-January

Quote of the month: ‘He was the same back then as he is now; a perfectionist, creative, and supportive. And somehow, he got all the pretty girls.’ – Boyhood chum William Shatner on Arthur Weinthal, who celebrates his 30th year in ctv programming

Copps is in, Dupuis out, Robert Lepage’s Le Confessionnal and Mort Ransen’s Margaret’s Museum hit the screens, and although the Military Channel will never see the light of day, a surprising 44 applications for new specialty channels are filed Jan. 11. Kids, history, comedy, news, science fiction, regional sports, and financial prove the big draws.

CanWest Global chairman Izzy Asper takes to the media circuit detailing the Aspernet’s national expansion strategy. Over the next month, applications for new broadcast licences in Alberta, Quebec and Vancouver will be filed with the crtc, a national benefits package wrapped around all three which Asper says will mean millions of dollars pumped into Canadian production.

Traders preps to launch, driven by a CanWest pr campaign that puts the Dalmatians to shame, but is scheduled up against er.

Hearings on Access heat up with specialty applicants rankled that Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, the two largest cablecos in the country, are plugging their increased analog capacity with pay-per-view services after the pre-specialty warning that analog capacity is nil.

Meanwhile, Rogers sells off Toronto-based post-production facilities Magnetic Enterprises, part of its Maclean Hunter inheritance.

At the production end, the conflict between broadcasters and producers over the new film and video tax credit is coming to a close, with broadcasters allowed access to the credit at the same level as the Capital Cost Allowance, leaving them frustrated and producers satisfied. Implementation of the new credit moves at a snail’s pace and frustrates everybody.

In Quebec, Coscient Group emerges as the first of the live-action production companies trending toward animation and effects production, forming an animation production company subsidiary, Cactus Animation.

Not to be left behind, Malofilm Communications invests $7.6 million in acquisitions, following up its Megatoon buy by adding Desclez Productions, an international children’s program producer, to the fold, and helping Malo triple its production levels in 1996 over 1995. Cinar Films pushes vertical integration with a new music division, Cinar Music.

In b.c., labor negotiations wrap with a new master collective agreement only weeks before pilot season kicks into gear.

Commercial production houses Damast Gordon and Associates and Derek Van Lint and Associates merge to form comm.bat films and become the fifth largest commercial production company in Canada.

-February

‘How does a disaster of biblical proportions sound?’ – Minds Eye Films producer Josh Miller on the impact of the shutdown of the ampdc on the Alberta production industry

Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, the two largest cablecos in the country, are plugging their increased analog capacity with pay-per-view services after the pre-specialty warning that analog capacity is nil.

Meanwhile, Rogers sells off Toronto-based post-production facilities Magnetic Enterprises, part of its Maclean Hunter inheritance.

At the production end, the conflict between broadcasters and producers over the new film and video tax credit is coming to a close, with broadcasters allowed access to the credit at the same level as the Capital Cost Allowance, leaving them frustrated and producers satisfied. Implementation of the new credit moves at a snail’s pace and frustrates everybody.

In Quebec, Coscient Group emerges as the first of the live-action production companies trending toward animation and effects production, forming an animation production company subsidiary, Cactus Animation.

Not to be left behind, Malofilm Communications invests $7.6 million in acquisitions, following up its Megatoon buy by adding Desclez Productions, an international children’s program producer, to the fold, and helping Malo triple its production levels in 1996 over 1995. Cinar Films pushes vertical integration with a new music division, Cinar Music.

In b.c., labor negotiations wrap with a new master collective agreement only weeks before pilot season kicks into gear.

Commercial production houses Damast Gordon and Associates and Derek Van Lint and Associates merge to form comm.bat films and become the fifth largest commercial production house in Canada.

industry Minister John Manley gives Local Multipoint Communications Systems technology the thumbs-up, Margaret’s Museum earns $200,000 on 14 Canadian screens in its first 10 days in release, and natpe draws its largest Canadian contingent ever, at more than 70 companies.

