Overall production in Canada declined 2% in the period from April 2003 to March 2004, down to $4.92 billion from $5.03 billion in the previous 12-month cycle, according to Profile 2005, the industry report from the CFTPA and Quebec’s APFTQ.
‘It’s a real cause for concern, and it’s time for a whole new strategy for the production sector,’ says Guy Mayson, president and CEO of the CFTPA.
The full breakdown by sector will be provided Feb. 3 at the CFTPA conference in Ottawa, in a presentation by Mayson and APFTQ president and CEO Claire Samson.

Since last year’s Prime Time in Ottawa, the CFTPA’s annual powwow, producers have gotten much of what they asked for.

The uproar caused by Janet Jackson’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ at last year’s Super Bowl triggered an unprecedented outcry – from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, if from few others.

With each passing year, the image-capture options available to filmmakers expand.

Toronto director of photography David Greene (Siblings) has been nominated for a 2005 Independent Spirit Award for best cinematography. Greene got the nod for his work on the Toronto-shot FX Networks cable movie Redemption, starring Jamie Foxx, who received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

One year ago, it was largely doom and gloom. Not that it’s sunshine and rainbows today for the Canadian film and television industries, but optimists might say that 2003 was a bottoming out and 2004 showed enough glimmers of hope to keep on keeping on. Yet many in the biz still feel that their corporate viability relies too much on external forces. If good fortune and more of a helping hand don’t come soon, what positive signs came over the past 12 months will not be enough to sustain them.

As unlikely as it may sound, the box office for Canadian features in 2004 moved significantly closer to Telefilm Canada’s goal of domestic productions accounting for 5% of the overall theatrical take. New statistics from Telefilm show Canuck flicks claiming 4.6% of the overall Canadian box office in 2004 as of Dec. 9, compared to 3.8% around this point in 2003.

It’s hard to think of CHUM Limited as being as old as 50. The company simply breathes youth. Many of its stations and shows speak primarily to the young, and the company has long been one of Canadian broadcasting’s quickest adopters of cutting-edge technology and approach.

CHUM Television’s approach to news and information programming might have an off-the-cuff flavor, but don’t for a second believe that its on-air personalities are any less professional than their more traditional competitors. A perfect example is John ‘the host formerly known as J.D.’ Roberts, a longtime staffer on CHUM radio and TV who is now CBS News’ chief White House correspondent, a gig Dan Rather also occupied before becoming anchor. In fact, Roberts is in the running to occupy the coveted anchor desk to be vacated by Rather in March.

It is surprising to watch CBC’s The Greatest Canadian and find Toronto-born filmmaker Norman Jewison absent among the top 100 finalists.

Pundits looked upon last year as an aberration in the Quebec feature film business, with an inordinate amount of domestic releases achieving blockbuster status at the local box office. Leading the pack were Seraphin: un homme et son peche (the unprecedented success of which carried over from 2002), La Grande seduction, Les Invasions barbares and Mambo Italiano, each taking in more than $5 million.

If the buzz out of MIPCOM is any indication, the long-hyped potential of wireless for the broadcasting community is fast becoming reality. And broadcaster CHUM, in collaboration with QuickPlay Media and Rogers Wireless, is at the vanguard.