As NAB2002 will prove, maturing high-end markets and the proliferation of variable digital media continue to push software producers towards new integrated solutions at all levels.

According to local equipment suppliers, the buzz at NAB2002 will be what, if anything, is new with high-definition. Although HD production has not yet made traditional methods of capture obsolete, it’s here to stay and sure to grow. But while it is doubtful there will be any great technological advancements beyond Sony’s introduction of the 24p HDW-F900 HDCAM in 2000 or Panasonic’s AJ-HDC27VP VFR HD camera last year, NAB does allow equipment distributors the opportunity to see how all the manufacturers have improved their existing product lines.

The world’s major players in broadcast technology and services converge annually in NAB’s mammoth exhibit halls. Inevitably, some companies’ innovations from the past year have had a profound effect on the businesses of others. In the ever-shifting technology landscape, companies must explore various revenue streams should one aspect of their business dry up. Sonic Foundry is as familiar with this survival technique as anyone is.

Ken Mac Neil is VP operations of Creative Post, a Toronto-based post-production facility offering creative solutions for broadcast television and interactive media. A veteran NAB attendee, here he writes about his strategy for the labyrinthine trade show and what he will be looking for.

Mark Scott is VP, director of operations at Post Modern Sound, a Vancouver audio post-production house specializing in TV series and feature films. He writes about his company’s search for speed at this year’s show.

With foreign sales slowing, Canadian broadcast production is turning attention to what many believe is Canada’s greatest unrealized resource: comedy.
While sketch comedy, one-hour dramas and documentaries have long been the staples of homegrown production, there has been less emphasis traditionally on broader narrative-style comedies in this country. But that is about to change.
Canadian viewers can expect to see a new crop of sitcom-style programs premiering in the fall plus an assortment of innovative comedy series and specials up and down the dial.

Montreal: ‘Generally speaking, one of the great untapped resources in Canadian movie marketing has been the broadcasters. And so the whole idea is how do you get them engaged in the production and marketing of Canadian theatrical movies?’ asks Paul Gratton, VP/GM at Space: The Imagination Station and Drive-In Classics and station manager at Bravo!. A member of the feature film advisory committee, the popular broadcaster says CHUM Television has all the attributes to be a player in the production of Canadian theatrical films, but new guidelines for the Canada Feature Film Fund effectively deny it access to the fund.

Canada’s preeminent boutique distributor Mongrel Media has scooped its competitors and picked up a 10-picture output deal with Sony Pictures Classics.
‘We are thrilled,’ says Mongrel president Hussain Amarshi. ‘They [SPC co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard] have phenomenal taste in films and it’s a privilege to be associating with them.’
For an undisclosed sum, the deal gives Mongrel all Canadian rights to seven of the 10 films, and all Canadian rights except Quebec for the remaining three.

Montreal: London-based Signpost Films has put its Canadian operations on indefinite hold with no plans to open any international territorial offices before spring of next year. In an interview from Los Angeles, Signpost chairman Henry Winterstern said, ‘The timing is such that we will roll the opcos [territorial company operations] in time for the release of our product, and we feel we will not have product to release in Canada before the spring of 2003.’

In the May 4 editorial, Playback editor Samantha Yaffe expressed confidence that Canada is and will remain the first choice for location shooting, despite attempts by a U.S. coalition to combat production incentives. While I also believe that Canada continues to be at the forefront of location choices for U.S.-based producers, having just returned from Los Angeles and a series of meetings with various producers, financiers and distributors, my optimism is slightly more guarded. On more than one occasion in these meetings certain issues were raised which led me to believe that notwithstanding any anti-runaway production lobby, we may be losing productions that would otherwise have come to Canada.

Cinar AGM set for April 29

Asked how often Playback readers watch Canadian drama on TV, 17.65% responded very often, 40.34% claimed sometimes and an alarming 42.02% said never.