Insight Film Studios will send Ashley Judd home this month, wrapping the two-month Vancouver shoot of the feature Helen, which stars the non-singing Judd as a professor struggling with depression. The picture – backed by Insight’s German partners at Egoli Tossell Film – also stars Goran Visnjic (Elektra) and closer-to-home talents Alberta Watson and David Hewlett, working under writer/director Sandra Nettelbeck (Sergeant Pepper).

Provincial mini-budget looks to boost tax breaks for three years for at-home and Hollywood shoots, hoping to offset the high loonie

Pre-release problems did little to slow down The Golden Compass or L’âge des ténèbres which, together with older titles, saw the Toronto distributor dominate the overall and domestic box office charts

Women and key demographics including the 25-34s say a lengthy WGA strike will take a bite out of their TV time, according to a recent survey. But what will they do instead?

In a year when some insisted that Canadian drama is dead, Shaftesbury Films’ Christina Jennings

Expanded output deal covering some 3,000 titles will run until 2012

ReGenesis is Shaftesbury Films’ signature series, now airing in nine languages – including Japanese – in over 100 countries, including the U.S. syndication market.

Shaftesbury Films is slated to shoot $81.5 million of film and television in 2008 – a significant jump from its $57-million production volume in 2007 – according to company projections.

The large-format 3D feature Bugs! has grossed $40 million globally and made Shaftesbury Films a significant producer of IMAX movies worldwide, but it was a bunch of kids in California that made Jonathan Barker cry tears of joy.

Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films has snapped up the rights to the Giller Prize-winning Late Nights on Air, with plans to turn Elizabeth Hay’s acclaimed novel into a series.

What a year it’s been! Bookend strikes, mega-takeovers, public catfights, regulatory upheaval, another new heritage minister and, lord help us, the soaring loonie.