They always said Canadians were laid back, but this is ridiculous. We’ve become the true land of the dead this summer, as zombie films continue to surface across the country.
In Vancouver, Andrew Currie’s feature Fido is in production, while Carl Bessai’s Severed is seeking a distribution partner. CJ Hutchinson’s Denizens of the Dead is posting in Winnipeg, and Elza Kephart’s Montreal-shot Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love is looking to grow an audience through midnight screenings in Toronto.

A photo from the series Life with Derek in the July 4 issue misidentified series lead Michael Seater.

Telefilm Canada has greenlit 12 of the 90 projects that applied to its Canada Feature Film Fund – including Jeremy Podeswa’s adaptation of the bestseller Fugitive Pieces, another project about Roméo Dallaire, and François Girard’s delayed period piece Silk.
‘This is an interesting and diverse group of projects ranging from a local and wintry slacker comedy [Allan Moyle’s Weirdsville] to a stunning and exotic international film from the team that brought us The Red Violin,’ says Telefilm’s Karen Franklin.

Decode Entertainment may be forced to take its Naturally Sadie shoot elsewhere, following a squabble with the residents of an east Toronto neighborhood.

Statistics Canada has confirmed what those in the industry have known for some time – that 2003/04 marked the first drop in movie attendance in a decade, down 4.6% from ’02/03. Profits dove too, down almost 16%.

Film Finances Canada will shut down its Montreal office at the end of July, citing fewer bondable independent film and television productions in Quebec as the reason.

Parents are going to become an increasingly common part of the programming mix on Corus Entertainment’s children’s channels starting this fall, as the broadcaster pursues better ratings through ‘co-viewing.’

Luc Dionne’s dramatic feature Aurore now boasts the third-highest opening-weekend box office in Quebec history. Three days after its July 8 release, the feature from producers Denise Robert and Daniel Louis of Montreal prodco Cinémaginaire had brought in $953,708, placing it just behind the opening grosses of Séraphin: Un homme et son péché and top-rated Les Boys III. Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm released the feature at 116 Quebec theaters.

It remains unclear whether G8 leaders were listening, but Canadians were definitely watching.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period July 1-7 and television ratings for the period July 4-10.

Charles Dalfen seems to do most of his talking from behind a podium, usually in some cavernous convention hall, delivering one of a small number of stock speeches about TV drama, or third-language satellite services, or the merits of the Broadcasting Act.

Canada watched less television but more indigenous programming in 2004, according to the CRTC’s recent Broadcast Policy Monitoring Report, which assesses the impact of the regulator’s rules and policies.