Traditionally, once through the educational system, film and TV students were expected to manage the leap from theory into practice, but an increasing number of facilities are available to help give students the on-the-job training they need to make them immediate assets on any shoot.

The following is a list of selected Canadian academic institutions offering programs relating to film, television and new media.

A wave of complaints descended on the offices of the Canadian Television Fund this month, following word that the agency may cut its regional and SME bonuses, a move that critics say stands to hurt companies and fledgling production centers across the country.
Word that the bonuses are being rethought circulated after CTF president Sandra Macdonald met in mid-September with the heads of the provincial funding agencies to discuss future policy.

What would happen today if an English-Canadian filmmaker made a feature that not only wowed the critics but was also a hit at the box office? Would they declare a national holiday? Throw a ticker-tape parade on Parliament Hill? Rename the Film Centre in his honor?
Well, Ted Kotcheff made just such a film 30 years ago, yet the aftermath was nowhere near as celebratory. In fact, the director had to leave the country just to earn a living.

Vancouver: Mainframe Entertainment, Vancouver’s groundbreaking computer animation house, is now majority owned by a New Jersey-based multinational telecommunications company.
In a $14-million deal announced Sept. 16, IDT Media, through its division called DPS Global Animation Studio Network, has acquired 56.1% of Mainframe. The transaction includes $10 million in common share equity and $4 million in convertible loans.

Vancouver: Vancouver-based private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital has invested more than $40 million in equity and subordinated debt to allow Paul Bronfman to formally consolidate his large, longstanding ‘partnership’ of independent entertainment companies into Comweb Group. Tricor’s ownership stake is 17%.

One out of every ten Canadians tuned in to the two-hour finale of Canadian Idol on Sept. 16, watching as CTV scored one of the biggest ratings wins in this country’s history, drawing numbers worthy of high-budget U.S. shows and pushing aside the previous ratings champ Road to Avonlea.

Mambo Italiano is continuing its dance with the box office following an impressive opening weekend in English Canada. The film festival fave, starring Paul Sorvino and Mary Walsh, produced by Montreal’s Cinemaginaire and distributed by Equinoxe Films, took in about $600,000 in its first weekend outside of Quebec, on 129 screens, according to Equinoxe VP, distribution Yves Dion. That’s a per screen average of about $4,650.

Vancouver: The B.C. government is looking for a partner to run the Knowledge Network, the province’s 22-year-old educational broadcaster. Expressions of interest are due by Nov. 24, with a decision by March.

Much has happened in the Canadian television business in the year leading up to the 18th Annual Gemini Awards. In addition to contending with wide-ranging economic woes, the TV industry was hit with the bombshell that $50 million would be lopped off the Canadian Television Fund over the next two years.

Sean Cullen is hard to miss. In the past year he’s hosted his own show on CBC, appeared in his own Comedy Central special and on Royal Canadian Air Farce, had a bit part on the sitcom Patti and has popped up repeatedly on The Tonight Show. He has also hosted more awards shows and specials than most people would ever willingly watch – fronting The Phil Hartman Awards, the WGC Top Ten Awards, the 20th anniversary of Just For Laughs and last year’s Geminis.

The market may be as difficult as it’s been in years, but Canadian producers and exporters sound decidedly upbeat as they head to MIPCOM, the international film and program market for TV, video, cable and satellite, running Oct. 10-14 in Cannes, France.