– TVNC files for national licence

Television Northern Canada has filed an application with the crtc for a national aboriginal tv network licence to be known as Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network.

Abraham Tagalik, tvnc chairman, says the application ‘is a long-overdue recognition of aboriginal television broadcasting in Canada.’

aptn will broadcast daily news, current affairs, drama, music, traditional skills, sports and culture programs.

A technical plan for a northern uplink center in Yellowknife, nw, and a southern site remain undetermined. aptn says it will explore a number of southern locations and decisions will be based on cost-savings, tax incentives, and talent pools.

tvnc has broadcast in English, French and more than a dozen aboriginal languages since 1991.

– Behaviour distribution dollars

While delayed releases are being cited for the decline in distribution revenues for Behaviour Communications during the latest quarter – $3.1 million compared to $6.9 million in ’97 – the company says distribution is on the upswing and $6 million has been freshly assigned in the past six months for acquisition.

The company recently picked up the Canadian rights to Deepa Metha’s Earth (Cracking The Earth Films), the follow-up to her critically acclaimed Fire.

Behaviour is reporting six-month revenues for the period ending March 31 of $40.7 million, 9% less than the $44.9 million reported last year. Net loss for the period is $2.1 million or $0.13 per share, compared to a net loss of $23.0 million or $2.45 per share in ’97.

Behaviour completed a private placement of $13.9 million on May 19 with its two major shareholders. The funds were partly used to complete the us$20.6 million merger with Mark Damon’s MDP Worldwide.

mdp’s revenues for the year ending Dec. 31, 1997 were us$23 million, with pretax profits of over us$2.6 million.

– Boys tops video sales

Following its record-setting run at the box office, the Louis Saia comedy Les Boys has set an all-time record for home video sales for a Quebec movie, preselling 11,000 rental copies, according to distributor Films Lions Gate. Les Boys is slated to hit video store shelves on June 16.

Box office receipts for the film, still in limited release, are currently in the $5.9-million range.

Meanwhile, director Saia and Melenny Productions producer Richard Goudreau are shooting a sequel, Les Boys ii. Following two and a half weeks of filming in the French Alps, shooting resumes June 4 in the Montreal region and goes through to July 4. Lions Gate will release Les Boys ii in December.