There is a little show from Montreal that, if you are in English Canada, you may not be aware of.

Before embarking on the second season of Star Academie, MTL Video will be busy with other TV projects, including Ciao Bella, Cirrus Communications’ high-definition comedy/drama that will be shot in English and French for CBC/SRC.

Manitoba appears to be riding a winning wave of late. In addition to scoring the Jennifer Lopez/Richard Gere film Shall We Dance? (in the wake of the film’s producers bailing on Toronto due to SARS anxiety), Carole Vivier, CEO of Manitoba Film & Sound, has announced a new media fund for the province and a new base budget of $1 million per year to help finance indigenous film and recording projects.

After a series of fiscals that reported steady growth in Atlantic Canada, production revenues varied in 2002/03, with only the smallest province, Prince Edward Island, seeing a considerable jump.

Not even six months in and it’s already been a year of extreme ups and downs for Halifax production mainstay Salter Street Films and Michael Donovan, its chairman and CEO.

Answering the need for post infrastructure development in Prince Edward Island, Halifax audio and video post house Salter Street Digital has opened a new mixing theater in Charlottetown’s Atlantic Technology Centre.

Peter D’Entremont, president and founder of Halifax prodco Triad Films, has launched crossroads film consulting, a service company that sees D’Entremont and his team taking on a silent-partner role on documentary productions, offering strategic creative and business advice.

These are tough times for the advertising industry, and nearly everyone is feeling the squeeze. Budgets are shrinking, agencies are writing more ‘high-concept/low-budget’ material and production companies are routinely doing favors just to win jobs. One would think that a production consultant involved in the process would be a good thing, and many (especially on the client end) would suggest they are. However, many producers, and even some on the agency side, wholeheartedly disagree.

Toronto production house Fever Films North America has entered into an agreement with Pirate Radio & Television whereby Fever will represent the directors of Pirate for TV commercial production exclusively in North America.

Canada had a record-breaking year in terms of box-office receipts, according to Howard Lichtman, president of Lightning Group, Toronto.

The Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival is gearing up for its 56th edition and continues as the longest-running short film fest in North America. The festival takes place in Yorkton, SK May 22-25.

Many Canadian advertising folks Ron Woodall helped to mold refer to him as though he is some kind of creative guru. Others speak of him as a coach who took his team from the bottom of the standings and led them to the championship. Now they can all refer to Woodall, Palmer Jarvis DDB’s executive VP of creative strategies, as the 2003 Spiess Award winner for furthering excellence in TV advertising.