Molly – the third MOW in the Warner Bros.-backed American Girl series – is set to shoot in Toronto through June, produced by Terry Gould (The Interrogation of Michael Crowe), with director Joyce Chopra (Everwood, Crossing Jordan) taking over for Nadia Tass.

According to Tom O’Brien, the pieces are almost in place to shoot the feature comedy Gay Like Me?, but the actor-turned-producer and his partners in Vancouver’s Irreverent Media are waiting for soundtrack issues to be cleared up before they give director Bruce McDonald the nod to start rolling.

Montreal – Though the title evokes a children’s story, the feature Les Trois p’tits cochons (Three Little Pigs) deals with adult themes, peering into the lives of three brothers as they drift into extra-marital affairs.

Babar the Elephant has – with help from his handlers at Nelvana – inked a deal to be this year’s ‘spokeselephant’ for the French Ministry of Ecology. The 75-year old cartoon star will be the face of France’s annual campaign to educate children about the environment, appearing in books and on a series of stamps.

Spending on independent Canadian production remained flat in 2005, growing by less than 2%, according to Playback’s 18th Annual Report on Independent Production. Increased spending on cheaper TV programs in the comedy, variety, magazine, lifestyle and reality formats offset drops in live-action kids, documentary, MOW and miniseries production.

Industry watchers are warning that Hollywood service work could be cut short this summer because of the high loonie – now trading at a 28-year high of 91 cents against the U.S. dollar – even as what looks to be a busy season of would-be blockbusters gets underway at studios in B.C. and Ontario.

Two reports on the events leading up to the famously failed New Montreal FilmFest have arrived at two dramatically different conclusions – with the Quebec government coming down hard on Telefilm Canada and SODEC for mismanagement, while, in its own report, Telefilm insists it did nothing wrong.

L.A.-based Vanguard Animation and IDT Entertainment of New Jersey have launched production of Space Chimps – a US$40-million, CG-animated feature and launching pad of a new 30,000-square-foot studio now under construction in Burnaby, BC.

Pay and specialty channels continued to enjoy good health last year, according to a recent CRTC report that shows an across-the-sector earnings jump of 31.5%, to $549.9 million, and a revenue boost of 6.3% to almost $2.2 million over 2004.

Despite an edition that saw a significant upturn in attendance, an appearance by legendary filmmaker Warner Herzog, a first-time Canadian director winning one of the top prizes, and 100 films to choose from, buyer reaction was mixed at the 2006 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Taylor Hill high-fives costar Rebecca Northan in the new… um… sitcom Alice, I Think, set to debut May 26 on The Comedy Network. The 13 x 30 by Omni Film Productions and Slanted Wheel Entertainment comes from a series of books by B.C. author Susan Juby and also stars Carly McKillip.

Blood has sticking power at the Canadian box office, if Silent Hill’s track record is any indication. The horror movie, based on the popular video game of the same name, maintained its top spot among Canadian films at the domestic box office, taking in $406,000 on the May 5 weekend, according to its domestic distrib Odeon Films.