Maple launches Banff award

Lions Gate Television and newly launched Maple Pictures have teamed with the Banff World Television Festival to create an award honoring innovation in Canadian television. The $5,000 innovative producer award will be handed out at an awards luncheon on June 13. A three-person jury will decide the winner. Deadline for applications is May 20. Details and application forms are available at www.banff2005.com/lions.gate.php.

Newsworld Int’l shuttered

Newsworld International will shut down on July 31 after 11 years of feeding news content to the world out of CBC’s Toronto studios. Forty employees will lose their jobs. CBC currently has a contract to feed content to the 24-hour news channel, operated by an investment group led by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore. The group decided not to renew a contract that expires in July. This follows cuts of 34 jobs to CBC’s PR department, due to take effect by the end of June.

Falcon flies to ABC

Season one of Falcon Beach has been picked up in the U.S. by ABC Family and will air on the Disney-owned channel next summer, sometime after the teen drama premiers on Global. The show’s two-hour pilot, produced by Manitoba’s Original Pictures and Toronto’s Insight Productions, aired on Global in January, prompting an order for 13 one-hour eps. The season will film in Manitoba June through September.

Discovery seeks HD channel

Discovery Channel Canada has applied to the CRTC to launch Discovery HD Theatre, Canada’s first 24-hour specialty high-def channel. The joint venture application for the Category 2 digital service was filed by CTV Specialty Television in partnership with U.S.-based Discovery Communications.

Seville, Warner DVD deal

Montreal-based producer Seville Pictures has signed a deal with Warner Home Video Canada to distribute its film catalogue to the Canadian home video and DVD market. Seville releases an average of 15 to 20 films per year. The sub-distribution deal will begin June 15 for catalogue products, and Aug. 1 for new releases.

Three wins for Chicks

Calgary-shot MOW Chicks with Sticks hoisted the top prize at the 31st annual Alberta Film & Television Awards on April 30, winning the best feature-length drama award for producers Nancy Laing and Christina Willings (Earth to Sky Productions) and best actor and actress for stars Kevin Kruchkywich and Chantal Perron.

Randy Bradshaw of Alberta Filmworks won best director for Crazy Canucks, another winter sport MOW that also scored for editing and score. Other winners included Joel Stewart of Murder Incorporated Films, for a music video and variety special featuring country singer Paul Brandt, and Voice Pictures for the Chevy Chase comedy Goose!, scheduled for release this fall.

Raymont set for SIFT

Directors Peter Raymont, Ken Finkleman and Patricia Rozema will be among the speakers at the 25th annual Summer Institute of Film and Television, May 31 to June 5 in Ottawa. SIFT’s 22 workshops – aimed at filmmakers of all skill levels – will cover directing, documentaries, producing and screenwriting. Other presenters include Gemini-winning screenwriters Jefferson Lewis (Ordinary Magic) and Donald Martin (Never Too Late), producer Peter Meyboom (The Newsroom) and actor Michael Riley (This Is Wonderland).

The event is hosted by the non-profit Canadian Screen Training Centre. See www.cstc.ca for details.

Rocket finalists announced

The Shaw Rocket Fund has announced the finalists for its $50,000 prize – but a group of students in grades seven through nine will select the winner. The finalists are Degrassi: The Next Generation, Franny’s Feet, Poko and Shoebox Zoo. The award honors the best independently produced Canadian program targeting a youth or family audience, and this year’s student jury is made of children from the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Learning Through the Arts program. The prize is to be awarded May 25.

Tax break for Georgia

Legislators in Georgia have passed a tax credit on below-the-line expenses for productions that spend at least $500,000 in the Peach State – starting at 9% and going as high as 17% for projects that employ local talent, film in certain counties, and are part of a series or franchise. Lawmakers were spurred to the move after a number of productions defected to nearby Louisiana and its 20% tax break. Georgia already exempts productions from sales and use taxes.

Toronto 1 to unionize?

The Canadian Media Guild has applied to represent approximately 80 employees at Toronto 1 – citing long hours, unpaid overtime, and lack of planning as grievances that staff at the Quebecor-owned station want the union to address. The application is now under review at the Canada Industrial Relations Board. CMG represents almost 6,000 media workers across Canada, including staff at CBC, VisionTV and Reuters.

Educating TV execs

Jim Byrd, Pat Ferns and Doug Macnamara – formerly of the Banff Television Festival – are reteaming to offer classes for senior TV execs, starting with the one-day forum ‘The Coming Shake-Out in Television,’ in Toronto on May 12, about changing technology, government policy and media ownership.

Speakers and panelists include former heritage minister Sheila Copps, producer Laszlo Barna, CBC’s Slawko Klymkiw, Corus Television’s Paul Robertson and CHUM president and CEO Jay Switzer.

Plans are also in the works for a six-day program in Australia for Asian and Australian TV execs, and another in Banff in January for executives from across North America.

For details, call the International Institute for Television Leadership at (866) 626-6002. Alumni of the Banff Executive Program get a discount, although IITL is not associated with the Banff festival.