Toronto – The Family Channel has signed on for The Latest Buzz, a new 13 x 22 sitcom from Decode Entertainment about a youth-oriented magazine that replaces its staff with teens. The tween-aimed comedy is currently shooting in Toronto under noted director Brian Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond, The Drew Carey Show).

Montreal – Documentary filmmaker Tracey Deer is examining issues of native status in her new film Club Native. The documentary, a coproduction between the National Film Board and Montreal-based Rezolution Pictures, is slated for the festival circuit this summer.

Suddenly, a swarm of locusts darkening the skies over the Westin Ottawa seems entirely plausible.

The timing could hardly be better. While Shaw Communications says it will no longer contribute its annual $56 million or so to the Canadian Television Fund – and Quebecor has similarly exited the CTF and says it will only put money into a new fund on its own terms, there’s a silver halide lining on the horizon amidst all the doom and gloom surrounding Canadian production financing.

With producers anxious over CTF instability and the big question mark that is new media, expect extra attention to be paid at this year’s Prime Time sessions, which will be structured much as they have been in the past.

A couple of high-profile Montreal producers will be feted with prizes at the CFTPA Awards Luncheon that closes Prime Time on Feb. 23.  

Cable boss fires back at Oda over CTF details ahead of his Tuesday morning appearance before the Heritage committee

Sex sells in Quebec, as the Internet porn thriller Ma fille, mon ange rings up exceptional receipts over its opening weekend

Latest installment reteams stars Campbell, Ratner and Gallagher with the franchise’s never-say-die producer and creator

Pushing the envelope paid off for Bruce McDonald and The Tracey Fragments, which ended Germany’s top festival by winning its Manfred-Salzgeber Prize

Hard-hitting drug documentary Cracked Not Broken will screen next month on the U.S. cable channel

Visual effects vet steps in to head production at Vancouver office