The Top 20 TV Programs tracks ratings for the top 20 television shows in Canada for the period March 20-26.

A week after launching the Canadian version of MTV, VP of production Mark McInnis was predictably bullish about the new channel’s debut, and was starting, however cautiously, to think about expanding its program slate.

Au revoir, Telefilm

MIPTV will have a heavy focus on content for multiple platforms – especially mobile – when the annual TV market returns to the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, April 3-7.

* The sales wing of Shaftesbury Films has sold the first 26 half-hours of its newly debuted Life with Derek to Toonami in the U.K., Australian Nickelodeon, Sveriges Television, Selecta-Vision, Israel’s Noga and e-junior in the United Arab Emirates.

Jean-Marc Vallée’s hit film C.R.A.Z.Y. enjoyed another awards sweep at the eighth annual Prix Jutra on March 19, winning a record 13 of its 14 nominations.

Following the lead of its big sister the Toronto International Film Festival, the ninth installment of the kid-aimed Sprockets festival is planning an informal market for its foreign guests.

Daniel Baldwin stars in the superhero satire Sidekick. The picture by Blake Van de Graaf opened the Canadian Filmmakers Festival in Toronto on March 23 and won its people’s choice award three days later.

It’s been called the hockey showdown of the century and a defining moment in the history of our nation.

Post-production company Pictorion Das Werk has opened a location in Vancouver, its first outside of Germany, offering a digital intermediate facility that can handle images in film resolution of up to 6K – far above the usual 2K, or 2,000 pixels, used for most DI scans.

In this issue of Playback, we launch a home video column to accompany our regular box office write-up on p. 4. (For those of you looking for our TV ratings column, you can find it on p. 6.)

Playback readers believe it’s time for the feds to think more globally. In response to a recent online Playback poll asking ‘Should CAVCO relax Cancon requirements for certifying Canadian films and TV shows?’, 51% of respondents voted Yes, it would make Canuck projects more globally competitive. Meanwhile, 38% voted No – CAVCO should protect local talent, while 11% felt that adjusting the rules would not greatly impact projects’ success.