– $10M injection for SODEC

The Quebec cabinet has extended selective film and television funding administered by cultural and certification agency sodec from approximately $10 million a year to $20.1 million.

At the same time, the government has confirmed the permanent status of tax credits for certain variety and magazine programs, and in a highly controversial move opposed by independent producers, Quebec Finance Minister Bernard Landry has extended the refundable production tax credit to private-sector broadcasters.

The broadcaster credit program will be administered by sodec and is for a period of five years. The credit is applicable to Quebec-content film and tv production and is capped at $20 million in cumulative production, representing tax-credit benefits of $3 million. The broadcasters are obliged to reinvest half the tax-credit saving in independent feature film funding.

In the past few months, broadcasters in Quebec, led by Group tva, actively lobbied for their own credit, especially after the minister introduced a services production tax credit for foreign producers based on 11% of admissible expenditures in mid-February.

– Fox buys stake in Cine-Groupe

U.S. entertainment giant Fox Family Worldwide has acquired 25% of Montreal animation producer Cine-Groupe, a Lions Gate Entertainment subsidiary.

Headed by president Jacques Pettigrew, Cine-Groupe is currently in production on 160 half-hours including the recently wrapped series Princess Sissi, presold to Saban International, Paris, FR3, Radio-Canada, rai in Italy and Germany’s ard; Jim Button, also sold to Saban; Kit & Kaboodle, licensed by cbc and Radio-Canada; Bad Dog, sold to Saban u.s. and Fox Family Channel; and the animated sequences for Student Bodies, a live-action teen sitcom produced by Telescene Film Group.

Cine-Groupe is slated to deliver the animated feature Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2, a sequel to the cult classic Heavy Metal. The film will be distributed by Columbia TriStar in ’99.

Meanwhile, Lions Gate Entertainment has made another acquisition, this time in the area of non-fiction content with the purchase of l.a.-based Termite Art Productions.

The stock transaction, which is subject to the board and tse approval, was made by lge division Lions Gate Media. lge will issue us$2.75 million worth of common shares to purchase Termite, which has produced documentary and reality-based programming for Discovery Networks, mtv, pbs, The History Channel and Fox Prime Time.

Termite principals Erik Nelson and David Harding have entered into an exclusive three-year employment contract with lgm, with Nelson as president of Termite.

– ChumCity, Spanish joint venture

ChumCity International has formed a joint venture with Spain’s Canales Tematicos, s.a. for the development of MuchMusic Espana, a Madrid-based music channel modeled on ChumCity’s MuchMusic Canada.

The partners are currently negotiating carriage agreements for the service and expect to announce launch plans shortly.

– MIPCOM salutes Cdn. TV

MIPCOM ’98 will pay tribute to Canada’s television industry during its Oct. 5-9 conference in Cannes, France.

The conference roster will address Canada’s role in the convergence of media, telecos, the Internet and television; coprods with Canada and the various financial means available to producers; and Canada’s children’s program market.

Confirmed conference speakers include Telefilm Canada’s Francois Macerola, sodec’s Pierre Lampron, Cinar Films’ Micheline Charest, Alliance Communications’ Robert Lantos, Atlantis Communications’ Michael MacMillan and Nelvana’s Michael Hirsh.