THE July 26 news that ‘ACTRA members say yes to extras’ has redirected the spotlight to the issues surrounding the representation of background performers.

MONTREAL: In March, Pixcom Productions’ CEO Jacquelin Bouchard and its senior management bought out equity shareholder Investissements Desjardins, which remains an important investor in webcasting subsidiary Inpix Media. The buyout is the culmination of a five-year repositioning plan.

THE First Cut Award, sponsored by agency Saatchi & Saatchi and On the Spot, is an important way for young directors to send the message that they are an emerging creative force to be reckoned with.

PRODUCERS looking to cash in on the deluge of new digital services should not hold their breath, as most of the new channels are drawing on low-rate programming acquisitions to fill their schedules and offset their projected losses.

* LORI Rosenberg has been appointed VP and general manager of Corus Entertainment’s new digital channels SCREAM and EdgeTV.

ON The Spot selected three impressive 2001 First Cut contenders and asked them about their careers. What would they be doing if they weren’t helmers? And which spots stand out as their personal favorites?

NELVANA and Nickelodeon have expanded their ongoing relationship in a new long-term licence and production deal that gives the Toronto house international rights to two hit Nick series and commits the U.S. specialty net to renew two Nelvana-produced series.

MONTREAL: Montreal and Quebec location promotion interests have opened a service office on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. The initiative comes from commissioner Andre Lafond of the Montreal Film & TV Commission, with the active participation of STCVQ-ACTRA, represented by Arden Ryshpan, on-location production liaison officer, and SODEC (Quebec Film and Television Office – BAPE), represented by Martine-Andree Racine, special-project delegate.

THE soundtrack for a Totes’ umbrella ad running in the U.S. is deceptively simple. Soaring organ notes accompany images of a whiz-kid mixing up mysteriously colored liquids in a magician’s lab. A ferocious explosion announces his invention: an umbrella with a built-in flashlight.

ADVERTISERS often struggle with how to make a product or service register with viewers and stand out amongst its competitors. Several companies have made viewers/consumers take notice using popular songs that sometimes become as identifiable with a product as the original artist who performed it. And it seems to work.

Canadian animation, F/X and broadcast design shops are attending SIGGRAPH 2001 in search of more mature versions of software packages already in-house, while software developers are working to address perceived problems through upgrades. Perhaps most important for Canadians are the many networking opportunities of the people kind.

SOMETIMES, the only way to create reality is by making sounds you would never find in nature. Here’s a selection of the lengths to which sound designers have gone to put the snap, crackle and pop into a spot.