Prime Time on Parliament Hill, the cftpa and apftq’s annual one-day conference in Ottawa this year puts the focus on the age of the Internet.

The conference kicks off with 500 delegates on the evening of Feb. 8, 2001.

Francoise Bertrand will open the next day with words from the regulator followed by a State of the Canadian Industry Report and market simulation with Pat Ferns.

Ferns will present the findings of the 2001 Profile detailing the economic state of Canadian film and television production.

Seminars include ‘Diversity: Is it possible in a vertically integrated world?’ Moderated by Laurier LaPierre with commentary from the Globe and Mail ‘s Jeffrey Simpson, the forum will feature panelists Daniel Lamarre, Trina McQueen, Gerry Noble, Mary Sexton and Kevin Tierney.

The bulk of the afternoon will be filled with Financing Strategies for Small & Medium Companies; Industrial Relations in the Internet Age, in which trade unions, guilds and new media producers will discuss the relevance of unions and guilds in today’s world; and Digital Production and the Internet, a discussion by industry leaders of creative, technical rights and copyright issues related to digital producers and production for the Internet.

The conference also hosts, for the first time, International Day, which focuses mainly on the Australian and New Zealand markets. A separate conference held Feb. 8, the day begins with In the Bear Pit – Market Preparation for Small and Medium Sized Production Companies. International experts include Deborah Drisdell of Sextant International, Jan Miller of ImX communications, Sonya Thissen of dfait and Sam Berliner of Heenan Blaikie. Producers/distributors include Charles Falzon from Catalyst, Dan Lyon of TVA International and Kevin DeWalt of Minds Eye Pictures.

Funders include Telefilm Canada, ofdc, Independent Production Fund/Bell New Media Fund and cogeco and sodec.

The afternoon is dedicated to a Focus on Australia and New Zealand. Judith McCann mediates a panel with representative from both countries who will shed light on their funding and broadcasting environments, as well as the issues surrounding coproduction treaties.

From Australia, the panelists are Nick Herd, Screen Producers Association of Australia, Kim Dalton, Australian Film Commission, Richard Becker, Becker Entertainment.

The New Zealand panel includes Jane Wrightson, Screen Producers and Directors Association of New Zealand, Kathleen Drumm, New Zealand Film Commission and Rick Ellis, tvnz. *

-www.cftpa.ca