Anticipating its 20 anniversary, the Gemini Awards are heading in a new direction, with Global Television producing the gala broadcast. But there is a back-story here that shows tepid support of the event from the English-Canadian networks.

Montreal: With Bon Cop/Bad Cop, Montreal producer Kevin Tierney (Varian’s War) is hoping to unite Canada’s two linguistic solitudes at the box office. Touted as the first time a Canadian film will be ‘completely bilingual,’ the murder-mystery and cop-buddy flick will attempt to ride the current wave of success in Quebec’s film industry across language lines.

Feature backed by Elton John

Burns making ‘Perfect’ doc

Burnaby, BC: Canada’s favorite fictional coroner returns to CBC this month with a new career and a new series.
Trading forensics for politics, Dominic Da Vinci moves into the mayor’s seat in Da Vinci’s City Hall. The sequel to the network’s long-running Da Vinci’s Inquest borrows heavily from reality, mirroring Vancouver coroner-turned-mayor Larry Campbell’s real-life career switch.

CTV in the Black

Final days of Final Days

* Season three of Moccasin Flats, a coproduction between Big Soul Productions, RedCloud Studios and Stephen Onda Productions, wrapped shooting on eight new half-hours in Regina on Oct. 14. The new season will debut on APTN in January, with a second run on Showcase in July.

In a move that some industry insiders say would be akin to Microsoft taking over Apple, U.S. software giant Autodesk is acquiring Alias, creator of Maya, the Oscar-winning 3D FX and animation application that has been used in nearly every feature film nominated for best special effects Academy Awards since its release in 1998.

Mr. X shows some skin

Robert McLachlan didn’t set out to establish a film company that, 25 years on, would be one of Western Canada’s most enduring. Instead, the Omni Film Productions founder was simply trying to make a living in Vancouver by shooting industrial films after he graduated from Simon Fraser University’s film program in the late 1970s.

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