The following are results of an online poll in which Playback asked readers: What is the biggest industry story of 2005?

Years of wrangling and fist-shaking came to an end in September with the stroke of a pen, when Ken Ferguson signed the 99-year contract to build and operate the so-called ‘megastudio’ in Toronto – silencing competitors and critics who had opposed the deal, and, it is hoped, laying the groundwork for a studio complex that will be on par with the biggest and best in the world.

Montreal: Quebec filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée can’t quite get over it. C.R.A.Z.Y., his $8-million labor of love, has become the Canadian success story of 2005, and might just extend its winning streak into 2006, given that it’s Canada’s selection in the best foreign-language film category for the Academy Awards.

About one month before A History of Violence played the Toronto International Film Festival, veteran Toronto director David Cronenberg, with tongue firmly in cheek, told Playback that he expected his new film would be an ‘unqualified hit.’ But that proved right, and 2005 will be remembered as a year in which Canada’s 62-year-old Baron of Blood made a dramatic return to the spotlight of popular culture.

The five-year, 5% box-office goal targeted by then-heritage minister Sheila Copps in 2000 was achieved in 2005, contingent on results for the last seven weeks of the year. Problem is, the reliance on Quebec cinema to almost singlehandedly reach that goal has become even greater.

Two sides to Ceeb story

Canadian viewers watching the 2005 Academy Awards on Feb. 27 witnessed local filmmaker Chris Landreth win the Oscar for best animated short for Ryan. The groundbreaking 3D film tells the story of troubled former National Film Board animator Ryan Larkin, and is based around interviews with Larkin himself. ‘I couldn’t have asked for anything better,’ Landreth said of the culmination of many months of flying around the world promoting the film and collecting awards. Ryan is a copro between Copper Heart Entertainment and the NFB

Ben Stiller didn’t order Twentieth Century Fox’s A Night at the Museum to relocate from Montreal to Vancouver. Special effects were to blame.
Fox spokesman David Lux says producers of the effects-heavy comedy – in which a museum security guard, played by Stiller, awakens a curse that brings to life animals and insects on display – chose to be near Vancouver post houses that have serviced other Fox movies, notably the second and third X-Men movies.

Vancouver: When the eyes of the world are focused on B.C. during the 2010 Winter Olympics, local film festival organizers want to make sure that there is more to look at than winter sports – and that’s Canadian films.

A public letter that was supposed to calm Montreal’s turbulent film festival scene has stirred up yet more trouble.

Saskatchewan has made changes to its tax credits that could cut labor costs by more than half. Starting Jan. 1, a base tax credit of 45%, up from 35%, will apply to eligible above- and below-the-line labor for both Canadian and foreign shoots. A 5% cut for rural shoots and a new 5% ‘key position’ bonus are also available.

Film producers and distributors have returned home from a busy American Film Market, which saw Quebec feature C.R.A.Z.Y. win a major award and possible boost in its efforts to secure a U.S. distributor, and sales of a few Canadian-handled thriller/horror films, with other deals pending.