Filmmaker Terry Gilliam, who has rebounded from his unfinished feature The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 2001 to direct Good Omens and The Brothers Grimm, will be among the 10 beneficiaries of new money handed out by Telefilm Canada’s Canada Feature Film Fund, June 28.

The age of talking about the Internet revolution – at least as it impacts content distribution in Canada – is over, but the age of dealing with it is well underway, according to the Canadian Cable Television Association.

Vancouver: Once all the number crunching was done, 2003 turned out to be a big year for the British Columbia film and television industry, according to year-end data recently released by B.C. Film.
Buoyed by big-budget American features like I, Robot, Paycheck, Cat Woman and The Chronicles of Riddick, the 2003 tally jumped an impressive 41% to $1.4 billion in direct spending in the local economy, a new record. In 2003, there were 25 feature films spending $821 million, which is almost double the previous year’s total of $414 million generated by 15 productions.

The Canadian Television Fund has wrung out another $11 million for English-language dramas and bolstered CTV’s and CHUM’s production fortunes for 2004.

With their domestic production commitments finalized, Canadian broadcasters went to Los Angeles May 20-25 to fill the balance of their fall schedules with U.S. programs presented at the annual Los Angeles Screenings.

Vancouver’s Lions Gate Films has entered into a partnership to distribute Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fahrenheit 9/11 in the United States this summer for Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

Vancouver producers Christine Haebler of Crescent Entertainment and Lisa Richardson of Dogwood Productions are among the members of the CFTPA to donate time and energy to the creation of five public-service announcements in support of The Stephen Lewis Foundation for AIDS relief in Africa.

Lions Gate Entertainment has inked a deal with comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises to develop, produce and distribute eight original animated DVD features based on Marvel characters. As announced May 25, production will begin immediately in 2D or 3D formats, with the first title released by Lions Gate in late 2005.

Vancouver: Forty individual program titles were honored with 80 Leo Awards May 28 and 29 in Vancouver, with The Big Charade winning nine, including best short film (Carwyn Jones, producer).

Vancouver: Perhaps Canada’s first foray into edgier U.S. cable-style drama, Terminal City will go into production in Vancouver in September. The Crescent Entertainment project – made in partnership with Vancouver creator Angus Fraser (Big Dog Productions) – deals with the touchy subject of cancer.
In the 10 one-hour limited series, a woman becomes the host of a reality show that chronicles her battle with cancer – a journey that has her dealing with celebrity, family and her own demise.

Despite its success in generating Canadian audiences with shows like Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Eleventh Hour and Corner Gas – some of Canada’s most-watched domestic programs in 2003 – CTV saw its English-language drama allocation drop to 21% in 2004 from an average of 30% over the previous three years in the May 14 funding decisions from the Canadian Television Fund, as directed by Telefilm Canada.

Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment Group has signed a three-year, 15-picture output deal with Showtime Networks. The cofinancing and distribution agreement, worth up to $225 million if all the movies are completed by 2007, means Peace Arch will handle theatrical distribution in Canada and internationally, while Showtime will air in the U.S.