So much for the good news.

The 15-year-old Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation is officially axed. Nix on the request for $2 million transition financing.

The mainstream furor over recommendations for a new tax to support the cbc overshadows salient (albeit unfocused) support of federal incentives to maintain government subsidies in the $2.8 million Juneau Report.

Although the Canadian dth industry is non-existent, the u.s. trade powers that be are up in arms over conditions of licence for the dth and pay-per-view services which stipulate they buy feature film broadcast rights for the Canadian market from Canadian distribution companies. The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association files a protest with the Federal Court of Appeal.

cbc’s Liberty Street and Side Effects hit the skids, replaced by The Rez and Straight Up, which eventually do the same although both may have a second shot with the new ctcpf.

Genie Awards nominees are announced, with the now-defunct but potentially resurrected Due South grabbing 11 nominations, although it would be cbc sweeping the pack next month by winning 38 of a possible 61 awards in everything from technical craft and news to best comedy series.

In Quebec, Aidan Quinn graces the masses to star in Allegro Films’ $22 million political thriller Jackals. The Groupe Videotron/cfcf/ Cogeco Cable conundrum is off and running, with the Quebec Court of Appeal ruling the cfcf/Videotron swap need be approved by two-thirds of cfcf shareholders, thus leaving the door open for little Cogeco to take a run. Telescene Communications follows suit with Alliance and Atlantis, focusing its development initiatives in l.a.

In commercial production, The Partners’ Film Company follows the lead of Sparks and raises crew rates for department heads, seconds and thirds by $2 per hour. Individuals in the electric, grip, props and beauty departments are up to $32, $30, and $28 per hour, respectively.

As the month comes to a close, cablecos and broadcasters alike anxiously await the over-researched decision on tv violence, fearing the long arm of the commission will force blackout measures for some American programming.

-March

‘There is something very significant going on. What we have is a stance by the Canadian government on behalf of cultural industries, and instead of just giving us lip service, they’ve actually taken a stepthat requires enough guts to stand up to the u.s. government.’ – cafde president Dan Johnson on Copps’ support of the dth licensing rights clause

Specialty channel applications are available for public consumption. A schizophrenic mix of business plans for the 40 apps detail content expenditures from $156.7 million to $4.1 million and penetration projections ranging from 4.3 million to 25,000 subscribers.

From disasters of biblical proportions to acts of God, Telesat’s Anik E1 satellite loses half its capacity, leaving the already beleaguered ExpressVu transponderless and Telesat scrambling to find a plan b.

Better news is Heritage Minister Sheila Copps standing up to the u.s. studios and registering support for the crtc’s dth decision. Case closed, at least until PolyGram Filmed Entertainment tries door number 2.

The first whiffs of a new government-financed production fund surface. At the same time, the federal budget bites and the production exodus begins in Alberta.

Telefilm Canada takes a further 16.8% chop, bringing its budget down to $91.3 million and translating into a $62 million reduction in domestic production dollars spent nationally. The nfb is nicked for $10.68 million, lowering its budget to $56 million. In addition to the $227 million cut the cbc is already absorbing, another $150 million is hacked this round.

The ampdc ceases operations March 29. Great North Productions’ documentary The Rat Among Us has to be financed entirely through presales. Arvi Liimatainen’s $3.8 million mow Onowandah, in development with Atlantis, is shelved. Minds Eye’s Amazing Stories Studio makes plans to move to Saskatchewan.

The cutbacks make good Gemini Awards fodder. ‘In China, it’s the year of the rat. In Canada, it’s the year of the axe,’ says night two host Bruce Dowbiggin.

Continuing the vertical integration bent, ytv and Canal Famille announce plans for their own toy lines. Paragon Entertainment signs a licensing deal with Hasbro Interactive for the yet-to-air 50 episodes of Kratts Creatures. Also in the u.s., abc dumps ReBoot post the network’s acquisition by Disney.

Margaret’s Museum grosses more than $560,000 to date in its sixth week on screen.

