‘Open Systems, Open Minds’ is the title of Panasonic’s display at nab, and its focus will be digital solutions at production, broadcast and consumer levels. Terry Horbatiuk, Panasonic Canada’s senior manager, systems engineering group, concedes what the manufacturer’s offering ‘is not…

Yhe first annual Canadian Comedy Awards will be broadcast on ctv April 7 and on The Comedy Network on April 9….

Hot Docs’ first Toronto Documentary Forum, which offers 36 pitching slots, has been swamped by more than 100 entries….

Cyber-cable: coming to an online…

Vancouver: First-time feature producer Andrew Ooi of Vancouver’s Endless Entertainment has sold the worldwide rights to his Scream spoof to Lions Gate Films and has signed a five-picture production deal with Edge Entertainment in Saskatoon….

Winnipeg-based Moffat Communications’ Florida subsidiary, FSN Cable, will acquire cable systems in new residential housing developments in South Florida from Strategic Technologies (owned by u.s. home-builder the Lennar Corporation) for us$13-million. The deal represents cable subscribers in three developing residential areas…

Montreal: The apftq Quebec producers association has adopted a significantly revised professional code of conduct….

Winnipeg: Canadian films, Canadian filmmakers, and opportunities for emerging Canadian talent to make the leap from shorts to long-form television and feature filmmaking was the focus at the Local Heroes Canadian Film Festival in Winnipeg, Feb. 27 to March 4….

Montreal: New production from Motion International’s live-action youth division includes The Magical Kitchen, an informative father-daughter cooking show licensed by tvontario. Also on tap for Motion is a fully financed 15-minute preschool series called Rockabye Bubble, developed at the company’s Toronto…

Montreal: Louis Belanger’s feature debut Post Mortem and Lea Pool’s coming-of-age film Emporte-moi topped all films at the 2nd edition of the Prix Jutra, the Quebec film awards. The Jutra gala was broadcast live Sunday, March 5 from Monument-National on Reseau…

Tapping into the ever-burgeoning kiddy film market, Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children returns for its third year, April 8-16 at the Cineplex Odeon Cinemas and the Royal Ontario Museum Theatre….

Web maverick Bill Craig says he hopes to have his controversial website iCravetv.com up and running again by late summer – this time, with the cooperation of content providers….