Cinar AGM set for April 29

A class-action lawsuit undertaken by Cinar B shareholders in the U.S. will proceed in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, NY. A motion by Cinar and other defendants to move the case to Quebec has been denied. The litigators include former principals and managers of American educational companies purchased by Cinar.

Cinar has scheduled an AGM for April 29 for the purpose, among others, of electing directors. The record date is March 21. Management says the date was chosen to give Cinar and its recently appointed auditors, Richter, Usher & Vineberg, ‘time to complete the preparation and audit, as the case may be,’ of financial statements for fiscal 2001.

In other news, David Ferguson, president of Cinar Europe, resigned Feb. 15. Cinar has closed its London office.

In January, staff in Montreal was reduced to 110 from 164. The layoffs were all in corporate and entertainment divisions. No staff reductions in the education division were announced.

Meantime, Cinar and Tanglewood Entertainment have finalized an agreement for the live presentation of Caillou shows in English Canada, starting with a Sept. 7 premiere at Paramount Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto. Cinar also announced the signing of a multi-rights deal (retail, TV and video) with Australian Broadcasting Corp. for the animated series.

Corus sells Klutz

In a much-anticipated deal, Corus Entertainment has sold its California-based children’s publishing asset Klutz to Scholastic for roughly $43 million in cash, plus a three-year earn-out based on revenue.

Corus acquired the publisher though its November 2000 acquisition of Nelvana, which bought the leading U.S. publisher for $74 million in April 2000 and integrated its 125-product line with Kids Can Press’ 300 titles in its branded consumer products division.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to repay debt. Last October, Corus introduced a three-point plan to reduce its debt to $600 million from $750 million.

The Klutz transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March.

DesRochers, To depart B.C. Film Commission

After being suspended with pay in November, Mark DesRochers and Alice To have formally left the B.C. Film Commission.

To, formerly marketing manager, took an early retirement buyout and DesRochers, the former director, resigned.

‘The official line is that we came to a mutual understanding that we have diverging management philosophies,’ says DesRochers, who plans to remain in the film business.

Victoria consulting firm Strategy One is evaluating scenarios that might bring together funder British Columbia Film, the B.C. Film Commission and The Bridge Studios. The research is supposed to be completed by the end of March, with recommendations due by the end of April.

Lindsay Allen, acting B.C. film commissioner, says the government won’t look for a new commissioner until it’s clear how the local industry structure will change.

Devine sells 19 shows to CBC, restructures debt

Following Devine Entertainment’s sell-off of 60% of its debt to a private group of investors, the publicly traded producer/distributor has announced the sale of 19 award-winning films to the CBC.

The pubcaster has agreed to license The Artists’ Specials, The Inventors’ Specials, The Composers’ Specials and Beethoven Lives Upstairs for a period of three years, beginning this year, across its English-language television network.

The deal follows a debt restructuring in late February that saw the Toronto-based company issue 2.042 million shares to an investor group in return for $2.9 million of debt forgiveness from the Royal Bank. The transaction, which effectively reduces Devine’s debt by 60%, equates to roughly $1.45 per share.

‘Our balance sheet is significantly improved by this reduction of debt and should allow us to move forward expeditiously with new projects in development and continue to expand our marketing and sales efforts,’ says president and CEO David Devine.

At press time, Devine shares were trading on the TSE at $0.35, with a 52-week high of $0.60 and low of $0.10.

New Media Awards gears up

The third annual Canadian New Media Awards are set for May 27 at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre. Produced by Toronto interactive brand solutions firm Delvinia, the show presents awards to Canadian individuals and companies in the new media industry in a dozen categories.

A panel of selected industry judges will cast their votes online in April from a short list of contenders nominated by their peers. More than 600 industry members are expected to attend the event.

The CNMA is supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage, Telefilm Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto, Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, Sheridan College and Humber College.

‘This year’s show will celebrate the resilience of the industry and the individual achievements made despite a tough economic climate,’ states Adam Froman, president and CEO of Delvinia.

ARTV short film competition

Radio-Canada arts specialty channel ARTV has launched a national short film competition with TV and Internet broadcasts for 15 finalists and cash and study grant awards for the top two entries.

The competition, called Objectif Lait (and sponsored by Federation des producteurs de lait du Quebec), is open to short film enthusiasts 16 years of age or over. Productions may be submitted in mini-DV or Betacam SP formats, produced in French or without dialogue, and be between three and seven minutes in length. The only additional requirement is that a glass of milk must appear somewhere in the short. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m., April 30.

Top prize offered by the FPLQ is $5,000. The second place prize is a study grant of $2,000 offered by INIS, Quebec’s advanced film and TV school. Both winning entries receive an additional marketing grant of $2,000 from SODEC. Entry forms are available at www.artv.ca and www.SilenceOnCourt.TV.

Sprockets turns 5

Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Kids is kicking off April 12 with 26 feature films and 42 shorts.

In addition to its selection of films from 19 countries, including 15 feature premieres, two world premieres, 18 Canadian premieres, seven Toronto premieres and 36 animated films, the festival will introduce Children in Warzones: Voices from the Front Lines, a special selection of films focusing on children living through war. Included in the showcase is Shelley Saywell’s A Child’s Century of War, a feature doc that examines the way modern warfare victimizes children, from the perspective of a child.

Returning is the Sprockets Family Weekend Programme, running April 20-21 and the Sprockets School Programme, running April 16-19.

The festival wraps April 21.

DGC, CFTPA ratify agreement

The Directors Guild of Canada has ratified a new one-year standard agreement with the CFTPA.

Terms of the agreement, which runs March 11 to Jan. 26, 2003, brings directors working in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nanavut in line with each other.

Under the agreement, DGC members in the named provinces and territories now have a standardized negotiated agreement in place with terms consistent across jurisdictions.