Bryan Gliserman is president of Toronto-based motion picture distributor Odeon Films.

Montreal’s legendary Cinepix studio (purchased by Lions Gate in 1997) is renowned for fostering movie titans such as Ivan Reitman, David Cronenberg, and – of course – Don Carmody. Cinepix chairman John Dunning still remembers Carmody’s rookie days in 1973.

Of his many films, the project that Carmody ranks as his proudest achievement is Chicago, which he coproduced. He was brought on the film by repeat employer Miramax, and worked on it for six years, through three different directors and four different screenwriters. Miramax was considering shooting in Toronto, New York or London.

To pedestrians and drivers in the GTA, it may be an unwanted case of déjà vu. Film trucks and crews have once again taken over streets in their neighborhoods and in the downtown core, just as it was a few years ago. But it is certainly a good sign for the local production industry: Hollywood is back making movies in Toronto.

On the heels of a serious production slump, Toronto has rebounded into one of its busiest seasons in years, and many in the industry are confident business will stay strong. This summer, the city is home to service features with budgets of more than US$60 million, and is playing host to big-name talent including Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas, Kim Basinger and Antonio Banderas.

The makers of Degrassi: The Next Generation had a good month in May – bringing in a movie script and $50,000 in spending money just as they are closing in on the silver anniversary of their successful youth franchise.
Producers Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn of Epitome Pictures have, for some time, been looking to take their CTV show to the big screen, and, late last month, received the draft script from series writers Tassie Cameron and Aaron Martin.

If Jerry Bruckheimer got into a fight with Jerry Bruckheimer, who would win? We’ll find out this fall when CTV and Global again go at it for ratings – both armed with new shows by the U.S. mega-producer.
Canada’s networks have closed their deals for the coming season, having spent a reported $200 million at the L.A. screenings on a better-than-average crop of dramas and sitcoms for 2005/06.

On the afternoon of June 12, Joe Novak of Calgary’s Joe Media will host a session for emerging TV producers at the Banff World Television Festival called Rookies in the Rockies. The idea behind the session, which takes place while many veteran participants will be hitting the links at the Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course, is to give first-time attendees the most bang for their hard-earned buck.

Producers and broadcasters are worried that proposed changes to the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit at the hands of the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office will seriously impede the already-difficult task of financing indigenous film and television.
‘Our greatest concern is that producers won’t be able to negotiate the deals they need to negotiate in order to bring projects to fruition,’ says Susanne Vaas, CFPTA VP of business affairs. ‘Financing film and television productions has never been more difficult, and restricting access to the CPTC will only serve to curtail production activity.’

Thanks in part to a revived Germany and a lack of competition, the market at this year’s Cannes festival was busy and productive, according to Canuck distributors.

The Canadian Television Fund’s May 16 decisions for English-language drama, which rejected 44% of the total dollars requested, has left some producers wondering if the current approach to drama is working.

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage investigation into domestic feature films slowed last month amid the near-collapse of the federal government. Hearings in Vancouver, scheduled for May 4 and 5, as well as those in Halifax, scheduled for May 18 and 19, were postponed to the first week of June. The tour should reach Vancouver before committee members move on to the Banff World Television Festival, June 12-15.