You will not see any melodramatic vocal performances to prerecorded instrumentals on the latest music talent search production from Halifax-based Collideascope Digital Productions. These kids are actual musicians, playing real instruments and performing live gigs as they vie for a $5,000 cash prize and the chance to record a single with an EMI producer.

The blockbuster hit The Passion of the Christ may be one of the most controversial films ever. According to Jack Lenz, one of the film’s composers, the production process was as controversial and political as the film itself.

Canadian film and television composers may soon benefit from the collective bargaining power gained by the Guild of Canadian Film Composers in May 2003.

Comedy may be the way to go in Canadian television, according to recent Nielsen Media Research numbers, which show slight audience increases for homegrown comedy, while the few remaining Canadian dramas struggle to attract viewers.

The Quebec Superior Court approved the sale of Montreal animation producer Cinar to an investment group led by Nelvana founder Michael Hirsh on Feb. 19, two days after shareholders voted almost unanimously in favor of the takeover bid worth US$144 million. Cinar president and CEO Stuart Snyder says the deal should close on March 1, at which time he will step down.

In the leadup to Oscar night, Quebec director Denys Arcand and his Les Invasions barbares scored big at the Prix Jutra in Montreal, taking four trophies on Feb.22, just one day after a three-win show at Les Cesar in Paris. Invasions won best director and best screenplay for Arcand at the sixth annual Jutras plus best film, picked up by producers Denise Robert and Daniel Louis, and best actress for Marie-Josee Croze.

Despite high hopes from its producers and Telefilm Canada and a great pedigree, Deepa Mehta’s Republic of Love did not gross among the top-five homegrown films at the Canadian box office in its opening week.

Top picture editors are more than great cutters. They’re storytellers with an artful eye who know how to bring characters to life on the screen. They work long hours behind the scenes with tight deadlines, but last year’s Gemini award-winning editors love every minute of it.

In addition to proclaiming a permanent downturn in domestic and international demand for drama, Alliance Atlantis Communications’ December decision to get out of production sent a bold message to the industry that producing in Canada under the current system is no longer viable from a business standpoint, a sentiment with which at least some independent producers are forced to agree.

Not even two months in and already it has been a busy year for Montreal-based Equinoxe Films. In the first two weeks of February, Equinoxe acquired worldwide distribution rights to the next comedy feature from the makers of Mambo Italiano and expanded its production base by acquiring Montreal prodco Lyla Films.

Corner Gas, which debuted Jan. 22 to 1.15 million viewers, is proving to be a big success for CTV, with subsequent episodes still breaking the million-viewer mark.

If you can stand the subzero temperatures, the sixth National Screen Institute FilmExchange opens on March 2 in Winnipeg with SnowScreen, a festival favorite that invites brave viewers to settle into icy seats to watch animated shorts from the National Film Board projected on a screen made entirely of snow.