MONTREAL: George Leclere, executive director, International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (International EMMYs) will offer the opening remarks as honorary chairman of Conferences 2003, the World Film Festival symposium program that runs Sept. 1-3.

‘I think this year’s [number of] accreditations will be a little bit higher because a lot of people will be coming to both [the Montreal and Toronto film festivals],’ says International Film Market director Gilles Beriault. ‘A couple days of overlap will help because people won’t have to make a choice between Montreal [Aug. 27 to Sept. 7] and Toronto [Sept. 4-13].’
Registration at the market is expected to be around 900, with about half from overseas.

MONTREAL: The National Film Board is represented by three animated shorts in the official World Film Festival short film competition.

MONTREAL: The year is far from over, but it’s already been nothing short of remarkable for film and TV producer Denise Robert and her colleagues at Montreal’s Cinemaginaire.

MONTREAL: This year, to date, Telefilm Canada has received applications for 39 TV coproductions with France. Of those, 17 have been certified.

‘We hear Canada has no money.’
Okay, it’s a hypothetical comment in a pretend negotiation between a Canadian producer and a prospective international coproducer. And to be fair, international financing markets are, with a few exceptions, desiccated. However, there is no imagining the dwindling financial resources available to Canadian content producers – both film and television – and the growing difficulty to forge viable deals with international coproducers.

The CRTC’s July 16 decision on DTH distribution of out-of-market stations in smaller TV markets redirects millions of dollars away from several key private Canadian production funds, including the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Shaw Television Broadcast Fund, The Harold Greenberg Fund and the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund.

Lobby efforts to boost the Ontario production tax credit have stalled despite promises made just five months ago by the provincial Tories that talks would continue with the CFTPA.
‘We’re a little disappointed,’ says exec VP Guy Mayson. ‘There’s been no decision. We’re continuing to press but so far there’s been no reaction.’

Although there are no new Egoyan or Cronenberg flicks at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the event promises several heavy-hitting Canuck helmers. Features by the likes of Deepa Mehta, Guy Maddin, Gary Burns, Vincenzo Natali and John Greyson were announced among the lineup for this year’s fest, running Sept. 4-13.

CDP Capcomm reorganizes ‘Hollywood’ portfolio

Fireworks Entertainment is stepping back from both the movie business and Europe’s troubled TV market, following heavy cuts to its budget by parent company CanWest Global Communications, and could get out of the ‘action hour’ trade altogether, according to new CEO Gerry Noble.

The Canadian Cable Television Association has postponed its September Cable Summit until next year.