When Jenny Montford went to England in March, it was for more than boiled meat and a family birthday party as originally planned. Bedlam’s executive producer also went fishing for British directors. …

Vancouver effects shop Rainmaker Digital Pictures has had a recent string of post successes with an ongoing campaign for Manitoba-based telecommunications company MTS. The shop has elicited many a grin in the birthplace of the Guess Who with its contributions to the campaign – about 20 spots to date and counting.
The ads feature Morty, the talking bison, who, to the surprise of Rainmaker producer Terry Hutcheson, has become somewhat of a cultural icon in the province.

In the March 5 issue of Playback On The Spot, a cutline in the Revolving Doors column implied that Paul Cade is Blink Pictures’ only Canadian-based director. In fact, Blink represents four Canadian-based directors and a fifth, Raymond Bark, who is…

Where oh where would this country be without culturally protective policy in place, or, better, in places where it doesn’t belong? …

AAC closes Salter deal…

An article in Playback’s April 16 issue, ‘Panasonic debuts HD cinema camera,’ mistakenly referred to ‘Panasonic’s new HDCAM.’ Sony says HDCAM is a trademarked descriptor….

Selections for the Cannes Film Festival have been announced, and while American movies are robustly represented, only two Canadian projects have been included in the world’s most renowned film showcase. While Stardom upped the Canadian profile last year, screening as the closing film, this year’s Canadian selections are significantly less visible.
Truth in Advertising, a short film by Tim Hamilton that pokes fun at the advertising industry and has created quite a stir in Canada, is the only Canadian project officially competing in the festival, this year taking place May 9-20.

* The Canadian Television Fund board of directors has confirmed Garry Toth as its president and a CEO to oversee the fund’s operations….

Montreal: Union des Artistes president Pierre Curzi and several prominent members from the performers guild attended an April 16 demonstration publicly calling on Columbia TriStar to start dubbing more films in Quebec….

Who’s gone where? From where? And when? As the Revolving Doors spin, we put the spotlight on spot-makers on-the-move….

Cannes, France: If program sales are the soupe du jour for Canadians at MIP-TV, the search for partners in coproduction has become the hottest selling hors d’oeuvre. With ad revenues and licence fees down, specialty channels up, and the sale-and-leaseback tax…

Montreal: Seven prominent Quebec-based documentary filmmakers joined forces earlier this month to create an eye-witness account of the activities of seven protagonists at the April 20-22 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City….