Friends gather to remember Leiterman

Friends and colleagues of Richard Leiterman will gather at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto on Sept. 25 at 5 p.m. to look back on the life and work of the famed cinematographer. Leiterman – best known for his pioneering work in cinéma vértité and for such films as Wedding in White and Goin’ Down the Road – died in July at age 70.

The gathering ‘is for his friends to come to terms with his death,’ says Margaret Leiterman, his widow. ‘So many people called me. So many people wanted closure.’

Among the speakers will be filmmakers Allan King and Don Shebib, film writer Martin Knelman and Leiterman’s daughter, Rachel. A short film by longtime collaborator Peter Rowe will also be screened.

LG, RichCrest ink 3-pic deal

Lions Gate Family Entertainment is teaming up with Burbank, CA-based RichCrest Animation for a three-film slate. The first will be a CG feature called Sylvester and the Magic Peddle, based on the book by Shrek creator William Steig. This is the second feature in the works from Lions Gate’s family unit, which is also producing the CG feature Foodfight! LG will distribute Sylvester and the two copros that will follow worldwide, excluding India, which is home to RichCrest’s parent, Crest Animation.

Harris acquires Leitch

U.S. communications and IT company Harris Corporation has struck a deal to acquire Toronto-based SD/HD digital video solutions provider Leitch Technologies for US$450 million. Harris will purchase all the shares of Leitch at $14 each over the 60-day period, which began Aug. 30. Leitch won the award for innovation in media at NAB 2005 for its Nexio NX4200 HDX broadcast video server, and also developed the digital effects and compositing software, Digital Fusion, with Toronto’s eyeon Software.

Zoom lawsuit dropped

Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel have withdrawn their lawsuit against the Sony/Revolution picture Zoom, and have reportedly reached an ‘amicable’ agreement over the superhero spoof’s similarity to the X-Men movies. Fox and Marvel took aim at the Tim Allen comedy in June, calling for a stop on production over its premise and release date. Both properties involve mutant teenage crimefighters and, at the time, Zoom was set to come out two weeks before X-Men 3, on May 13.

Zoom, now wrapping its Toronto shoot, has since moved to August 2006 and reportedly underwent some script changes. X-Men 3 is filming in Vancouver.

Actors helping actors

The Actors’ Fund of Canada is ramping up to its third annual More Than Applause benefit, Oct. 17-24, for actors dealing with illness, injury or financial trouble.

Canada’s thespian community and volunteers raised $45,000 last year with auctions and other initiatives. This year, the cast of CBC’s This Is Wonderland has issued a challenge to other projects shooting during the week-long fundraiser to try to match the money they raise. Last year, the cast of CTV’s The Eleventh Hour posed a similar challenge and helped to raise $10,000.