Craig shaves 37 jobs

Craig Media is cutting 37 jobs from its Calgary and Toronto stations, saying it needs to streamline its operations. Production, sales and marketing staff will be let go from Calgary’s A-Channel and the beleaguered Toronto1. This follows job consolidation efforts between the Calgary and Edmonton A-Channels. Craig Media was sold to rival CHUM Television in April, pending CRTC approval.

Strike three at AAC

Aliance Atlantis again failed to deliver its year-end report for 2003 and, has not filed papers for Q1 2004, resulting in the possibility of a trading ban on the Toronto media giant. AAC set and missed three dates for its fiscal ’03 report, blaming the setbacks on its complicated restructuring efforts. A new deadline has not been set. At press time, AAC was one day away from an Ontario Securities Commission deadline that would trigger a trading ban on managers and company insiders.

Seville, Capri partner

Distributors Seville Pictures and the newly launched Capri Films Releasing have announced a two-year deal that will see Montreal-based Seville release all of Capri’s films in Quebec. Toronto-based Capri will in turn distribute Seville’s titles in English Canada. The first film under the new deal is Zatoichi, a Japanese samurai epic by director Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano, acquired by Seville and to be released nationally on June 11. Titles to follow include the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and the French drama Nathalie…, both due out in the summer.

No gangsta

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has pulled one of its TV spots following complaints from the RCMP. The public service announcement, part of the lobby group’s campaign for more Canadian stories on screen, featured an actor dressed in a traditional Mountie uniform. The Mountie name and image are protected by law, and licensed via an agreement with the Walt Disney Company.