Alliance Atlantis’ Motion Picture Distribution has blocked the expected launch of a rival company headed by Victor Loewy with a court injunction, stalling its departed chair until an arbitrator can determine whether his non-compete clause – reportedly binding until next July – should be upheld.

The National Film Board, in partnership with Toronto home video distributor Koch Vision, is releasing a seven-disc boxed set dedicated to the late Norman McLaren on Sept. 5, in time for the influential animator’s touring retrospective to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Winnipeg: Production is underway in Winnipeg on writer/director Kari Skogland’s big-screen adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s classic novel The Stone Angel, which is scheduled to wrap Sept. 22.

Toronto: Insight Production is teaming with producer/distrib FremantleMedia (the Idol franchise) to put a Canadian spin on another hit U.S. reality show, Project Runway.

Vancouver: Director Anne Wheeler is at the helm of The Competition, a holiday comedy currently shooting in B.C. for Lifetime Television.

Screen Siren Pictures is heading into post on Luna: The Way Home, the latest in CTV’s Heroes, Champions and Villains MOW series. The film – based on the true story of Luna, a recently deceased killer whale that lived in the harbor of a B.C. village for five years – shot around Vancouver Island last month.

Alliance Atlantis Communications finally confirmed that it has received a ‘non-binding proposal’ from British firm Marwyn Investments for its troubled Motion Picture Distribution arm, after skirting the issue during conference calls announcing the second-quarter results for both itself and MPD earlier this month.

Montreal concert film prodco FogoLabs picked up two awards at the 2006 Annual DVD Awards, hosted by film critic Leonard Maltin on Aug. 8 in Los Angeles.

CTV’s Canadian Idol once again helped boost the ratings of Whistler on Aug. 14. The nighttime soap garnered 512,000 viewers in the Monday 9 p.m. slot, replacing the recently cancelled ABC reality show One Ocean View.

Vancouver – Insight Film Studios of Vancouver and Kaleidoscope Entertainment of Toronto are heading into production on the new CHUM sci-fi series Blood Ties. The $22-million season will shoot under the single-purpose banner of Bitten Productions, beginning Aug. 28 in Vancouver.

Moose Jaw – Regina’s Stephen Onda Productions wrapped the MOW Intimate Stranger for Lifetime Television and Global late last month.