The Canadian Television Fund’s switch to Broadcaster Performance Envelopes as a way to dole out production funding has been very good for Montreal producer Joceyln Deschenes.
The president of Sphere Media Plus has four productions listed in the Nov. 4 updated roster of productions greenlit through the new CTF funding system now eight months old, and that’s only 66% of the titles on his estimated $30-million slate of production for 2004, his biggest year so far.

Montreal: Heritage Minister Liza Frulla left many in Montreal’s film community scratching their heads on Nov. 9, after her first major speech addressing issues surrounding the national film and TV business. Frulla praised Canada’s creativity while also confirming that three national film and TV funding bodies, Telefilm Canada, the CBC and the National Film Board, had been asked to look for ways to trim 5% of their overall budgets.

Montreal-based distributor Cinema Libre officially closed its doors on Nov. 15. The not-for-profit organization, formed 25 years ago to provide a distribution option for documentary, short and independent filmmakers, had more than 1,000 titles in its library, the rights to which have been returned to the filmmakers.

Lincoln report retabled

November has been a tough month at the box office for Canadian films, with three newly released domestic films bringing in a combined box-office take of less than $11,000.

CBC came out as the ratings winner in the coverage of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 2, with an average of nearly 820,000 (2+) viewers for The National between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., according to Nielsen Media Research, beating out Global Television, which had 797,000 viewers tuning into Global National at 11 p.m., while CTV drew 690,000 viewers for its news program at 11 p.m.

The Gemini Special Awards, honoring outstanding individuals in the fields of broadcast journalism, writing, creative excellence and technical achievement, will be handed out at the Documentary, News and Sports Gala and the Industry Gala on Dec. 11 and 12, respectively.

Funnyman John Morgan, a founding member of Royal Canadian Air Farce and a 40-year veteran at CBC, died on Nov. 15. He was 74.

CBC’s budget took two hits in one week, suffering its second $10-million budgetary cut in two years on Nov. 4 when the federal government tabled its estimates for 2004, and is now facing another $46-million cut, suggested by Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla a few days later, that could hit the network on April 1, 2005.

Robert Rabinovitch is set to run CBC as its president for another three years, following a Nov. 4 recommendation from Prime Minister Paul Martin that extends what had been a five-year contract into 2007.

* Mark Prior is the new president of Comweb Group; Robert Bruce is now CFO of both Comweb and William F. White International; and Kevin Gordon is the new president of Entertainment Partners Canada. WFW and Entertainment Partners are part of the Comweb group of companies.

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