Suzuki to be honored at Banff 2002

David Suzuki will be presented at Banff 2002 with ACTRA’s John Drainie Award for his 30 years of accomplishments in the field of broadcasting in Canada.

The renowned broadcaster and scientist was selected by a jury of past Drainie winners and will be honored June 10, as part of the 23rd Banff Rockie Awards Show.

Suzuki, host of CBC’s The Nature of Things since 1979, is also an award-winning geneticist and chair of the environmentalist David Suzuki Foundation. Suzuki won the Banff Award of Excellence in 1989.

Suzuki’s name tops a prestigious list of broadcasters slated to attend the festival, June 9-14. This includes CTV News anchor Lloyd Robertson, who will be master of ceremonies at the Banff Television Foundation’s annual Board of Governors dinner, June 9; CBC’s The National anchor Peter Mansbridge, moderating a session titled News: Media and Terrorism as part of CBC/Radio-Canada Anniversary Day, June 10; Global National News anchor Kevin Newman, who will host the Global Television Outstanding Achievement Award; comedian/producer Steve Smith (The Red Green Show, Red Green’s Duct Tape Forever), who will host the International Jury of Peers debate; and Patrice L’Ecuyer and Leah Pinsent, who will cohost the Rockie Awards show.

Past Drainie winners include Shelagh Rogers, Pierre Berton, Mavor Moore, Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, Peter Herrndorf, Knowlton Nash, Peter Gzowski, Joe Schlesinger and Barbara Frum.

Film circuit tours U.K.

In an ongoing move to provide greater awareness of and access to Canadian film, the Toronto International Film Festival Group’s Film Circuit, in collaboration with Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, has launched a Canadian film tour in the U.K.

The Idea of North, a selection of 16 features and six shorts, tours the U.K. from April 29 to July 30, covering 16 cities in four countries with 370 screenings.

Feature films include: Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster (1991), Lea Pool’s Emporte-Moi (1999), Donald Shebib’s Going Down the Road (1970), Philip Borsos’ The Grey Fox (1982), Bruce Sweeney’s Last Wedding (2001), John Greyson’s The Law of Enclosures (2000), Catherine Martin’s Mariages (2001), Claude Jutra’s Mon Oncle Antoine (1971), Allan Moyle’s New Waterford Girl (1999), Anais Granofsky’s On Their Knees (2001), Lyndon Chubbuck’s The War Bride (2001) and Gary Burns’ Waydowntown (2000).

Shorts include: David Cronenberg’s Camera (2001), Nicholas Monette’s Le Clermont (1999), Guy Maddin’s The Heart of the World (2001), Stephanie Morgenstern’s Remembrance (2001), Jackie May’s Toy Soldiers (1999) and Wendy Tilby’s and Amanda Forbis’ When the Day Breaks.

The tour is funded by Scottish Screen and the Canadian High Commission in London.

Canadian films in Delhi

The Canadian High Commission and Indo Canadian Films International in collaboration with the Federation of Film Societies and India International Center hosted a six-day festival of award-winning Canadian feature films in Delhi, India, May 9-11 and May 13-15.

The event was inaugurated by Canada’s High Commissioner to India, Peter Sutherland. The opening-night film was Nisha Pahuja’s Bollywood Bound, a feature-length documentary produced by the National Film Board.

King launches doc studio

World-renowned documentarian Allan King has launched a new Toronto facility through which he will, annually, provide six new Canadian doc filmmakers the opportunity to develop and produce a one-hour doc for broadcast.

With the goal of nourishing creative independence, The Studio will provide practical experience, from research and development through to filming, editing, finishing and releasing.

Financing for each project will be sought through a broadcast licence and film funds.

Debbie Nightingale is on board as executive producer.

The Toronto studio is a partnership with the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival, Sheridan College and Innis College and is in the process of seeking support from government, broadcasters and corporations.

Prix Gemeaux review

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Quebec is undertaking an extensive review of the Prix Gemeaux process. An independent industry committee composed of Michel Houle, Monic Lessard, Jean-Pierre Laurendeau and Jean-Pierre Plante has been asked to prepare a report on fundamental Prix Gemeaux issues including industry representation, the jury selection process and other areas of potential reform. The report is expected by the fall.

Written submissions should be sent by May 15 to michel.houle20@sympatico.ca. The committee will also conduct a series of meetings with interested parties at Hotel St-Sulpice on May 22.

This year’s jury sessions take place May 25. The Gala des Prix Gemeaux will be held Sept. 29.

Rainmaker looks to reorganize

The board of Rainmaker Entertainment Group in Vancouver has asked shareholders to approve a plan May 27 to reorganize the company as Rainmaker Income Fund, a corporate change that will have no effect on the company’s core business, but offers tax advantages to shareholders, says CEO Bob Scarabelli.

Up to 10% of Rainmaker’s 11.3 million outstanding shares can be exchanged for either units of the income fund. Cash available for distribution from the business after bank interest, capital expenditures and other expenses will flow to investors: equal monthly distributions of $0.04 per unit on the 15th of each month. Another payment is planned in the spring of each year when the results of operations for the prior year are known. In 2001, for instance, Rainmaker would have generated distributable cash flow of approximately $5.6 million.

Units of the income fund are expected to be valued higher than Rainmaker’s common shares and the fund is expected to have better access to capital markets and acquisition opportunities.

CBC acquires broadcast management system

CBC has signed a deal to acquire SintecMedia’s OnAir broadcast management system, which will digitally manage content, scheduling, airtime sales and other broadcast support functions for 1,000 end-users. The OnAir system seeks to combine the power of a mainframe with the user-friendliness of Windows, replacing approximately 45 CBC in-house applications.

The system from SintecMedia, a member of Israel’s Formula Group, is particularly well suited to CBC, enabling the broadcaster to share information instantly among its 34 stations in six time zones from coast to coast. OnAir will manage content and traffic as well as provide instant access to airtime inventory and demand. Functioning bilingually, it will automatically generate proposals to advertisers and update inventory, all the while enabling easy shifting of airtime between national and regional market levels.

Big Films opens

Big Films, a new Montreal-based, large-format camera rental company , has opened. The shop, headed by president Daniel White, has acquired three 15/65mm (IMAX) cameras and a host of accessories, including a sound blimp and underwater housing.

The three cameras, originally manufactured by Fries Engineering of Los Angeles, have undergone extensive testing, modifications and re-machining. The film feed and movements have been extensively re-engineered and numerous other design changes were also undertaken, says White.

Big is planning an open house/camera demo in early June at its Old Montreal studios, located at Suite 200, 995 Wellington Street.