With reality television and its kin still prevalent on airwaves, the Canadian Television Fund has clarified what types of programming qualify for funding as documentaries.

Although it may come down to a photo finish, it would seem C.R.A.Z.Y. will beat Aurore in the race to be the first Canadian film to reach $5 million at the box office this year, aided by a six-week head start.

While CBC broadcast journos are locked out, CTV and Global are taking initiatives to lure news junkies to their national products, and their efforts appear to be paying off.

The 30th Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its complete 2005 lineup at a press conference in Nathan Phillips Square Aug. 23, announcing that 335 films from 52 countries, including 109 world premieres, will screen during the 10-day event.

Director/writer: Thom Fitzgerald

Less sex for Showcase and more fun on HGTV and the Food Network are two goals for Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting and its specialty channel lineup for 2005/06.
Once thought of as a second-window service for Canadian dramas, Showcase has turned heads recently with its own series and, this year, has returned to the same well with comedies Kenny vs. Spenny, It’s Me Gerald and doc series Webdreams.

It took another Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm offering, Horloge Biologique, to unseat Aurore as the current top-grossing domestic movie in Canada, bringing in $511,372 on 87 Quebec screens, an average of about $5,900 per screen, in its debut weekend starting Aug. 5.
Horloge, about a group of 30-somethings weighing single life versus parenthood, even outdrew the heavily hyped opening weekend of The Dukes of Hazzard. According to Vivafilm, there are no expansion plans in Quebec at this time. It will make its English Canada debut after it’s screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, but a firm release date has not been set.

CTV’s Robson Arms may not have looked like it stood much of a chance in the Friday 10pm timeslot, but the comedy finished its season on July 29 with a respectable season average of 450,000 per episode. This is a far cry from the first-run 1.5 million of Corner Gas, CTV’s homegrown hit, but not bad for such an under-watched summer timeslot.
CTV is giving Robson, an Omni Film Production about the residents of a Vancouver apartment complex, a chance to further build its audience, rerunning the first season on Sunday nights with two back-to-back episodes beginning at 10pm. Robson’s second run began Aug. 7, following Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Thom Fitzgerald’s latest, 3 Needles, will kick-start the 25th Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax next month.

Vancouver: Expect to see a few new straight-to-DVD CG titles from Vancouver’s Mainframe Entertainment in the coming year. In addition to a sixth title in its Barbie franchise, Mainframe is working on feature-length animated films starring skateboarder Tony Hawk and kid-friendly aardvark Arthur.
Mainframe developed Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage with the champion boarder and retains the film’s worldwide distribution rights. Hawk serves as executive producer, contributing his voice and moves to the project.

Edmonton – Helping Canada win the battle of the bulge one TV-hour at a time, Edmonton’s Anaid Productions is underway on a new 13 x 60 documentary series called X-Weighted for Life Network.

Vancouver post shop Rainmaker and Halifax filmmaker Howard Green scored two nods each when the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its nominations for the 2005 Emmy Awards on July 14. This year’s Emmys will be presented on Sept. 18 in L.A., with the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony taking place Sept. 11.