USA Network is shooting a 90-minute pilot for To Love and Die in L.A. until Dec. 1 in Vancouver. The would-be series stars Shiri Appleby (Six Degrees) as a young woman reunited with her contract killer father, played by Tim Matheson (The West Wing).

Vancouver filmmaker David Paperny is again putting his love of documentaries into a series of new shows and specials for nonfiction channels on both sides of the border.

Vancouver’s fledgling Talelight Films has inked a copro and distribution deal with Montreal’s Equinoxe Films that will see founders James Upton and Jeff Richards jointly produce three features with Equinoxe COO and SVP Michael Mosca.

Vancouver: Efforts to strike a new B.C. Master Production Agreement between the Union of British Columbia Performers and U.S. and Canadian producers will be influenced by the outcome of Toronto negotiations between ACTRA and the CFTPA and Quebec-based APFTQ. Those talks were deadlocked as of early November, with conciliators being brought in.

Vancouver: Mystic Ball, a sports doc by director Greg Hamilton, edged out the competition at the close of the Vancouver International Film Festival on Oct. 13, winning the prize for most popular Canadian feature over heavy contenders Fido, by B.C.-based Andrew Currie, and Away from Her, Sarah Polley’s feature directorial debut.

With a major CRTC review on their doorstep and new technologies still on the rise, 2006 is going out as a watershed year for Canada’s private broadcasters, and will see both developments front and center at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention in Vancouver, Nov. 5-7.

As the Vancouver International Film Festival hits the quarter-century mark, festival director Alan Franey can’t help but look back to the beginning just as he readies to unspool more than 300 films from over 50 countries, Sept. 28 to Oct. 13.

After 20 years in operation, VIFF’s venerable professional development events kick off Sept. 27 with a new director, a new name, and a new focus.

While spotlighting local talent, the Film & Television Forum is also bringing home some of Canada’s finest exports, including Joel H. Cohen, a writer and producer on cartoon phenom The Simpsons.

The Sci-Fi Channel has cancelled Stargate SG-1, potentially shutting down the B.C.-shot series just as it entered the record books as North America’s longest-running sci-fi series of all time.

The Great Canadian PitchFest has found a new home at the equally new FTX West Film & Television Expo, a four-day trade show and conference set to debut Oct. 12 in Vancouver.