Producer Sidney Kimmel (Breach) will wrap his latest, Lars and the Real Girl, this month, ending six weeks of shooting across southern Ontario with stars Ryan Gosling and Patricia Clarkson. The romantic comedy – also produced by John Cameron, Sarah Aubrey and Bill Hornberg – comes from former commercial director Craig Gillespie and is due through MGM sometime next year. Local comics Boyd Banks and Aurora Brown also star.

Deepa Mehta plans to revisit the topic of widowhood in India with a feature documentary now in development with Filmblanc. Much like Mehta’s 2005 drama Water, The Forgotten Woman will look at the poverty and isolation that plague Indian widows, according to producer Noemi Weis. The project is in the works with Weis’ Filmblanc in Toronto and Hamilton Mehta Productions.

* Atomic Cartoons, Breakthrough Films and Television and Teleimages France are at work on a third season (26 x 30) of the animated Atomic Betty, at the Atomic studio in Vancouver.

The latest group of trailblazing women who have made their mark on the Canadian film and television industry will be honored at Women in Film and Television – Toronto’s 19th annual Crystal Awards, Dec. 4.

People who know producer Christina Jennings joke that she’s a lot like a bulldog terrier.

A funny thing happened to Creative Excellence Award winner Jennifer Baichwal on the way to her PhD and life as an academic.

Rave reviews for Karen Gelbart’s professional guidance have led to her win of this year’s Phyllis Switzer Mentorship prize at the Crystal Awards.

When Linda Schuyler negotiated her first bank loan as an independent producer 26 years ago, she pretended to be married in order to get approved.

Jeanne Beker grew up in the suburbs of Toronto with a poster of Paul McCartney on her bedroom wall and making a wish on every birthday candle for her own TV show.

The team of helmer François Girard and director of photography Alain Dostie doesn’t shy away from features that are imposing and arduous in nature, as is evident in the period drama Silk, their long-awaited follow-up to the Genie Award-winning The Red Violin (1998).

Recent releases of HDV camcorders and other HD options at one-tenth the price of high-end HD cameras have producers wondering if these cheaper units are all they need. Playback spoke to a variety of HD users for their thoughts.

The smoke has cleared in the fall battle for eyeballs between the private networks, with CTV easily retaining its number one status, despite the fact that rival Global Television has fared better with its new U.S. pickups.