TF: Roach is a butch lesbian beat cop. She has no sympathy for victims who she sees as pushovers or doormats, and she sort of resents that the dispatcher sends her to respond to domestic abuse complaints because she’s the only woman on duty. Her partner Downey is more optimistic and by-the-book. Drucie McKay is a child welfare social worker married to a plastic surgeon. Alex Mandalakis is a Victim Advocate - she helps a victim find their footing, guides them to get medical help, safe shelter, legal counsel. Brenda Shaw is a therapist whose marriage is falling apart because her wife is too depressed to leave the house. Jasper Whynacht is a downtrodden crown prosecutor who has lost his mojo, lost his wife, lost his cases, and is starting to experiment with his sexuality late in life. There are Steven and Stephen, a pair of gay foster dads who recur in the show. Those are the characters we follow, and they encounter dozens more.

GC: What was it like working with Olympia Dukakis?

TF: I work with Olympia a lot, most recently in Cloudburst and Forgive Me. She is my joy to work with, she lights my fire creatively. I revel in her wisdom and craft as an actor. And I love that her character is pretty slutty in this show. She goes through men like candy.

GC: During the filming did you ever feel you were pushing the envelope too far?

TF: Oh, I grew numb to the sight of ass dimples pretty quickly. It’s not like this is a torture porn movie depicting long sequences of abuse; this is about what happens after the abuse, recovery, whether people can move on or whether they get held back by it. Like, okay, there’s a sex scene wherein Drucie the social worker and her husband Padraig are trying to get pregnant. It’s kind of graphic but it’s also the essence of her story. These are characters evolving through sex. Some people might say I included more sex than was absolutely necessary. Yeah, I did. Because I felt it made the work more powerful.

GC: The topics in the series show up in movies and television, but often with a glamourized portrait. Did you want to consciously avoid that?

TF: There’s a sense of realism in the show in that it’s a handheld camera, the locations are mostly real places, and because the cast is populated with actors who look like real people. The light is often the available light. I focused on the moments I felt would be cathartic for viewers. Awful, awful things happen in the show - rape and murder - but it never revels in those moments. Where Sex&Violence is somewhat distinctive in the market is in its concern with the victims - on 9 out of 10 TV procedurals the victim is a corpse in the prologue. This isn’t a procedural. We know whodunnit. It’s a story of survivors.

GC: What does the series mean to you, personally?

TF: I’m a survivor so I relate to these characters. Despite a focus on events that are traumatic and disturbing, I think facing these stories head-on is an act of optimism. I wanted to face some demons and stare them down. It’s a gripping story of survival... not against zero gravity, not against the raging sea, but surviving our worst selves. It’s relevant.