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.

An ownership shuffle at Bell Globemedia will not pay off as hoped for producers because, according to the CRTC, the new boss of the media giant is the same, more or less, as the old boss.

Ian Tracey, as gangster Jimmy Reardon, on the set of Intelligence. The 13 x 60 crime drama is shooting in Vancouver for the coming season on CBC, exec produced by Chris Haddock (Da Vinci’s Inquest).

Le Secret de ma mère is the latest member of the million-dollar club, having pulled in a total of $1.7 million after four weeks on screens in Quebec, maintaining momentum against competition from major U.S. releases including Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Toronto’s Mongrel Media will make its first foray into the distribution of Canadian television properties with the CBC miniseries Human Cargo and the CTV MOW One Dead Indian, streeting on Aug. 22.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period July 21-27, 2006 and DVD sales in Canada for the period July 10-16, 2006.

Despite the abrupt cancellation of ABC’s The One, CBC programming boss Kirstine Layfield says the Canadian version of the singing competition, scheduled to air during the pubcaster’s 2006/07 season, may still happen.