– New large-co.

Coscient Group and Capital Communications cdpq have joined together to create a new Montreal-based company specializing in the production and distribution of large-format films (imax). Capital has earmarked $6 million to fund productions.

Three projects are already in development: Human Odyssey, Dream Time and Symbol of the North.

Heading the new subsidiary will be Andre Picard, president and gm of SDA Productions, while Martin Dignard has been named line producer. Steven Morris will head the distribution arm of the imax division.

In other imax-related news, the u.s. District Court for the Central District of California has dismissed all of Iwerks Entertainment’s antitrust allegations against imax.

– A-list cast on eXistenZ

With production underway, actors Willem Dafoe, Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Don McKellar and Callum Keith Rennie have been added to the cast list of David Cronenberg’s futuristic thriller eXistenZ.

They join stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law on the Alliance production.

– Kids div in Motion

Coscient Group distribution company Motion International set up a new division, Kids Motion International, to handle the distribution of video and audio cassettes and plush toys in the Canadian market.

The new unit will replace Motion’s Barney Home Video Canada division in name but Pam Westman will continue to manage all aspects of the distribution of the Barney line of product as well as other product acquired from Lyrick Studios.

Lori Merrall, gm of Motion’s home video division, will oversee additional product lines for Kids Motion International.

– Omega investors

Tom Eden, ceo of l.a-based Commercial Financial Group, and Mark Burman, president of Burman Entertainment Group, also of l.a., have jointly agreed to take a 49% equity stake in Ken Nakamura’s Toronto-based Omega Pictures International.

Nakamura remains chairman and ceo of the upstart financing, distribution and prodco, while Burman will serve as president and cfo of Omega through its l.a. office.

Omega projects in preproduction include The Spreading Ground, starring Dennis Hopper and Vanessa Redgrave; Cash Cows, a coproduction with Holland’s Get Reel Productions directed by Ate de Jong; and Body Piercer, starring Macaulay Culkin, with Billy Hopkins directing. Omega is prepping the David Mamet screenplay Lake Boat as a copro with Shoreline Entertainment. Joe Mantegna, Dennis Franz, Ed O’Neil and George Wendt are slated as cast, with Mantegna directing.

Omega is currently seeking a sales exec to head up its sales division. An announcement is expected at Cannes.

– Red Sky picks two Canuck flicks

Vancouver distributor Red Sky Entertainment has acquired the Canadian rights to two homegrown films – The Divine Ryans and Heart and Soul.

The Divine Ryans is produced by Halifax-based Chris Zimmer of Imagex, with principal photography scheduled for April 20 in St. John’s, Nfld. Stephen Reynolds is directing the film starring Pete Postlethwaite and Robert Joy.

The romantic comedy Heart and Soul, produced by Vancouver’s PennyCandy Productions, is slated for an August shoot in Vancouver. About a female Elvis impersonator, Heart and Soul was penned by Jana Williams, who is producing with Karen Austin, and will be directed by Teri Snelgrove. Sarah Strange will play the she-Elvis.

More b.c. feature acquisitions by Red Sky are expected in the near future.

– Indigo Moon down

Documentary and workshop producer Indigo Moon Pictures of Toronto has shut down its operations and is in the process of liquidating its assets. The company produced the series Journeys with Lauren Millar and held documentary workshops.

– Aboriginal funding

According to new data from Telefilm Canada, 12 productions received $1 million in funding from the ctcpf Aboriginal-language envelope in ’97/98 including two from the Northwest Territories, three from Quebec, two from Ontario, two from b.c. and one each from Manitoba and Alberta. Licences, where applicable, are from Vision tv, tvnc, Knowledge Network, cfrn-tv and cfcn-tv.

ctcpf commitments this year range from a low of $23,638 to a high of $218,975. Cumulative budgets for the 12 projects is over $2.5 million. The ctcpf share is 36.7%.

– ACFC, CEP deal

acfc West – the technical union behind TV series such as Cold Squad, Dead Man’s Gun, First Wave and the new Addams Family – took defensive action April 5 and voted 98% in favor of becoming a local of the 150,000-member Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

‘It seems that the stronger we got, the harder IA (Local 891) was trying to put us out of business,’ says acfc business agent Conor O’Sullivan, pointing to recent IATSE membership drives aimed at ACFC West members and alleged ia raids on acfc shows.

O’Sullivan says the 160 member ACFC West will expand to 300 by year-end when permittees are converted to full members. cep represents about 1,000 freelance film workers in Toronto through NABET Local 700.

– Cinema Africain et Creole

The 14th edition of Journees du Cinema Africain et Creole unspools in Montreal April 23 to May 3, with 150 films, shorts and tv productions in seven sections on this year’s program.

The film festival program of a larger Vues d’Afrique celebration includes an English screening section for the first time. Festival director Gerard LeChene says a number of foreign directors are expected to attend. For info: (514) 284-3322 (vueda@cam.org).

– New stock in Van

Stock footage company The Image Bank launched a Vancouver office April 13, which employs a virtual office concept, using the Internet and other digital delivery options. By fall, video streaming should also be available.

– People

– Vancouver’s Lions Gate Entertainment has added another heavy-hitter with the appointment of a former exec vp of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Dennis Miller joins Lions Gate Entertainment as senior vp and will be president of the newly formed company Lions Gate Media. Miller will oversee all tv activities for Lions Gate (through Mandalay Television) and, through the media company, he’ll build and acquire high-growth media businesses.

– ÊAt the Toronto Dominion Bank, Laurence Goldstein has been appointed film and entertainment lender, handling production financing.

– Laetitia Cyr has been elected vice-chair of the board of directors of Telefilm Canada. Jeanine Beaudien has been named head of the board’s audit committee.

– Richard Bridgman has been appointed vp, program planning for Baton/ctv.

– Television Quatre Saisons has named Mauro Pelo to the post of production director, news.

– Victor Rodriguez has been appointed senior sales director of ChumCity International.