For the second year running, Spy Films’ rookie director Pete Henderson scores the lucrative Molson’s ‘I Am’ campaign for signature label Canadian.

Montreal director Francois Girard (Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould) takes top prize in the long-form category at the Grammy Awards for directing Peter Gabriel’s Secret World.

The violence decision comes in, complete with an unrealistic time line for a classification code (read: before the Americans announce theirs), and is greeted with a bit of a ho-hum. The logistics of encryption – who, how, who pays – continue to perplex.

-April

‘If they want the television business to be completely controlled by Baton and Global, we’ll be turned down. If they want three players that can compete in a fair and equitable way for national program rights, they’ll grant the application.’ – chch president Jim Macdonald on the big picture through the Ottawa hearings

‘It’ll be a great boon to American rights holders because it’s going to drive up prices.’ – Global president Kevin Shea on the impact of a decision in wic’s favor

Baton tries to steal Royal Canadian Air Farce out from under the cbc, Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation senior administrator Roman Bittman is suspended, the Ontario Film Development Corporation’s repertory cinema and domestic marketing funds are snuffed.

Post the increase in allowable foreign investment in broadcasting entities, CanWest is first out of the gate to file a stock issue with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will eventually add to its shiny, happy bottom line.

For the first time, the financial results of CanWest’s 57.5% economic interest in Network Ten, Australia, are proportionately consolidated into financial statements, showing up in a 14% increase in revenue to $147.9 million. Operating profit is up 57.2% to $49.3 million from $31.3 million.

Meanwhile, wic registers a $2.1 million second-quarter loss. wic claims CanWest has grown to the extent that the balance of competitive forces in program buying in Canada is out of whack and makes a play to dilute CanWest’s considerable program rights buying power by extending its Ontario affiliate’s signal into Ottawa, without local programming commitments. All and sundry trek to Ottawa to protest.

Roger, Shaw and Videotron put their individual agendas aside long enough to form vision.com, a national cable television industry initiative.

Westward, Regina-based Minds Eye and Toronto-based The Film Works launch Evergreen Releasing, a new distribution company.

East of Ontario, Coscient Group reports net earnings up 130% for the first six months of fiscal ’96, with gross profit at just over $6 million. Cinepix Film Properties is taking a major step up in feature film production as a prelude to going public in 1997, with a newly launched international sales division and projections of 1996/97 revenues in the $70 million range.

In t.o., Toronto Women in Film and Television celebrates the careers of writer/producer Barbara Samuels, Discovery Channel president Trina McQueen, Micheline Charest, chairman and ceo of Cinar Films, performer Luba Goy, and writers Bonnie Buxton and Kathleen Timms.

Ten weeks into the season, Traders draws its worst ratings to date, a 1.4 audience 2+ in Toronto/ Hamilton.

-May

‘If we don’t do it this year, we’re out of the dth game.’ – Telesat’s Paul Bush on the proposed hardware deal between the Canadian and American satellite service suppliers

How Dinosaurs Learned to Fly, the six-minute nfb short produced by David Verrall and Isobel Marks, opens for Mission Impossible. Canadians come home from the Croisette buffed by mip sales, Crash hits Cannes, 6,500 cbc employees from three unions are in strike position as of May 2, and Heritage Minister Copps, taking the fall for empty gst promises, vacates her seat in the House.

The second, likely last, open call for niche broadcasting services draws ctv, CanWest, cbc, Baton, wic, chum, Labatt, Alliance, Atlantis, Cinar, Nelvana, and the Ontario Jockey Club to Ottawa for the specialty channel hearings.

The Canadian Cable Television Association lobbies that all services meeting licensing criteria should be greenlit (one per genre.) chum heartily supports the proposal, which snowballs amongst some applicants while others ice on the idea of every licensee fending for itself for distribution.

Digital boxes have reportedly been ordered, 200,000 from Rogers, 190,000 from Shaw. Rogers carries a $5.1 billion debt load.

