More cuts at AAC

Three months after what was to be a ‘standalone action’ that resulted in cutting 80 staffers, Alliance Atlantis Communications announced April 24 that an additional 35 full-time positions are being eliminated in its broadcast group.

According to AAC spokesperson Kym Robertson, the cutbacks are a result of normal operations and the need to support the group’s business plan.

‘We need to be very focused and disciplined about managing our costs,’ she says.

‘Two years ago we were operating a fewer number of channels. Now we have the experience of running a 12-channel business. Obviously one is always looking for synergies.’

Robertson says the layoffs in January were part of a restructuring on the production side of the business. ‘This is very different.’

The Toronto-based company expects the layoffs to impose a one-time cost of $1 million but save $3 million in operating costs annually.

There are over 300 people in the broadcast group. The new staffing level at AAC overall is 850.

Canucks at Cannes

Two Canadian features have qualified for official selection at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, May 15-26. David Cronenberg’s Spider will be screened in the in competition category, while Atom Egoyan’s Ararat will be featured out of competition.

Spider, starring Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne and Lynn Redgrave, tells the story of an emotionally scarred London man who, upon release from prison, starts suffering delusions at a halfway house. The director was previously nominated for the Cannes Palme d’Or and won the Jury Special Prize for Crash in 1996.

Ararat, written and directed by Egoyan, is an epic about the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks, 1915-1923. The film has recently come under fire by some Turks who have always denied the occurrence of the event. Egoyan, of Armenian descent, reportedly requested the film be kept out of competition, as he felt its subject matter transcends contests. The film stars Charles Aznavour, Christopher Plummer and Bruce Greenwood.

Jesse Rosensweet, DOP on the feature It All Happens Incredibly Fast…, has placed his self-helmed The Stone of Folly in the short film competition.

Rockie noms are in

Nominations for the Banff Rockie Awards international program competition are in, with Canada weighing in heaviest in the children’s, TV movie, information and sports categories.

Canadian noms include: Hugo et le dragon from Arico Film Communications, I Was a Rat from BBC/Catalyst Entertainment (U.K./Canada) and My Louisiana Sky from Hyperion Studio/Aviator Films Production (U.S./Canada) for best children’s program; Da Vinci’s Inquest ‘Ugly Quick’ from Haddock Entertainment/Barna-Alper Productions for best continuing series; Going to Extremes: Cold from Keo Films/AAC Fact (Canada/U.K./U.S.) and Zone libre: Le Nepal (Radio-Canada) for best information program; Lucky Girl from Triptych Media/Alliance Atlantis and Othello from LWT/WGBH in association with CBC (U.K./U.S./Canada) for best MOW; Dracula – Pages from a Virgin’s Diary from Vonnie Von Helmolt Film for best performance program; A Child’s Century of War from Bishari Film Production for social/political doc; and Ice Girls from Screen Siren Pictures/BBC (Canada/U.K.) and Shinny – The Hockey in All of Us (National Film Board) for best sports programs.

The awards will be presented at the Banff Television Festival, this year running June 9-14, with close to $100,000 in cash prizes.

RobTv relaunches

After three years on the Canadian dial, RobTv is relaunching under the auspices of CTV News, beginning April 29.

The revamped channel, wholly owned by Bell Globemedia, will feature three key flagship programs – The Open with anchor Michael Hainsworth, Lunch Money, anchored by Janis Mackey Frayer, and The Close, which will air live from the newsroom with Mackey Frayer and Eric Reguly among others – a new Calgary-based Western Canada news bureau and a new on-air look, bolstered by a new studio in the newsroom of sister publication Report on Business.

‘Our focus will be on the three most critical times of the day, with comprehensive coverage at the market’s open, midday and at the close,’ explains Jack Fleischmann, RobTv general manager.

Other additions include Danielle Bochove, formerly of Reuters TV (London), who will anchor Business Day, and reporters Jeff Little and Helena Devries, who have signed on to the new Calgary bureau.

The channel is available to 4.3 million homes across the country on basic cable, satellite and the Internet.

WGC honors its own

Canadian screenwriting was honored at an informal gathering in downtown Toronto as the Writers Guild of Canada announced recipients of its sixth annual Top Ten Awards.

With not a starched shirt in sight, the gala, billed by host comedian Sean Cullen as the ‘quickest awards presentation in history,’ recognized both established names and up-and-comers among Canadian script typers.

Awards went to: Emil Sher for penning the feature Cafe Ole (Les Films Ficciones); Frank Borg, Alan Di Fiore and Chris Haddock for the ‘Too Late for Mr. Early’ episode of TV drama Da Vinci’s Inquest (Barna-Alper/Haddock Entertainment); Ken Finkleman for ‘The Body’ episode of CBC drama Foreign Objects (Rhombus Media); Graeme Manson and John Frizzell for CTV MOW Lucky Girl (Triptych Media/Alliance Atlantis); Ed Riche for the ‘Creative Accounting’ episode of CBC comedy Made in Canada (Salter Street); Barry Stevens for documentary Offspring (Barna-Alper); Suzanne Bolch and John May for youth drama Our Hero ‘The Unresolved Issue’ (Heroic Films); Sugith Varughese for the National Film Board animated film Talespinners Collection I; Cathy Jones, Colin Mochrie, Greg Thomey, Mary Walsh, Mark Farrell, Kevin White, Peter McBain, Paul Mather, Scott Feschuk for This Hour has 22 Minutes ‘Episode 5, Season IX’ (Salter Street); and David S. Craig for radio drama The First Christmas (CBC Radio).

Reel Diversity goes national

The National Film Board, in partnership with CBC and CBC Newsworld, as lead broadcasters, and VisionTV, are launching a new national initiative to reflect Canada’s cultural and racial diversity on and off the screen.

The NFB’s Reel Diversity competition will provide five emerging filmmakers of color from across Canada the opportunity to make a 40-minute English-language NFB documentary that will be televised on CBC/CBC Newsworld and Vision. The competition, previously available only in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, is now open to filmmakers from every province and territory.

This year, five winners will be named from each of Canada’s five regions. The Reel Diversity competition is open to filmmakers from visible minority groups only. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, and must have at least one credit in a key creative role in a completed independent production. Full-time students are not eligible.

Competition winners will work on a contract basis within the NFB with an experienced NFB producer. The maximum budget per project is $150,000.

Application deadline is May 24. There is no entry fee. Winners will be announced at the Banff Television Festival, June 9-14.

TFC funds 119 new media projects

Telefilm Canada has announced funding support for 119 of 253 new media projects submitted for the Jan. 7 deadline.

In 2002/03, the Canada New Media Fund budget increases $3 million to $9 million.

Of the accepted projects, 45 are for predevelopment/development, 32 for production, 32 for marketing and 10 for sectoral development. Projects originate in all regions of the country and cover a wide range of both media and content, including CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and websites. Content includes tie-ins with television shows, multimedia installations, wireless products and interactive games. Sectoral development assistance pertains to festivals, awards and conferences.

Upcoming application deadlines are April 29 and Sept. 3. Applications for sectoral development assistance may be submitted at any time. A complete list of accepted new media/multimedia projects is posted on the Telefilm website: www.telefilm.gc.ca