CBC has high hopes for Poko, its new flagship kids series, although with the news of Salter Street Films closing its doors, a second season is in doubt. Playback recently visited the show’s Halifax studio, where the Salter team was hard at work on season one.

Vancouver/Toronto agency Palmer Jarvis DDB has spun its Cannes Silver Lion-winning Canadian Hockey Association spots from last year – the acclaimed ‘Relax, It’s Only a Game’ campaign – into a literal hat trick of hockey clients. In addition to the CHA, PJ has taken on the business of USA Hockey (the minor league equivalent of the CHA in the U.S.) and NHL.com, shooting spots for all three over the Thanksgiving weekend in Toronto.

After the worst 24 months for Canadian commercial production in decades, everyone is feeling the crunch and, if you believe every rumor you hear, just about every shop is going out of business.

Telefilm Canada has released its 2002/03 annual report, boasting that its ‘end-to-end support for cultural products, from script to international marketing,’ totaled $239 million in financial commitments. Telefilm’s 2001/02 fiscal saw the agency commit $208 million.

It’s ironic that the concept behind new Toronto-based production/representation/sales company Obvious Management isn’t as immediately clear to everyone as its partners would have hoped. But according to partners Christina Ford president/exec producer of Imported Artists, and Tom Symes former publisher of Boards Magazine (Boards is published by Brunico Communications which also publishes Playback and On The Spot), who along with Treehouse North’s Karen Silver make up the executive, the concept is typical of how things are done in many markets outside Canada.

Toronto’s Hoodoo Films, known throughout Canada for its prowess in the music video sector under executive producer Michael Rosen, is positioning its commercial production division as a strong alternative for spots with ‘challenged budgets.’

Former Generator Films president and executive producer Michael Cooper has opened a Toronto office of Michigan’s Millennium Pictures, and signed three top Canadian helmers for his cause.

First Cut Award runner-up Yael Staav is looking for great ideas to shoot. With a background in music video production, some strong early work and a First Cut nod to her credit, the young director appears poised for a big second year in the industry.

Toronto-based director Jonathan Hayes is a runner-up in this year’s First Cut Award competition based solely on the merits of his acclaimed short film, The School, submitted as his reel. Repped by Toronto’s Spy Films, Hayes has yet to shoot a commercial, or even a spec spot, yet the judges saw enough potential in his short to give him a runner-up nod.

Halifax-based producer Michael MacDonald (formerly of Ocean Entertainment) established Road House Films in February and already has a whack of TV productions in development and a 2 x 60 limited documentary series in production.

‘Disappointment’ is the word of the day at Alliance Atlantis when speaking about the opening weekend of its much-hyped (and MuchHyped) feature Foolproof on Oct. 3.
Despite critical nods as fine escapist fare, and a big, expensive marketing push, the Odeon Films release only managed to gross about $230,000 on roughly 200 screens.

Halifax: First of all, yes, it’s shot in a real trailer park – a real neighborhood – and it will remain nameless lest we be the cause of any drunken pilgrimages.
It’s the fourth park the cast and crew of Showcase’s Trailer Park Boys (produced by Halifax’s Topsail Entertainment) have seen in the show’s four seasons. In this park, series creator/director Mike Clattenburg and his team have their own space as they shoot episodes of the popular series away from the rest of the park’s dwellers.