With eight new sports-based digital channels joining an already growing number of sports specialties, broadcast design studios report that sports nets have become the biggest consumers of 3D animated promos, station IDs, intros and bumpers. And although industry trends adhere to a pendulum-like pattern, one thing always remains: the challenge to imprint brands on viewers’ brains.

With an influx of more than 40 diginets vying for eyeballs and branding the name of the game, broadcast design firms and in-house design departments are pulling out the stops to create distinctive and memorable graphics reflecting their respective channels’ programming philosophies.

Doug Morris is executive producer and partner at Soho, a Toronto-based studio that provides CG animation, type design and digital FX for broadcast design and commercial clients.

Plans for a new studio facility proposed for the port lands in downtown Toronto include what could end up being the world’s largest custom-built soundstage.
Earlier this month, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman announced the creation of a massive $150-million studio development on the waterfront with the core intent of attracting big-budget (US$50 million-plus) features that have been bypassing the city.
According to the city, the new production centre will generate an extra US$250 million a year in film production.

Fears for the future of the Canadian production industry, reduced economic growth, the post 9/11 climate and international trade issues, particularly with the U.S., were the most obvious themes at this year’s Prime Time in Ottawa, the annual CFTPA conference held Feb. 6-8.
With roughly 550 attendees, a large portion of whom had association acronyms next to their names, there was standing room only at the conference’s three most pivotal sessions: the State of the Canadian Industry Report, in which Pat Ferns, president and CEO of the Banff Television Foundation, and National Film Board chairman Jacques Bensimon presented the findings of the CFTPA’s Profile 2002; the Pundits Panel entitled Future Shocks: What Lies Ahead for the Canadian Production Industry; and the Jack Valenti Luncheon, at which the president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America spoke passionately and poetically of the synergies between Canada and the U.S., while in the same breath denounced governments that ‘put up barricades to exile or restrict TV programs and films which may compete with local creativity.’

Montreal: Richard Stursberg, Telefilm Canada’s new executive director, says the industry has ‘a lot of work to do’ to build box-office performance for Canadian films, notably on the English side where market share dipped to under 0.5% last year. With little in the way of performance indicators – new films produced in the first year of the Canada Feature Film Fund have yet to be released – the newly released CFFF guidelines for 2002/03 hold the line on reserved production and development financing for producers at 50%. Stursberg, however, gives strong indications the fund’s performance component will move to 60% in 2003/04.

As anticipated, the night of the 22nd annual Genie Awards belonged to Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), the Igloolik Isuma Productions/National Film Board Inuit drama shot on digital video. Those criteria would otherwise make the film’s capture of six Genies a major upset, but the movie had already won awards at Toronto, Cannes, Edinburgh and Flanders. At the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Feb. 7, it added to its hardware case the Genies for best motion picture, direction, screenplay, editing, score and the Claude Jutra Award for best first director.

Cambium, Catalyst merge

In the ministerial fashion, and on the street, it seems all the talk is about low productivity in the land. At the CFTPA Prime Time conference in Ottawa, industry movers and shakers worried about the production outlook, retrenchment in the TV advertising market and threatening trade issues. That makes sense. Competent, honest leaders in business and politics are paid to worry, isolate problems and solve them.

In the Feb. 4 issue of Playback, Marcus Handman was incorrectly credited as executive director of the Directors Guild of Canada. Handman is executive director of the DGC Ontario District Council. Pamela Brand is the DGC’s national executive director.

Asked if Canadian movies supported with public money should be opened up to more international on-screen talent, 75.18% of Playback respondents answered yes, 24.82% voted no.

* Raynald Briere is the new president and CEO of Montreal-based broadcast/media company Groupe TVA, owned by Quebecor Media. A communications industry veteran for more than 30 years, Briere has been Reseau TVA’s senior VP of broadcasting and executive director since 1998.