Corporation opens strong stateside

Feature doc The Corporation, directed by Vancouver’s Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, was released in the U.S. by Zeitgeist Films June 4 and earned over $200,000 on nine screens in the first three weeks of its release, for an average of just over $24,740, second only to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The documentary, which looks at the underbelly of big businesses and its effect on society, has already earned more than $1.5 million in Canada.

Keystone posts loss

Vancouver’s International Keystone Entertainment (Air Bud) posted a net loss of $200,000 for the year ended Jan. 31, 2004 on revenues of $3.7 million, compared to earnings of $2 million on revenues of $15.6 million in 2003. Financing and operating costs decreased to $1.6 million in 2004 from $4.4 million, while library sales and film and music royalties contributed $2.1 million to revenues in 2004, down from $5.6 million the year before.

TIFF adds Talent Lab

The 2004 Toronto International Film Festival will include Talent Lab Toronto, a new event that will give 20 aspiring filmmakers – with at least one feature or two shorts completed – a crash course in marketing, distribution and other tricks of the trade from Canadian and international pros.

The 26th TIFF will also see the return of Pitch This!, a six-way competition for $10,000 in funding. See www.tiffg.ca to apply.

Loews Cineplex fetches $2B

Onex Corporation and Oaktree Capital have sold Loews Cineplex Entertainment. Bain Capital, along with the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Investors, will spend a reported $2 billion on the theater chain’s 131 cinemas in the States. Onex stands to make $775 million. The Toronto-based outfit bought Loews Cineplex, then nearly bankrupt, two years ago. Onex continues to operate Cineplex’s 83 Canadian theaters.

Open for business

Two former film commissioners in B.C. have launched Angus & Associates, a consulting firm to filmmakers worldwide. Mark DesRochers and Tom Crowe, the former B.C. film commissioner and Victoria film commissioner, respectively, offer services in business development, marketing and community affairs, production and location services, incentive programs, and policy development for film commissions, government agencies and the private sector.

The duo hopes to capitalize on their access to studio production executives and decision makers in Los Angeles, Europe, Canada and major production centers throughout the world. Previously, they have produced trade missions, symposiums and events in Los Angeles, New York, London, Munich, Hong Kong and Tokyo and at various international festivals and markets.

A&A recently completed its first project – the creation of Nunavut Film, a film development corporation and full-service film commission and marketing agency for Canada’s largest territory.

Tuning in to Channel M

According to an Ipsos-Reid survey commissioned by Channel M in Vancouver, 52% of Mandarin-, 46% of Cantonese- and 71% of Punjabi-speaking people surveyed watched the multicultural, over-the-air station in the past month. In a typical week, according to the poll, 41% of the local Mandarin population watches Channel M Mandarin News, 31% of the local Cantonese population watches Channel M Cantonese News, and 62% of the local Punjabi population watches Channel M Punjabi News.

‘The favorable audience numbers for our news, interactive programs and international movies far exceeded our expectations,’ says Bruce Hamlin, Channel M’s director of sales.

The survey polled 1,500 people in March and April from the three largest non-English-language groups in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland region. Although Channel M subscribes to Bureau of Broadcast Measurement for measurement of its English-speaking audience, BBM currently does not measure Vancouver’s non-English communities.