Elsewhere in Ontario, with the Ontario Film Investment Plan frozen since last July, Ontario producers are elated with the May announcement of the new refundable tax credit, expected to return $25 million to the coffers of Ontario producers. b.c. projects losing about half its Canadian content production now that Ontario has a provincial tax credit harmonized with the federal rebate scheme.

Garneau Wurstlin Philp surfaces, the long-rumored new creative shop helmed by advertising execs Phillippe Garneau, Michael Wurstlin and Bruce Philp. Gee Jeffery is the minority partner in the new operation. Competition heats up with bcp for the $11 million-plus Canadian Airlines account.

Telesat announces plans to partner with u.s.-based Tele-Communications and TelQuest Ventures llc, with a transponder allocation and distribution setup that sounds a lot like Power DirectTv’s original proposal.

-June

‘If things are changing dramatically on several different fronts, which I think we all agree that they are, then I’m suggesting our behavior and our perspective might want to tag along. Rather than both Americans and Canadians characterizing their relationship as antagonistic, maybe the time has come to pursue some common ground.’ – Bill Roberts, secretary general of the North American National Broadcasters Association

Keith Spicer vacates the crtc chair, bctv prez Ron Bremner goes to the Calgary Flames, debate over the value of CFCF-12 continues, with Baton, wic, chum and Moffat Communications touted as likely bidders, and more than 1,000 industry execs travel west seeking that Rocky Mountain high at the Banff Television Festival.

Advertising and media hacks make the fall launch preview rounds. cbc is all-Canadian primetime. ctv’s Canadian looks anything but with Weinthal making the point, ‘These programs are produced by Canadians through Canadian companies and are shot entirely in Canada. Drama is not nationalistic; it’s about what goes on between people regardless of where they live.’

Copps is back, winning the June 17 bi-election for her Hamilton East riding.

In Vancouver, Mainframe Entertainment receives a Special Achievement award at the International Digital Media Awards for ReBoot and members of the B.C. Council of Film Unions vote in favor of a historic master agreement that simplifies negotiations with workers on high-end features and American series.

Madison is renewed for a fourth season at a budget of $375,000 per episode, $4.6 million for the season. wic puts up $1 million, with the balance coming from Telefilm, Forefront Releasing, the Cable Production Fund, Maclean Hunter and the refundable tax credit.

In Quebec, Productions sda and Ellipse Fiction, a division of Ellipse Programme, France’s largest private producer and a division of Canal+, announce a two-year $23 million coproduction agreement, with more than $20 million in the French-language drama package to be shot on location in Quebec. Cinar follows CanWest to the u.s. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to 2.2 million subordinate voting shares.

Alliance expands its worldwide motion picture distribution activities with Alliance Pictures International handling features in the $10 million to $25 million range.

The newest merchandise from Radical Sheep Productions hits Canada with the Molly doll, the beloved plaything of Loonette the Clown, star of The Big Comfy Couch.

-July

‘All we have left are licence fees. Do I want to be destroyed? Really, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Only one is going to win and I’m just not willing to go walking on the barbecue.’ – An anonymous producer on taking sides in the Alberta application

Bittman and the nsfdc part ways; ditto Canadian Cable Television Association president Richard Stursberg and the cbc. The Federal Court of Appeal upholds the crtc decision on dth rights issues, chum’s The New VR takes on Fox with new kids’ programming in the after-school slot, and two years after the commission shut CanWest and Craig Broadcasting out of the Alberta market, Izzy Asper and Stuart Craig are back in Alberta pitching applications for a new regional service and dividing the loyalties of the downtrodden regional production community.

Outside the Canadian bubble, the u.s. trade office is riled again, with the departments of State, Justice, Commerce and the Trade Office asking the fcc to hold off ruling on the Telesat/tci proposal while reciprocal access is defined and debated.

Telefilm axes another $1 million from the payroll, paring back the Vancouver office and planning to eliminate 24 full-time positions by the end of 1997, but publishes a first draft of its new $1 million pilot funding program for multimedia development, production and marketing.

