The script Hell for Breakfast was written by Brad Abraham and Joseph O’Brien, not Brad Abrams as reported in the July 21 Ontario Scene.

The summer doldrums are disappearing from TV-land even faster than humans are being abducted by aliens on Steven Spielberg’s Taken.

The 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards stands to be one of the best in years for Canadian representation judging by the list of nominees announced late last month.

Montreal: The Conferences 2003 component of the Montreal World Film Festival will take place Sept. 1-3 at the Salon Hospitalite in the Wyndham Hotel.

Montreal: The Montreal World Film Festival has announced a special tribute program in honor of American filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The tribute includes screenings of four of Scorsese’s films as well as four additional films by directors who have influenced his work, says WFF president Serge Losique.

The ripple effect of the federal government cuts to production funding this spring means Canadian producers of non-theatrical or non-broadcast programs also have fewer dollars with which to play.

Public-service broadcaster VisionTV will give three producers $100,000 each to develop one-hour dramas reflecting Canada’s diversity.

Montreal: The sitcom proposal Genesis Inc., described as a sort of ‘Dilbert meets the Old Testament,’ created a major buzz at the inaugural Just For Pitching session at the 21st edition of the Just For Laughs comedy festival.

John Buchanan is a Canadian film finance consultant based in London.

The production community is thanking its lucky stars that John Manley won’t be the next prime minister of Canada. The odds are good, however, that Manley will be the next finance minister, so there is really very little to be thankful for. After all, it was as minister of finance that Manley lopped $50 million over two years from the Canadian Television Fund.

Most of our readers are pro-choice – consumer choice, that is. In response to Playback’s most recent Web poll question, ‘Should the CRTC allow cable companies to carry U.S. premium services such as HBO and ESPN on their digital tiers?’, 73.4% voted Yes, and 26.6% voted No.

The WB has pitched its tent in Toronto’s concrete jungle for the season-one shoot of Tarzan – a retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs story with Australian model Travis Fimmel as a modernized Lord of the Jungle. The new action/adventure series transplants Tarzan to New York City and, it is hoped, will ape the success of the net’s similarly teen-aimed, B.C.-shot Smallville.