Filmmakers looking for attention on the international scene could get help from Telefilm Canada, which this month announced plans to put up to $200,000 annually into the promotion of English- and French-language films screening at festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Pusan, Sundance and Venice.

Larry Henderson, the first regular news anchor of CBC TV, died in Toronto on Nov. 26 at age 89.

Kevin Tierney has certainly received some stellar publicity this year. Bon Cop, Bad Cop, which he cowrote and produced, has taken the crown as the most successful Canadian film ever at the domestic box office. As of Nov. 23, it had grossed $12.2 million, surpassing the long-standing record of 1982’s Porky’s ($11.2 million).

The dominance of conventional standard-definition television is starting to erode, as evident in the year’s biggest developments on the Canuck TV scene.

From turning over its drama series to executive shuffles and its fall ratings wipeout, the CBC has seen interesting times in 2006. A quick recap of its highs and lows:

Montreal: Radio-Canada’s ground-breaking nightclub drama Minuit le soir was the big winner at the Prix Gémeaux on Dec. 9, taking seven of its 10 nominations at the 21st annual French-language TV awards, including prizes for best drama and direction.

Following are the box office totals for the Top 10 Canadian films and the Top 10 films in Canada in 2006 (through Nov. 9), along with total Canadian box office results for 2005 and 2006 (as of Oct. 27, 2006).

In 2006, Alliance Atlantis’ Bon Cop, Bad Cop became the all-time highest-grossing domestic film at the local box office, but overall market share for Canuck films stood below Canadian Heritage’s 5% target and Quebec’s New Wave stalled for the first time in five years.

The controversial life and times of media mogul Conrad Black were on full display in the two-hour CTV MOW Shades of Black, which drew an average 864,000 viewers on Dec. 4, peaking at 925,000. Pretty good, especially considering the Screen Door project, made with its U.K. partner Box TV, was up against the fall finale of Global’s Heroes in its second hour. The U.S. superhero drama nabbed 1.4 million viewers in its Monday 9 p.m. timeslot, finishing with a solid 1.3 million season average.

Top 20 TV Programs tracks ratings for the top 20 television shows in Canada for the period Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2006.

The titles in Canada’s Top Ten – representing the year’s best domestic films – read like a program book for the Toronto International Film Festival, with all but one – director Mike Clattenburg’s comedy Trailer Park Boys The Movie – having played at TIFF this year.