It’s just like last year all over again.

There’s a minor controversy that’s been brewing for more than a month now that doesn’t seem to want to go away. It’s got me scratching my head. It’s this whole Telefilm Canada-Creative Artists Agency deal under which the L.A.-based talent agency will package pics for Canadian producers.

Cannes, France: With ‘super formats’ Survivor, Big Brother and The Apprentice firmly entrenched in the television landscape, buyers and sellers went to the south of France for the 2004 edition of MIPTV March 29 to April 2 in the hopes of grabbing the rights to the next big thing. Canadians were right in the thick of it.
But the activity took on an almost surreal quality in Cannes, as buyers looked beyond the reality shows that have become synonymous with the format craze to comedies and dramas.

With a new slate of commissioned series on the horizon and the need to compete on the same footing with CTV and Global to acquire programming, CHUM’s acquisition of Craig Media couldn’t have come at a better time for the Toronto-based media company.

The temptation must be too great to ignore.

Cannes, France: After a tough 24 months, producers, broadcasters and distributors are coming to terms with the new reality of the international TV market, a development that lent a feeling of renewal to MIPTV, as companies absent since 2001 returned to the floor of the Palais des Festivals.
Driven partly by depleted broadcaster inventories and a growing hunger among buyers for innovative format programming, plus the continued emergence of the Latin American, Asian and Eastern European markets, MIPTV saw even better numbers than last fall’s MIPCOM, generally considered larger.

Cannes, France: As it continues to expand its distribution business, the National Film Board announced a groundbreaking new deal with Partners in Motion to distribute the Regina-based producer’s entire catalogue internationally.

Finance Minister Ralph Goodale heard the pleas that the restoration of the CTF was essential to the well-being of the Canadian production sector, not to mention one of the essential underpinnings of Canadian culture: the ability for Canadians to tell Canadian stories.

Denys Arcand – Les Invasions barbares

Toronto-based Cine-Byte Imaging took another step toward reaffirming its position as one of Canada’s preeminent digital film facilities when it recently acquired U.K.-based FilmLight’s full lineup of digital intermediate hardware and software.

Ottawa: Taking their cue from the success of FilmOntario, a who’s who of industry stakeholders from across the country gathered Jan. 28, prior to the Prime Time in Ottawa opening reception. Their mandate was to plan and create a new national lobby group representing the entire production sector.

Domestic production plateaued in 2002 and 2003 and is likely in the midst of its first marked decline in over a decade, according to the CFTPA/APFTQ’s comprehensive production study Profile 2004.
According to research in the 54-page study, published annually by the CFTPA and APFTQ, production grew by 4% in 2002/03 to $4.93 billion, up from $4.75 billion the previous year.