CBC’s budget took two hits in one week, suffering its second $10-million budgetary cut in two years on Nov. 4 when the federal government tabled its estimates for 2004, and is now facing another $46-million cut, suggested by Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla a few days later, that could hit the network on April 1, 2005.

Vancouver: The New VI is looking a lot like the old CH. After laying off 29 full- and part-time employees on July 7, CHUM’s struggling Victoria station has recently hired three senior journalists from the market-leading CH Victoria, owned by CanWest MediaWorks, and is now shooting for an older audience.

The word of the day in business circles, for a thousand-or-so days by now, has been ‘transparency.’ Companies and other large organizations are under pressure from regulators, stakeholders and the public to spell out as clearly as possible every move they make, every loonie they spend, in hope of preventing any embarrassing Enron-esque or Hollinger-ish missteps.

Vancouver: The biggest Vancouver International Film Festival to date also made the most money – passing the $1-million mark in revenue for the first time in its 23-year history, thanks in part to a record 537 screenings of 373 films, including seven world premieres.

Vancouver: The future is brightening for B.C. television series production and it’s coming from the past. Producers Kirk Shaw and James Shavick begin production Nov. 8 on Young Blades, described as a next generation of Musketeers set in 17th century Paris.
The 22 hours will air on CHUM in Canada and PAX TV in the U.S. Sony owns the foreign rights to the six-out-of-10 show.

Longstanding CanWest Global Communications executives Jack Tomik, president CanWest Media Sales; Loren Mawhinney, VP of Canadian production; and Doug Hoover, SVP programming and promotions, have been shown the door after a major executive shakeup at the Winnipeg-based media giant.

Canadian producers claimed four of the 28 nominations for the 32nd International Emmy Awards, which recognize outstanding programs produced outside the U.S., following announcements made Oct. 4 at the MIPCOM market in Cannes, France.

Vancouver: Force Four Entertainment begins three weeks of production in the farmlands of Abbotsford, BC Oct. 14 on the CBC MOW A Love Story before moving production in November to Chandigarh in the Indian province of Punjab for two more weeks.
The $3.7-million production, which is also known as Murder Unveiled and will likely go through another name change, is a tragic Punjabi love story inspired by actual headlines.

With its seventh and final season gracing the airwaves, Cold Squad remains perhaps the most under-appreciated of all Canadian drama series.

When Cold Squad coproducer Julia Keatley ramped up Vancouver’s first primetime national drama in 1997, part of her excitement was for the local production personnel itching for a chance to do something substantial and homegrown.

Vancouver: Bob Scarabelli, president and CEO at Vancouver post-production house Rainmaker, died Sept. 8 of an apparent heart attack at age 48.

For 15 years Studio B Productions has built an international reputation with coproduction titles like Yvon of the Yukon, What About Mimi? and D’Myna Leagues. Even with that track record, the upcoming MIPCOM market is a coming-of-age milestone for the Vancouver animation house. This is the first time the company has launched a new, proprietary series all by itself.