+ The CRTC has granted Category 2 licences for 10 new digital channels to Asian Television Network, covering movies, sports and music. The Toronto-based broadcaster currently runs 14 channels aimed at the South Asian community. The new licences include the Hindi Movie Channel, South Asian News, in both Hindi and English, and two music channels.

– North Carolina has sweetened its tax credit for Hollywood studios, from 15% to 25% of qualified spending on a project. The move aims to restore North Carolina’s competitiveness in attracting major studio shoots against neighboring Georgia and South Carolina, which offer incentives up to 30%.

+ Judd Apatow’s Funny People will headline the 13th edition of the Just for Laughs Film Festival, a cinematic sidebar of Montreal’s popular comedy festival. The festival runs July 10-28. Apatow,

director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, was the toast of last year’s event.

– The City of Toronto has short-listed the former Toronto Film Studios soundstages property as a potential locale for a streetcar storage yard – a site adjacent to three functioning studios. Jim Mirkopoulos, VP of Cinespace Film Studios, said in a statement that accompanying noise and vibration issues from increased streetcar traffic could threaten the viability of Toronto’s studio district.