TV-makers grew increasingly frustrated late last month, following a solid week of conflicting announcements and rumors about the Canadian Television Fund, the most recent and puzzling of which is being blamed on a misunderstanding between two reporters and Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps.

Montreal: Denys Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares has set a new record for a Quebec theatrical release, opening on 136 screens Friday, May 9, including nine screens with a subtitled English version. The previous record was held by Seraphin: Un homme et son peche, released last November on 123 screens. Both films are distributed by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.

Fireworks Entertainment chief Jay Firestone is stepping aside and veteran television executive Gerry Noble has moved from broadcaster to supplier, replacing the departing production head.

Moses Znaimer officially came down from the mountain on April 25 – leaving Citytv, the Toronto station he cofounded in 1972, and his top spots at parent company CHUM. The veteran broadcaster has stepped down as vice-president of corporate development at CHUM, and as president and exec producer of its 17 TV stations to focus on pet projects and educational television.

Vancouver: In 2002, direct spending by domestic and foreign film and television producers in British Columbia dropped below the magic $1-billion mark for the first time since piercing the threshold in 1999.

And the numbers are… down. Again.

Andrew Tolomizenko is corporate counsel for a large

Montreal: The Samuel Goldwyn Company has acquired U.S. rights to the Emile Gaudreault feature comedy Mambo Italiano. The deal is a coup for Equinoxe Films, the worldwide distributor, and the film’s producer, Montreal-based Cinemaginaire. The distrib reported brisk international sales for Mambo earlier at this year’s American Film Market.

Canada had a record-breaking year in terms of box-office receipts, according to Howard Lichtman, president of Lightning Group, Toronto.

The following is a chart indicating where independent production companies spent their money in 2002.

The following is an alphabetical list of Canadian independent production companies and the feature film and television projects they produced in 2002. Projects in development – some of which went into production over the year – are also listed. The chart on p. B-4 tracks the amount individual companies spent on production and development in 2002. Information was provided for both lists by the companies in response to a Playback questionnaire.

It is only intermission in the debate on liberalized foreign ownership restrictions for telecommunications companies being waged by two federal ministries, say independent producers, whose fate hangs in the balance.