Atlantis signs L.A. deal

Atlantis Films, Los Angeles, and Roni Weisberg Productions have signed an exclusive two-year television and cable production deal. Their first project will be Sing Me the Blues, Lena, an mow made in collaboration with Ann-Margret Productions, for nbc. The mow was written by Merry Helm and will star Ann-Margret. Principal photography for Sing Me the Blues, Lena is slated for August and the release date will be sometime in the fall.

Gary Silver will be joining Atlantis’ l.a. office as director, business affairs. He comes to Atlantis from TriStar Television, l.a., where he has been director of business affairs for the past two-and-a-half years. Previously, Silver worked at ITC Entertainment and MGM/UA Television.

The position is effective July 5.

Exec appointments at Malofilm

Malofilm Communications has announced three senior management appointments.

Peter Wertelecky, who worked for Malofilm Distribution from 1982 to 1988, has returned to the company as vice-president, distribution.

Wertelecky, previously Canadian general manager for Buena Vista Pictures, will head up the company’s Toronto operations.

Also named at Malofilm are Stephen Takacsy, vice-president finance, and Francyne Morin, vice-president, communications.

Takacsy will be responsible for the company’s finance and administration, investor relations and corporate development strategies, particularly new media and cd-rom. He previously worked with Richardson Greenshields of Canada and Royal Bank. Morin, who has been associated with the company for many years, will develop Malofilm’s new u.s. specialty channel, Parents Channel.

Malofilm is an integrated distribution, production and international sales company with offices in Montreal and Toronto. It is listed on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol mfm.

Rogers presents CWRT with $500,000

Rogers Communications will grant $500,000 to Canadian Women in Radio and Television. The funding will be used to establish regional development programs for women in the form of professional development programs and employment equity initiatives.

Baker heads STCVQ

Brian Baker is the new president of Syndicat des techniciennes et techniciens du cinema et de la video du Quebec, Quebec’s freelance film technician’s union. Baker replaces Patrice Houx.

TV5 moves into U.S.

International French-language specialty channel TV5 Quebec/Canada intends to launch a signal in the u.s. market next spring, says director general James Baer. According to Baer, close to two million Americans speak French, the third most common language after English and Spanish.

TV5 already has an agreement with foreign-language broadcaster International Channel of l.a.

Astral pumps $9.5M into CD plant

Astral Communications will invest an additional $9.5 million in AstralTech Americas, the company’s three-month-old compact disc replication and mastering plant in Boca Raton, Fla.

The new expenditure brings Astral’s total investment in the plant to $20.2 million and doubles the initial planned capacity to 25 million cd-rom and cd-r (recordable cds) units a year, according to Sidney Greenberg, president of Astral Entertainment Group.

The expansion includes a second printer, an in-house mastering and electroforming service and the addition of three premastering suites.

The AstralTech Americas operation is headed by Michael Ostroff, vice-president and coo.

Iwai named at PolyGram

Darryl Iwai has been appointed president of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) Canada, effective July 1. Iwai, currently vice-president and general manager of JL Bowerbank and Associates, earlier worked as a senior staff accountant at Clarkson Gordon, a division of Ernst and Young.

As president, Iwai will be responsible for all pfe’s business in Canada.

Hinojosa at La Red

CanWest Global Communications has announced the appointment of Santiago Hinojosa, a veteran advertising executive with broad experience in Hispanic markets, as the new ceo of La Red Inversiones, the management company which will run Chile’s La Red Television Network. CanWest’s international division recently announced its acquisition of a 50% interest in the network.