Vancouver – Animation house Mainframe Entertainment is set to team with Hollywood heavyweight The Weinstein Company and comedian Jerry Lewis on an animated update of Lewis’ 1963 comedy The Nutty Professor.

Vancouver – A down-and-out football star contemplates suicide, while an FBI agent tracks a serial killer in the intertwining premises of Under the Sycamore Tree, a feature coproduction between B.C. prodcos Bases Loaded Entertainment and Sycamore Productions, which was set to wrap in Vancouver on Aug. 20.

The sudden departure of Victor Loewy has left Motion Picture Distribution on shaky ground, amid speculation that New Line Cinema’s lucrative output deal could leave with him, and uncertainty regarding MPD’s European interests.

Toronto’s Mongrel Media will make its first foray into the distribution of Canadian television properties with the CBC miniseries Human Cargo and the CTV MOW One Dead Indian, streeting on Aug. 22.

Saskatchewan – Some top-shelf talent has been tapped for the Minds Eye Entertainment mini-series The Englishman’s Boy, which began shooting on July 31 for CBC.

There are HD cameras now available to suit most production genres and budgets, and with HD broadcasting ramping up, it’s a format all TV producers will have to embrace sooner rather than later. Some top feature film directors such as George Lucas and Michael Mann have also already done so.

In a major and sudden shakeup at Alliance Atlantis’ Motion Picture Distribution, chairman Victor Loewy and CEO Patrice Théroux have left the company.

‘We are currently reviewing the strategic importance of the Motion Picture Distribution business and as promised, we will report back when this review has been concluded,’ said Phyllis Yaffe, Alliance Atlantis Communications’ CEO, in a statement.

Temple Street Productions – producer of CHUM’s Canada’s Next Top Model and the Showcase comedy Billable Hours – will change hands on July 27 as its heads of dramatic production, David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, acquire the Toronto prodco from principals Patrick Whitley and Sheila Hockin.

Renters and retailers expect decent demand for Equinoxe Films’ Beowulf & Grendel, slated to street on July 18.

The final game of the FIFA World Cup tournament that saw Italy defeat France on July 9 brought in an average of 2.8 million viewers for CTV – peaking at four million for the match-ending penalty kick shootout – capping a record ratings month for soccer in Canada.

Vancouver – Animation house Studio B Productions is in preproduction on George of the Jungle, a new animated series for Teletoon and Cartoon Network, in partnership with George’s rights owner Classic Media.

Vancouver – X-Men: The Last Stand’s Halle Berry will return to Vancouver forthe DreamWorks feature drama Things We Lost in the Fire, about a woman who loses her husband and opens her home to his best friend, beginning in mid-August. The film will also star another Academy Award winner, Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), and be directed by Susanne Bier (Open Hearts). Sam Mendes (Jarhead) and Sam Mercer (Lady in the Water) are producing, with writer Allan Loeb (21) among the executive producers. Shooting is scheduled to run into October.