Lincoln report retabled

The long-lost Lincoln Report resurfaced in the House of Commons on Nov. 4, raising hope among culturecrats that Ottawa will act on its recommended overhaul of the Canadian broadcasting system. The massive study, presented last year by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, calls for increased CBC funding, a unified communications act and limits on cross-media ownership, but attracted little attention under Jean Chretien. It was reintroduced by Marlene Catterall, an Ottawa-area Liberal. The feds have 150 days to respond.

Tapestry teams with MarVista

Toronto’s Tapestry Pictures has teamed with L.A.-based MarVista Entertainment to distribute television, home video and DVD rights to movies in the U.S. and overseas. Tapestry principals Mary Young Leckie and Heather Haldane will coordinate the new distribution arm under the name Tapestry Distribution International

The outfit’s first project is Spirit Bear, a Tapestry-produced MOW, starring Graham Greene, Mark Rendall and Ed Begley Jr., about bears and the B.C. logging industry. Spirit Bear will air on CTV in spring ’05. Tapestry’s library includes drama and documentary titles.

New prize at Whistler

The 2004 Whistler Film Festival has doubled in size and will screen 93 films Dec. 2-5, including six features vying for the inaugural $10,000 Phillip Borsos Award, given to a Canadian film that has its international debut at the fest. The six finalists are Better Off in Bed by Reg Harkema, Cable Beach by James Head, Eighteen by Richard Bell, Papal Chase by Kenny Hotz, Part of the Game by Rich Alyea and Pink Ludoos by Gaurav Seth.

‘We had nearly 400 submissions, more than double the 190 received last year,’ says Bill Evans, the festival’s director of programming.

Other world premieres include the documentaries Weird Sex and Snowshoes by Jill Sharpe, based on the Katherine Monk book; Call it Karma by Geoff Browne; and Prisoners of Age by Stan Feingold.

The festival opens with Crazy Canucks, director Randy Bradshaw’s dramatization of the legendary Canadian men’s downhill ski team.

Corus dips in Q4

Corus Entertainment saw revenue drop 5% for its fourth quarter ending Aug. 31, down to $163 million from $175.1 million last year due mainly to sluggish earnings at its content-maker Nelvana. Content revenues dipped to $27.7 million for Q4, down from $44.1 million last year, while its TV and radio divisions enjoyed jumps of 4% and 1%, respectively. Overall for fiscal 2004, Corus revenue was up 4% to $666.8 million, again buoyed by its broadcast outfits.

Quebec unions merge

Quebec’s two technicians unions have teamed up. L’Association des professionnels de la video du Quebec and Syndicat des techniciennes et techniciens du cinema et de la video du Quebec joined last month to create l’Alliance quebecoise des techniciens de l’image et du son, ending years of wrangling and debate. The two unions had very similar mandates, says STCVQ general manager Brian Baker. The new AQTIS represents 3,500 employees, artists and camera technicians.

$50,000 Shaw kids prize

The Shaw Rocket Fund, formerly the Shaw Television Broadcast Fund, has announced a new $50,000 prize celebrating the best of quality Canadian children’s television. The prize will be awarded each year over the next three years. Entries will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2005. For more information, entry forms and regulations visit www.rocketfund.ca.

Lions Gate goes Wilde

Lions Gates Films has acquired the North American theatrical and pay-TV distribution rights to A Good Woman, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play Lady Windemere’s Fan, starring Helen Hunt. Directed by Mike Barker and written by Howard Himelstein, A Good Woman premiered at the last Toronto International Film Festival and is set for release in Canada in 2005.