Although CTV has some heavy hitters for the 2005/06 season, Global’s new season is generating big numbers in key markets and is slowly gaining ground on its rival. On the strength of new and returning shows such as House and Prison Break, Global managed to get five shows in BBM’s list of the top 20 for the week of Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, up from a mostly bottom-half three or four this time last year.

Vancouver: Melanie Friesen, producer of the Film and Television Trade Forum at the Vancouver International Film Festival, likens the four-day event to ‘a hothouse of learning and schmoozing’ for Western Canada’s TV and filmmaking community. And adding to the heat, this year, were the revamped master classes.

Halifax: Despite the pervasive shadow cast by the inaugural New Montreal FilmFest, the 25th Atlantic Film Festival was a success, according to executive director Gregor Ash.

* Danielle Dansereau is the new interim president of the Canadian Television Fund, replacing Sandra Macdonald, who officially vacated the position on Sept. 30. Dansereau has been a CTF senior government relations and communications advisor over the past year and previously held communications posts at Telefilm Canada and Sun Life of Canada.

Ottawa: The Ottawa International Animation Festival wrapped on Sept. 25 on a number of high notes: a near-record 1,883 films entered, positive delegate reviews, and a stronger focus on industry issues via the sold-out Television Animation Conference, now in its second year.

The Ontario Liberals have given TVOntario boss Isabel Bassett the axe, ending her six-year stint as both CEO and chairperson of the board at the provincial pubcaster.

Exec leadership confab set for January in Banff

Regarding your article ‘Aspiring producers auction off credits on eBay’ (Playback, Aug. 29, p. 13):

In the Sept 26 article ‘Alice, I Think makes jump to small screen for CTV’ Omni Film Productions VP/executive producer Brian Hamilton was mistakenly referred to as David Hamilton.

Well, two down and one to go in what has been a surreal, ugly year among the major Montreal film festivals. It can’t be said that things went smoothly for either the World Film Festival or the fledgling New Montreal FilmFest, and the results are bad for the city as a whole.

Toronto: Going from zombies to werewolves, producer Don Carmody and visual effects collaborator Dennis Berardi are partway through the shoot of Skinwalkers, a horror pic for Lions Gate and Germany’s Constantin Film.
The pair, who previously teamed on Resident Evil: Apocalypse and on 2003’s Wrong Turn, again produce with execs Robert Kulzer (The Dark, the Resident Evils) and Brian Gilbert (Wrong Turn). Constantin, which also backed the Resident Evil films, is financing the picture in association with Carmody, Berardi’s Red Moon Films and his FX house Mr. X.

Farpoint working on killer doc