Controversy stormed across the industry this month when a secret deal was revealed between Telefilm Canada and Creative Artists Agency to find stories and absentee Canadian talent for domestic movies. Telefilm exec director Richard Stursberg outlined the plan to the Hollywood mega-agent in a private memo leaked to the press.
‘The relationship with CAA will not be announced publicly until all these arrangements have been put in place,’ writes Stursberg. ‘In the interim, please keep the contents of this letter confidential.’

Following last month’s restoration of the Canadian Television Fund, TV stakeholders will convene on April 15 in Ottawa – at the behest of the minister of Canadian heritage – for the next step, changing how the public-private pot ‘o gold operates.

Friction between domestic broadcasters and Canadian cable companies took on a nationalistic turn when Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell suggested Canada should end the ‘free ride’ of foreign signals vying for Canadian audiences.

Vancouver: After a banner year in 2003, generating about $24 million in film and television production budgets, the Victoria Film Commission finds itself again in a mortal struggle with funding.
According to film commissioner Russ Cowan, Victoria’s film office has six to 24 months of life left, unless new funding is secured to support the $228,000 budget.

While there may never be enough production money to go around, Canadian television should be able to avoid a repeat of last year’s funding crisis now that the federal government has restored its $100-million commitment to the Canadian Television Fund for 2004 and 2005.

Vancouver: It’s hard to know whether it’s a sign of better things to come, but the anticipated summer arrival of The Talisman, a $135-million blockbuster feature from Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, is lifting a bit of the gloom off Vancouver’s lackluster feature film production volumes.

Vancouver: Pilot season is well underway with a half-dozen projects boiling over in Vancouver, including Cooking Lessons, a one-hour dramedy for CBS.

Analog specialty television services in Canada continue to grow and cover the substantial operating losses of the new digital channels, says a new revenue survey of Canadian specialty, pay and pay-per-view television services published by the CRTC on March 2.

Vancouver: Leaders at major British Columbia film and television production unions have until June 1 to consult with members and voluntarily implement a series of recommendations laid out in a report by B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Tysoe or face potential legislation.

On Feb. 10, Chaos was thrown into chaos. Financing for the Wesley Snipes-Jason Statham action-thriller, produced by Vancouver’s Rampage Entertainment, was tied to a U.K. coproduction deal with Grosvenor Park – one of that country’s equity suppliers hit last month by a sudden crackdown on U.K. tax shelters.

Vancouver: British Columbia Film has less money than ever before to invest in the West Coast film industry, following the B.C. government’s Feb. 17 provincial budget for fiscal 2005, beginning April 1.

Vancouver: At the Gemini Awards in 2001, Brad Wright experienced first hand the discrimination of Canada’s production sector caste system. Stargate SG-1 – a CAVCO-certified series he codeveloped since it debuted in 1997 and managed into one of the most successful sci-fi shows in syndication – was up against 10-out-of-10 Canadian-content dramas like Da Vinci’s Inquest in the best drama category. As the Stargate name was mentioned in the list of nominees, someone yelled out, ‘They don’t belong here!’