Vancouver – Insight Film Studios wants to expand its client base and is hoping an ogre will help them do it. The Vancouver company is moving on from its recent spate of MOWs for Lifetime (Mind Games, Family in Hiding) to shoot a monster project for the Sci Fi Channel.

Toronto – Expect laughs but no happy endings on Love You To Death, the ‘provocative, yet humorous’ true crime series that will act out blissful marriages that unraveled into bloody murder. The 13 x 30 is shooting in Toronto until January for Global and Court TV, brought together by Blueprint Entertainment (Whistler, The Best Years) and hosted by John Waters.

* Laurie Lynd (Noah’s Arc) is directing the feature comedy Breakfast with Scott, shooting this month for Miracle Pictures and Capri Releasing. Tom Cavanagh (Scrubs) and Ben Shenkman (Just Like Heaven) star.

Apart from the dozen television screens broadcasting CTV content, the first thing you notice in Ivan Fecan’s office is his desk. It’s oval – and there’s enough room around the marble tabletop for a small platoon. The typical oak coffin separating the leader from his minions is definitely not Fecan’s style.

Ivan Fecan’s multimedia clan will have to wait a while for the arrival of CHUM, the latest addition to its fast-growing family, as the CRTC and the Competition Bureau analyze their way through two regulatory processes geared around media concentration that might be the most complex broadcast deal either has yet faced.

CTV remains Canada’s dominant network after its fall campaign, bolstered primarily by returning hits including the CSIs, ER and Desperate Housewives. The net yielded eight of the Top 10 and 16 of the Top 20 shows, according to BBM Nielsen numbers from Sept. 18 to Nov. 26. Here are six more reasons why 2006 was another milestone year for CTV and its sister stations:

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In Ivan Fecan’s recent one-on-one with Playback, he addressed a wide-ranging number of topics, including the future of digital distribution, the CBC, and the matter of Cancon. Below are some excerpts.

Ad agencies, a media buyer and an academic weigh in on Bell Globemedia’s acquisition of CHUM Limited.

Montreal: The Les Boys franchise is gearing up to score more points with its adoring fans – by expanding to TV.

Income trusts from across Canada are facing an uncertain future following the recent crackdown by Ottawa – prompting entertainment-related outlets such as Rainmaker, Cineplex and Cinram to rethink their tax planning and corporate structure, while giants including BCE and Telus backpedal from plans to convert to the formerly popular tax dodges.

When the CFTPA, APFTQ and ACTRA sit down on Nov. 28 and 29 in Montreal to continue bargaining towards a new contract, members of the actors union will already be marking mail-in ballots for a possible strike.