Few Canadian writers approach their art as a business and even fewer dedicate their talents to long-form, make a living and never move to the States. But ever dry-witted screenwriter Doug Taylor has stayed fiercely loyal to his native Montreal, where he churns out scripts like an assembly line and runs his screenwriting career with the prudence of an entrepreneur.

Quebec’s 20-year-old prodigy Xavier Dolan just put the polishing edit on his $1.6 million sophomore feature Heartbreaker and is already casting the ‘impossible love’ story Laurence Anyways, a copro with France budgeted at $6.5 million.

Alliance Films and the makers of Paranormal Activity have signed a deal to make five low-budget genre films, and will start this spring with a new one from the creators of Saw. Insidious, to be directed by Saw’s Jason Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, will shoot in Los Angeles – produced by Paranormal creators Oren Peli, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider.

Toy maker-turned-producer Spin Master Entertainment has partnered with Hollywood animation studio Titmouse to co-develop and produce The Special Offers. Featuring the music of Gina Schock, best known as drummer for the band the Go-Go’s, the series will follow four misfit kids who bond over their love of music, forming the titular band. Each episode will feature an original song, which will be compiled and distributed as a soundtrack album at the end of the season. A live touring version of the band is also planned for between seasons.

Portfolio Entertainment is looking for new ideas, and is putting up $10,000 for any aimed at the eight- to 12-year-old cartoon-viewing set. The Toronto company has launched a contest (‘In Toon with Tweens’) aimed at animators and other creators, and is offering prizes of $7,500 and $2,500 for the best and second-best pitches ‘that are fresh, surprising and utterly new.’ Both prizes also come with option and development agreements.