Citytv is raising the stakes for its reality competition series Canada’s Got Talent. The broadcaster announced Tuesday (May 16) that the newly greenlit third season will include a cash prize of $1 million, which is sponsored by parent company Rogers and touted in a news release as “the biggest cash prize in Canadian television history.”

An additional total of $150,000 will be provided from CIBC, which will give six “Golden Buzzer” recipients $25,000 each to “help realize their ambitions.”

Canada’s Got Talent is produced by McGillivray Entertainment Media, Fremantle, and SYCO Entertainment, and airs on Citytv. Applications are now open for season three.

CBC New Indigenous Voices program sets 2023 participants

The National Screen Institute (NSI) has named 10 emerging creators for its 2023 CBC New Indigenous Voices program, which is returning in-person this year for the first time since 2019.

The 14-week initiative gives participants hands-on training, group work and mentorship. The first two weeks are online, after which participants will work on producing and editing their own short film at Big Sky Studios in Winnipeg in late June, followed by an internship placement. It runs until August.

This year’s cohort includes six participants from Manitoba: Lucas Boudreau, St. Laurent; Sage Boulanger-McLeod, Berens River First Nation; Renée Courchene, Sagkeeng First Nation; Jacob Dorie, Black River First Nation; John Luke, Kivalliq Region; and Linsey Murdock, Fisher River Cree Nation.

The additional four participants are Lisa Abel of M’Chigeeng First Nation in Ontario; Asha Bear of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick; and B.C.-based Apollo Dawson of Dzawada’enuxw First Nation and Alysha Johnny-Hawkins of Tahltan First Nation.

Quebecor Fund selects three for production assistance

Three projects have been selected for the Quebecor Fund’s Film Production Assistance Program, picking up a total of $655,000 in production funds.

The films are Mlle Bottine (Attraction, La Fête Content & Concept), about a woman who moves in with her opera composer uncle after her grandmother dies, with Immina Films set to distribute; D’où viens-tu berger? (micro_scope), which follows a advertising exec who gives up his career to herd sheep, distributed by Maison 4:3; and La Petite et le vieux (Parallaxes), an adaptation of the Marie-Renée Lavoie novel of the same name, distributed by TVA Films.

The Quebecor Fund has also selected Montreal’s KO Distribution to receive $300,000 through its Export Assistance Program. The program provides a shared investment between the Quebecor Fund and the Canada Media Fund, with both providing $150,000 each.

CBC Gem original says hello to Europe

CBC Gem original series Hello (Again), created by Simu Liu and Nathalie Younglai, will make its European premiere at the 2023 Diversity in Cannes Short Film & Webseries Showcase on May 22. The short-form series is produced by Teresa M. Ho of 100 Dragons Media, who said in a statement that she will also be attending the Marché du Film at Cannes for its Spotlight Asia.

Hello (Again) is one of 18 projects to be selected, according to a news release. Diversity in Cannes was created by Yolonda Brinkley, and counts Oscar winner Viola Davis among its supporters.

Naomi McDougall Jones joins reGEN media

Filmmaker Naomi McDougall Jones, founder of The 51 Fund private equity fund for female filmmakers, has joined B.C.-based impact media agency reGEN media in the co-lead role of global artistic director.

She’ll focus on guiding the organization’s “creative development and scalable global growth” as it introduces its first cohort of filmmakers as well as its film philanthropy program and online film hub, according to an announcement on the reGEN media website.

Charlene SanJenko is founder and CEO of reGEN Impact Media, which is billed as Indigenous-owned and female-led agency devoted to building “a viable alternative media ecosystem for historically under-recognized artists, creatives, and filmmakers of transformative stories.”

Canadian projects lauded at Colorado’s SeriesFest

Marie Clements’ Bones of Crows and Canadian comedy series Our Big Punjabi Family picked up prizes from Colorado’s SeriesFest this month.

Bones of Crows (Screen Siren Pictures, Grana Productions, Marie Clements Media) won the audience award for best international independent pilot. The project was filmed as both a feature and a 5 x 60-minute limited series, and is expected to run on CBC during the 2023-24 broadcast season.

Our Big Punjabi Family (KarmaFilm) won the juried award for Best International Comedy Series. The series was praised for its “free-wheeling storytelling with great chemistry among the whole cast,” in a statement from the jury, adding that the series provides “the kind of diversity we want to see more of in a sitcom landscape.”

Foreign sales for the Punjabi- and English-language series are handled by L.A.’s Echo Lake Entertainment. A Canadian distribution has not been announced as of press time.

Prism Prize announces finalists

Ten Canadian music videos have made the short list for the 2023 Prism Prize’s $20,000 grand prize, which will be announced July 6 in Toronto. They include two videos for songs by Tanya Tagaq: Colonizer, directed by Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, and Teeth Agape, directed by David Seitz.

The finalists also include Snotty Nose Rez Kids’ video for Damn Right, directed by Sterling Larose; Amanda Sum’s Different Than Before, directed by Mayumi Yoshida; Dan Mangan’s Fire Escape, directed by Lester Lyons-Hookham; and MorMor – Here It Goes Again, directed by Adrian Villagomez.

The list is rounded out by Jessie Reyez’s Mutual Friend, directed by Peter Huang; Jean-Michel Blais’ Passepied, directed by Adrian Villagomez; BAMBII’s Ride With Me, directed by Kit Weyman & BAMBII; and PUP’s Totally Fine, directed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux.

With files from Victoria Ahearn

Image courtesy of Rogers Sports & Media