It’s a tough business picking a person of the year. With so many hard-working, worthy candidates in the film and TV biz, how does one narrow the field to select a single individual for the honor?

The Canadian Film Centre will receive a $3-million donation from Vancouver-based telecommunications company TELUS Corp., a sum outgoing executive director Wayne Clarkson described at a press conference as the ‘largest single gift we’ve ever received.’

OK. So it wasn’t Slawko Klymkiw. But it’s not like anyone else crystal-balled who the new executive director of Telefilm was going to be.

To borrow from Hugh MacLennan, I propose we rebrand Playback and call it Two Solitudes magazine. Any random issue can be neatly divided in its references to the successes of French-Canadian production viewed against the struggles of English-Canadian production. Then there is the equally elegant application of the phrase to the diverging realities between Canadian broadcasters and producers. ‘Three Solitudes’ might be more to the point.

Cannes, France: It is another in a string of hot, beautiful days in Cannes. W. Paterson (Pat) Ferns sits across the street from the Palais des Festivals where nearly 11,000 TV producers and broadcasters are hunkered down dealing in the broadcast equivalent of an Egyptian spice market.

Here’s the bad news. With the Canadian dollar inching its way closer to parity with the American dollar, there’s a sense among industry stakeholders that 2005 could end up worse than 2004 in terms of total production volumes.

Cannes, France: Record numbers streamed to MIPCOM 2004, the international TV market celebrating its 20th year in Cannes, France Oct. 4-8, and Canada was well represented with a record 205 companies attending the market, including a best-ever 93 participating in the Telefilm Canada Pavilion.

A new study commissioned by the CFTPA, DGC, ACTRA Toronto and FilmOntario among others on the real effects of so-called runaway production is long overdue.

Cannes, France: It’s been a slow reemergence, but the cautious optimism that defined the pronouncements of producers at MIPCOM since 2001 has given way to the real thing at the 2004 edition of the international TV market in the south of France.
While attendance figures were not available by press time, early indications point to a strength not seen in several years.

Chris Landreth’s animated biography Ryan took the Grand Prix for independent short film ‘for exploring a new visual style of groundbreaking documentary story telling,’ and French director Jacques-Remy Girerd’s La Prophetie des grenouilles (Raining Cats and Frogs) received the Grand Prix for feature film at the 2004 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Ivan Reitman has spent over 30 years putting Canadians on the big screen, from early David Cronenberg and Eugene Levy to big-name stars Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green. Now, you can add national icons Julian, Ricky and Bubbles to that list.

Patricia Phillips is back in business following Alliance Atlantis’ acquisition of her Great North Productions and the subsequent closure of AAC’s film and TV ops.