The following chart indicates where independent production companies spent their money in 2002.

Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Television Fund and the Department of Canadian Heritage are closing in on an agreement that stands to rewrite the federal system for television funding, possibly by handing the entire TV file to either Telefilm or the CTF.
A decision is expected from Heritage Minister Liza Frulla sometime before the Banff World Television Festival in June, and although no one is willing to predict the outcome, there are four options under consideration.

Las Vegas: For most of the 80-plus years that the National Association of Broadcasters has held a convention, the event has been a get-together for primarily one group – television and radio broadcasters. But new technologies have irrevocably changed the face of both broadcasting and NAB and, at NAB2005, computer manufacturers and service providers were equally prominent, leading sessions and telling traditional broadcasters what their future will be.

The not-so-sunny French Riviera inspired a sunny disposition among producers and buyers at this year’s MIPTV, a spring market marked by an upswing in sales of drama, animation and tween-aimed comedies.
‘It was upbeat and very, very busy,’ says Lise Corriveau, Telefilm Canada’s director of international festivals and markets, noting that the event shows ample evidence that the international television industry continues to mend. ‘We were swamped. It’s safe to say the market has picked up on a permanent basis.’

Film festivals in Montreal and Halifax are expected to resolve their differences ‘very soon,’ following meetings between organizers of the Atlantic Film Festival, the new Montreal International Film Festival and funding boss Wayne Clarkson.

The CRTC’s plan to boost homegrown TV drama has met with mixed reviews, and yet all of Canada’s major broadcasters – with the exception of CBC – have now signed up for the deal, or are in the process of doing so.

A new tree appeared on the landscape this month, with word that Lions Gate has sold off its Canadian distribution operations to newly formed Maple Pictures, a Toronto-based outfit that, overnight, has taken its place as the second-largest indie film and video handler in the country, behind Alliance Atlantis.

Two of Canada’s most esteemed directors will battle it out for the coveted Palme d’Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival as Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies runs against David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence. Both were chosen to screen in competition at next month’s fest, along with 18 other features selected from among more than 1,500 submissions.

Christal Films’ La Vie avec mon père lost some ground in its third week out – its per-theater average slipping to $2,481 from $4,906 the week before – but had no trouble hanging on to the number-one spot at the Canadian box office despite competition from the English Canada release of Mémoires affectives and the much-anticipated Saint Ralph.

* Saint Ralph: There was faint praise for the pre-hyped festival favorite about marathons, moms and miracles, most of which gave nods to the able work of stars Adam Butcher and others but took issue with the maudlin script by writer/director (and, gasp, long-distance runner) Michael McGowan. The pic has ‘nothing going for it,’ says CanWest’s Jay Stone, ‘but the goodwill of a talented cast and a plot so unpretentiously dopey… wins you over.’ Overwritten, agrees Mark Slutsky at the Montreal Mirror, but it ‘works in parts, mostly thanks to [Campbell] Scott and [Gordon] Pinsent.’

Telefilm Canada helped spread some cheddar earlier this month when it announced financing for five projects through the Canada Feature Film Fund and its Ontario and Nunavut and Western offices.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period April 8-14 and television ratings for the period April 11-17.