Viewers pick their Gemini faves

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is presenting two public competitions that will give Canadian television viewers a chance to participate in the 18th annual Gemini Awards.

Introduced at last year’s Geminis, ‘Be A Gemini Star’ asks contestants to submit a three-minute or less videotape of themselves showing judges, in a creative way, why they should win a trip for two to Toronto to present hardware at the Gemini Awards, to be held Oct. 18, 19 and 20. The Viewer’s Choice Award invites TV audiences to select their choice for favourite comedian.

The public can vote online at www.geminiawards.ca.

ACPQ re-elects Gagnon

Quebec independent theatre operators in l’Association des cinemas paralleles du Quebec re-elected president Michel Gagnon at a recent AGM.

Reseau Plus, ACPQ’s network of 23 mostly regional theatres, recorded 101,649 admissions during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2003, up from 84,734 in 2002. The total number of films distributed in the network was 498.

ACPQ manages an educational school program, publishes the quarterly film magazine CineBulles and recently launched a website, www.cinemasparalleles.qc.ca.

Martine Mauroy is the association’s longtime director-general.

Meltdown at Telelatino

Roughly 90% of Telelatino Network’s primetime programming evaporated last month when Italy’s RAI canceled its supply contract with the Corus Entertainment-owned cable outfit. RAI is seeking to launch its own digital channel in Canada and, with support from Corus rival Rogers Cable, has put in for CRTC approval to air Italian-language dramas, sports and variety programming.

Telelatino is opposing the move, says president Aldo Di Felice, and has taken ‘stop-gap’ measures to fill the schedule, picking up a mishmash of Italian, Spanish- and English-language shows. Telelatino’s new season begins Sept. 1.

Comedy fest gears up

The Comedy Network will be the presenting sponsor of the fourth annual Canadian Comedy Awards and Festival, which will be hosted by members of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. The five-day festival will be held Sept. 10-14 in London, ON. Finalists from 19 categories will perform over the course of the festival, culminating in the gala awards ceremony Sept. 13.