* Season three (13 x 30) of Instant Star is shooting at Epitome Pictures until November.

Serge Losique will have a good reason to take a bow when the 30th edition of Montreal’s World Film Festival kicks off on Aug. 24.

On one hand, Serge Losique is happy that his World Film Festival will, despite reports of its imminent demise, be around to blow out 30 candles starting Aug. 24. But the controversial founder and president of the Montreal fest is also concerned about how digital technologies are impacting the way films are being consumed.

A lack of financial support from Telefilm Canada and SODEC won’t stop Montreal’s World Film Festival from celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Film and TV production in Quebec so far this year looks to be on par with 2005, buoyed by three Hollywood pictures coming to the province.

The adage that success breeds success doesn’t quite apply to the Quebec film industry.

Jocelyn Deschênes, one of Quebec’s hottest producers, is making his first foray into English television with a remake of his hit Radio-Canada sitcom Rumeurs, and who better to help him navigate the murky waters of the English market than TV visionary Moses Znaimer.

The sudden departure of Victor Loewy has left Motion Picture Distribution on shaky ground, amid speculation that New Line Cinema’s lucrative output deal could leave with him, and uncertainty regarding MPD’s European interests.

Vancouver’s top post-production shop, Rainmaker, is buying Mainframe Entertainment for $13.8 million – a move announced July 20 that stands to create the largest animation and visual effects house in Canada.

Despite the stalemate between its rival technical unions, Quebec’s production sector has nonetheless lured some major film shoots from south of the border.

OUTtv has again found new owners, this time at Shavick Entertainment.

Bill Mustos is taking a break from CTV and will be on sabbatical until next year, making good on a lifelong dream to live in France, according to a network spokesman.