Alliance forges a first-look tv and development arrangement with Midwest Productions, a partnership between actor/producer Luke Perry and manager Cyd Levin.

The Rogers/Shaw/Baton/ytv shuttling of assets and territories is crtc-approved and the business transactions in process en route to nailing down a national network for Baton, which now controls 42.9% of the voting interest in ctv.

Rogers forks out $113.4 million for three Shaw cable systems in b.c. Rogers’ 34.3% piece of ytv goes to Shaw for about $30 million. By the end of the year, Shaw will own all of ytv.

Three commercial directors, all female, hit the big screen with new features: Eliza Berry (La Femme de Nullepart), Bronwen Hughes (Harriet the Spy) and Kari Skogland (The Size of Watermelons). Philip Spink’s family fantasy Once in a Blue Moon pulls in $240 in its Toronto release over a three-day weekend.

The industry mourns the loss of Harold Greenberg.

Golden Boy Pete Henderson is chosen the winner of the first annual Saatchi & Saatchi/Playback First Cut Award.

Production in Toronto is up 15% to $190 million for the first half of 1996, according to the Toronto Film and Television Office.

-August

‘We’re now in the position of seeing our tax dollars work against us because the cbc will be competing in the marketplace.’ – Norm Stangl, chapter president of the International Teleproduction Society on the cbc’s new post facilities offering

Toronto’s Spot Film and Video Lab officially closes its doors, new crtc chair Francoise Bertrand opens hers, production on the second season of Cinar’s Wimzie’s House is suspended after puppeteers’ wages inch towards $450,000 apiece, and cbc kicks ratings and ad sales with beautiful Olympics coverage.

With a month until deadline for a Canada-generated program classification system, the Action Group On Violence On Television lobbies the crtc for a deadline extension which would put the Canadian contingent in sync with its u.s. counterparts for January 1997. Serious technical problems with the chip, summer scheduling conflicts for the committee, and a dearth of information from the u.s. delegation are fingered for the delay in Canada.

The Vancouver battle begins with Baton Broadcasting’s $20 million per year package of two Canadian drama series guaranteed primetime slots Thursday and Friday getting much attention.

Former Alliance exec Gord Haines takes controlling interest in both Owl Communications and Mackerel Interactive Multimedia and creates an edutainment hot shop which will see Owl Television doubling its production slate this year and breaking into high-budget family programming.

In Montreal, Toon Boom Technologies, developer of Tic Tac Toon animation software, merges with the software arm of Los Angeles-based competitor usanimation.

Toon Boom president Jacques Bilodeau also announces the company has signed a joint venture agreement with Viacom New Media to develop new software for interactive games.

The Federal Government’s Convergence Policy Statement released Aug. 7 confirms that all broadcast undertakings will be subject to the same rules governing contributions to Canadian programming and will contribute to the production of Canadian programming. All will be required to offer an affordable basic service package, including a predominantly Canadian choice.

cbc raises hackles in the post-production community by offering post services aplenty in its new broadcast center to the general public.

Festival madness begins with the Montreal World Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival announcing lineups. Hard Core Logo won’t screen in Toronto due to disagreements over corralling all Canadian films under the Perspective Canada showcase. Le Polygraphe is Venice Film Festival bound. The $15 million Crash pulls in a whopping $1.3 million in its first five days release in Quebec.

-September

‘All we really have is a licence to ‘negotiate,’ whatever that means. Now we spend the next few months prostrating ourselves in front of the Gods of Cable.’ – One new specialty licensee on the situation at hand

Film festival mayhem, 23 new specialty channels, $100 million in production funds from the feds, and cbc president Perrin Beatty announces downsizing plans and the loss of more than 2,500 employees in one of the more chaotic months of the year.

