Cdns head to Sundance

If Denis Villeneuve made a splash on the festival circuit last year with Maelstrom, DOP Andre Turpin is making waves with his directorial follow-up Un crabe dans la tete, one of two Canadian entries in the World Cinema program at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, being held in Park City, UT Jan. 10-20, 2002.

Carl Bessai’s Lola, which was also accepted into Berlin and has yet to secure distribution, joins Crabe in this year’s World Cinema Program.

Michael Dowse’s Fubar, distributed by Odeon Films, is the only Canadian feature screening in the Park City at Midnight Program, the after-hours hot spot of the festival.

Five of the 15 films screening in the Native Forum are Canadian (the most from any one country): Christmas at Wapos Bay by Dennis Jackson, Contact the People by Gary Oker, Miss 501 (A Portrait of Luck) by Jules Karatechamp, The People Dance by Dana Claxton and Retrace by Darlene Naponese.

John Zaritsky’s doc Ski Bums, a chronicle of extreme skiing and snowboarding, has been programmed as a special screening.

Canadian shorts in the festival include: Julia Kwan’s Three Sisters on Moon Lake, Jeremy Podeswa’s Touch, Sarah Polley’s I Shout Love and Jeffrey Blatt’s The Charnel House.

Founder quits, debt restructured at Peace Arch

Tim Gamble, Peace Arch Entertainment’s president founder, has resigned to pursue ‘other business opportunities’ as part of a restructuring of the Vancouver company’s subordinated debt.

CEO Juliet Jones will add the title ‘president’ to her business card.

In the restructuring, Vancouver venture capital company Working Opportunity Fund has taken a larger piece of Peace Arch by replacing the nearly $4 million in debt held by the other subordinated lenders – the Business Development Bank of Canada and two funds managed by Mercantile Bancorp.

The deal follows the Nov. 30 expiry of a forbearance agreement, announced in September, in which Peace Arch repaid $2.2 million to the subordinated lenders, leaving an outstanding balance of $5.7 million.

Peace Arch now owes WOF $5.3 million. (Other lenders claim the difference of $400,000.) WOF has extended the term of the loans from Feb. 28, 2002 to Dec. 31, 2002 at an interest rate of 36%.

Yad Garcha of GrowthWorks Capital (which manages WOF) has joined the board of directors. Stephen Cheikes, formerly involved in film tax shelters, resigned from the board in November.

Boys III opens at $1M

No small accomplishment, especially in view of its French-only release, Les Boys III dislodged Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as the number one film in Quebec over the Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 weekend with receipts of $1,045,435, setting a new three-day record for a Canadian film, according to information from Alexfilms.com.

The previous opening high in the Quebec market, $710,343, was set by Pierre Falardeau’s Elvis Gratton II in July 1999. Boys III had receipts of more than $2.1 million as of Dec. 9.

Boys III is directed by Louis Saia and produced by Richard Goudreau of Melenny Productions.

Christal Films Distribution opened the film on 121 screens with a massive $600,000 P&A campaign. In 1997/98, Les Boys and Les Boys II pulled in a combined $12 million, ranking second and third on the all-time Canadian money list following the early 1980’s Astral-financed gem Porky’s, which pulled in about $11 million.

The Boys movie franchise tells the story of a typical bunch of guys from different walks of life who get together for weekly hockey games.

In other Quebec box-office news, Andre Turpin’s Un crabe dans la tete ranked 10th at the box office, pulling in close to $20,000 during the first weekend in December. Crabe is distributed by Film Tonic and had cumulative receipts of $233,019 after five weeks.

Corus sells Comedy interest to CTV

As part of its cost-cutting campaign, Corus Entertainment has sold its 30% stake in The Comedy Network to CTV for $36 million, helping reduce Corus’ debt by $80 million, not including the $15 million the company says it will save through recent job cuts and corporate restructuring.

With an aim to reduce $150 million of its $614-million debt by January, Corus president and CEO John Cassaday refuses to rule out further job cuts and suggests that additional divestitures can be expected within the next few months.

The company recently eliminated 300 positions and recouped $43 million from the sale of one million shares in Astral Media.

In October, Corus doubled its interest in Comedy when it bought Astral’s 15% share for $18 million. ‘It was highly unlikely we would be able to get into a control position,’ said Cassaday, at Corus’ recent agm.

The transaction gives CTV 95% control of the channel, with Montreal’s Films Rozon holding the remaining 5%.

Cassaday also confirmed at the AGM that Corus is in talks with an unnamed suitor to sell its under-performing children’s book publisher/merchandiser Klutz Publishing, which Nelvana bought for US$74 million in April 2000.

CRTC approves IFCC takeover

The CRTC has approved Alliance Atlantis Communications’ acquisition of the Independent Film Channel Canada through its purchase of Salter Street Films last spring.

As part of the licence condition, the new owners are mandated to keep the coveted diginet anchored in Halifax.

‘We proposed, as part of our application for approval, that we maintain the offices of the Independent Film Channel in Halifax, so we are pleased the CRTC has incorporated that commitment as part of the approval,’ said AA Broadcasting CEO Phyllis Yaffe in a statement.

The IFCC was launched in September along with six other AAC-owned diginets.

Feds close copyright loophole

OTTAWA has introduced a bill to close a loophole in the Copyright Act that will make it almost impossible for such Internet operations as iCraveTV.com and JumpTV to retransmit Canadian television signals around the world for free.

While the new bill clarifies that cable and satellite may continue to rebroadcast over-the-air signals by paying royalties set by the Copyright Board, it also establishes a new regulation-making power that will allow new distribution systems, like the Internet, to retransmit signals if they meet certain conditions set out in the regulations.

@Wallace buys Gooderham & Worts

@Wallace Studios and partner Cityscape have bought the Gooderham & Worts historical site in downtown Toronto, where more than 700 films, including X-Men, have been shot.

The 170-year-old former distillery encompasses the largest group of historically designated properties in Canada at one location, covering 13 acres in the city’s core.

The site, located at King and Parliament Streets, will continue to welcome film business, like The Farm, starring Al Pacino, which is shooting there this month.

@Wallace Studios is a 56,000-square-foot studio rental facility, located at Bloor Street and Landsdowne Avenue, offering three soundstages and housing at least 15 industry-related tenants. The studio is also involved in a 44,000-square-foot Scarborough property, home to Nero Wolfe’s second season, and the 400,000-square-foot 24 and 80 Ward properties, home to many entertainment and new media companies.

@Wallace and Cityscape also recently acquired the historic Massey Mansions on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto.