Gatineau, QC: More than 300 Quebec producers, distributors and broadcasters met here for the APFTQ’s annual convention April 26-27, where the emphasis was on maximizing the potential of international markets.

The CRTC’s plan to boost homegrown TV drama has met with mixed reviews, and yet all of Canada’s major broadcasters – with the exception of CBC – have now signed up for the deal, or are in the process of doing so.

Montreal: TVA and Television Quatre Saisons are once again boycotting the Gemeaux Awards, echoing a controversy that threatened the Quebec French-language TV awards in 2002.

Montreal: Organizers of this year’s APFTQ convention, Congrès 2005, are stressing the idea of enhancing international sales for the Quebec industry.

The Bédard Commission report on the future of Télé-Québec met with mixed reviews after it was released on March 9 – calling as it did for the educational channel to get back to its roots by focusing on programming but failing to either make a case to boost its budget or to shake off the specter of privatization.

Quebec’s production sector has announced the establishment of a nonprofit corporation to consolidate services previously done piecemeal by various different agencies and departments, as part of a three-point action plan developed to reverse the slowdown in foreign film production in the province.
The new strategy was mapped out during a full day of meetings of more than 200 members of Quebec’s film industry in downtown Montreal Nov. 29 called the Forum metropolitain de l’industrie cinematographique.

Montreal: Heritage Minister Liza Frulla left many in Montreal’s film community scratching their heads on Nov. 9, after her first major speech addressing issues surrounding the national film and TV business. Frulla praised Canada’s creativity while also confirming that three national film and TV funding bodies, Telefilm Canada, the CBC and the National Film Board, had been asked to look for ways to trim 5% of their overall budgets.

Montreal: As with other film production centers across Canada, Quebec has been feeling the pinch in the reversal of fortune of guest productions. This year has seen a substantial decline in foreign shoots coming to la belle province.

Quebec actor Emmanuel Bilodeau confesses to being occasionally confused on the set of Rene Levesque, the six-hour miniseries about the late separatist leader currently shooting in Montreal. The CBC/SRC mini is being shot in French and English concurrently, meaning the actor, who plays Levesque, is required to switch linguistic gears at very short notice.

Montreal: The Festival du nouveau cinema kicked off its 33rd edition Oct. 14 under unusual conditions. Not only were festival organizers hoping to present their best edition ever, they were also vying for the $1-million Telefilm Canada and SODEC subsidy that was previously earmarked for the Montreal World Film Festival.

Montreal: The World Film Festival’s death has been greatly exaggerated, says Serge Losique and his team of festival organizers. That was the clear message sent recently when, in a press release, the WFF brass announced that they had secured their corporate sponsorship for next year.

Montreal: Montreal World Film Festival founder and director Serge Losique stood defiant this past week, heating up the war of words between his fest and its government backers by several degrees.