Consumer interest, Canadian content commitments, and the inevitably expanding Eligible Services List, all play a part in the crtc choosing 19 new English-language services and four new French specialties. chum, Baton and ctv are the big winners in the mix. NetStar Communications is shut out. Eyebrows are raised at two dissentions filed by commissioners Andree Wylie and Gail Scott which point to distribution problems when licensing more than capacity.

Everyone from the feature film sector to aboriginal producers, screen institutes and private broadcasters lobbies for access and envelopes to the new Canada Television and Cable Production Fund and its $200 million cumulative budget. The board has a packed agenda over the next six months as it sits down to work out the details of how this cohabitation of Telefilm and the Cable Production Fund is going to work.

PolyGram controversy escalates at tiff with Michael Kuhn, president of PolyGram, addressing a packed house at the Symposium, calling local attitudes ‘monopolistic’ and ‘xenophobic.’

wic’s Ontario affiliate chch-tv and chum-owned Citytv are given the go-ahead to increase their Ontario reach to 86% and 84% respectively.

Two new Toronto film labs open.

Rogers cfo Graham Savage announces he is joining the ranks of ex-Rogers executives as of Dec. 31, although he releases his cfo status at the end of August. John Lacey replaces Doug Holtby as head of wic.

With only weeks between its September purchases of ReadySoft Incorporated and Filmline International, Malofilm announces its intention to buy out Image Organization, an la.-based distributor and production financer.

The Canadian Film Centre announces a new cyberspace training facility with the creation of Medialinx @ habitat, a $500,000 multimedia training ground to be developed on the cfc site.

Telefilm presents a new award at the Atlantic Film Festival, a $10,000 prize for best short film from the Atlantic region.

Vancouver hearings wrap, with chum pegged as front-runner, although two new services could be licensed.

-October

‘At the end of the day what you are judged by – and ultimately your success – flows not from deal-making, although that is a very important skill, not from infrastructure, but from the quality and success of the programs you make.’ – Robert Lantos on the motivation behind a number of deals Alliance nails down this year with actors, producers and writers in the u.s. and Canada

The fcc officially puts the kibosh on Telesat’s deal with John Malone, Nelvana contemplates a $140 million buyout offer from u.s. Golden Books Family Entertainment, and Vancouver producers are already angry with the ctcpf setup as Bill Mustos and co. begin their cross-Canada checkup.

In Quebec, Omerta: la loi du silence, sda’s crime drama, kills the competition and wins 11 Prix Gemeaux, and with two months until its pitch for entry into Quebec is before the crtc, CanWest files an amendment to the application which commits an extra $4 million a year for Canadian drama and entertainment production and pulls its national program benefits package up to a $165 million proposition.

About six weeks into the new fall season there is little movement on the Canadian ACNielsen top 10 ratings charts, with abc’s Spin City, distributed by ctv, the only one of the new ’96/’97 fare cracking the top 10.

Cancon is making headlines, with The Newsroom landing favorable reviews, This Hour Has 22 Minutes drawing a regular national audience of 1.4 million viewers and Snid the Goat-produced Gullages premiering with a total 2+ audience of 489,000.

Broadcast distribution hearings wrap, covering issues including rate regulation and baseline contributions to Canadian production from all distribution entities.

mipcom is yet another sell-fest with attendees reporting golden results, including Alliance which has an unprecedented 30 mows and series in development with American end-users, more than double its activity a year ago.

The v-chip classification extension is granted with April 1997 the new deadline.

John Greyson’s Lilies tops the Genies nominees list, while Hard Core Logo holds strong in Toronto and Vancouver, pulling in $114,000 in its opening weekend.

Toronto’s Nobel House Entertainment commences trading on the tse.

The commercial production industry loses a gifted art director, photographer, cameraman and director when John Lloyd dies of cancer.

-November

‘Is there a need for national initiatives? Definitely. You need buying power. But I’m not sure there is a need for an official network in order to be partners, strategic allies, to work together.’ – crtc chair Francoise Bertrand on the three national networks concept

Shades of David and Goliath as CanWest Global Communications’ bid for Alberta is rejected in favor of the Craig application in the biggest regulatory surprise of the year. A-Channel, owned 60% by Craig, 29.5% by the TD Capital Corporation and 10.5% by Midwest Television in Alberta, will be on-air in September 1997.

Two weeks later, CanWest threatens to back away from its investments in Traders, Jake and the Kid and Ready or Not and appeals the Alberta decision with the federal court.

At the same time, the Quebec hearings heat up. CFCF-12, the ctv affiliate in Montreal, takes full-page display ads in Montreal dailies asking viewers to call a 1-888 number and state their opposition to CanWest’s planned fall ’97 entry in the Quebec tv market.

As many as half a dozen or more companies are bidding for cfcf-tv, with most of the speculation centered on Baton, Astral, Cogeco and an outside chance Videotron may remain the owner.

While the industry awaits Investment Canada’s word on the PolyGram application, a new study released by Heritage Canada reports that Canadian-controlled companies contributed more than 97% of the $232 million in rights and royalty payments that went into Canadian productions via distribution and videocassette enterprises over the past five years. Foreign-controlled distribution entities contributed less than 3% of the total, or $8 million.

Coscient is in fast-track talks aimed at a new public offering following its $20 million acquisition of Astral Communications’ distribution and program development divisions.

Critical acclaim of cbc’s The Newsroom played itself out in the ratings Oct. 21, with Ken Finkleman’s new baby hitting a 1.1 million national audience 2+, according to ACNielsen statistics.

The wireless three enter the fray – Cellular Vision Canada backed by wic, Maxlink Communications and Regional Vision.

The Coalition for Responsible Television singles out Millenium and Poltergeist as advertising boycott targets.

The music and post-production sectors organize against the cbc offering its facility services to the private market.

Commercial production in Canada tops the $186 million mark for the year ending Sept. 29, 1996, with over 2,365 live action spots (plus 619 animated) reported. Jolly Roger-produced Duel directed by Steve Chase wins Playback’s Top Spot award.

B.C. Film announces its budget will be cut by $6 million for the rest of the fiscal year ending March 31, 1997, and by 25% next year.

Greenlight Communications has backed out of financing Vancouver-based Motion Works, and at year end is planning to triple its volume of production and list shares on a senior stock exchange.

CanWest ups its stake in TV3 New Zealand.

-December

‘Producers have to pick programs they can finance. That’s what has put the lid on what you might call ‘the pure of the pure’ Canadian content projects. Unless there’s a marketability attached to the idea, you just can’t finance it.’ Nelvana chairman Michael Hirsh on the way it is.

Crash and Lilies top the Genie Awards, Power Corporation reportedly has its Ontario broadcast entities up for sale, the call for amendments to the Eligible Services Lists draws a stack of proposals and CanWest gets deeper into Australia with an increased stake in Network Ten.

bbs president Doug Bassett officially steps down, clearing the way for coo Fecan to step up. wic’s shareholders are confronted with Oppenheimer & Co’s pitch to have the company dissolved.

Cheque signed, onward ho with the ctcpf although b.c. producers are considering appealing to the crtc to intervene or opting out of the fund and administering a separate envelope in wake of the absence of regional representation on the board of the ctcpf.

Atlantis announces filming gets underway in May on the first 22 hours of Gene Roddenberry’s Battleground Earth, a new one-hour sci-fi series produced in partnership with Tribune Entertainment in l.a.

Looking to the year ahead, financiers are predicting a decrease in foreign film and tv projects in Canada after the Finance Department rules against limited partnership tax shelters. On the national level, budget cuts to Telefilm, the nfb and cbc/r-c will amount to more than $400 million through to 1998/99.

In theatrical distribution, Cineplex Odeon makes plans to invest $114 million to open 487 new screens in the next three years, with up to 40% in Canada. Famous will add 250 screens in Canada through to 1998, adding 48 in 1996. Imax is similarly gung-ho, 12 theaters in Canada now, three backlogged, and more to come