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So what were consumers willing to pay for in 2009?
It’s that John Lennon time of year again – when we cast our minds back over the last 12 months and reflect on our achievements. Personally, I find it hard to think back further than last weekend. But after an online refresher, the most obvious thing that strikes me about 2009 is the way the economics of content creation and distribution has been transformed by digital media.
TV that scores
Even if the Habs don’t make it to the playoffs, Quebecers will have a second chance to express their hockey fever in 2010: a reality show designed to revive the intense rivalry between the Quebec Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens.
Editor’s Note: Of bombs and brahmins
Revolutions are rarely, if ever, bloodless.
Broadcast 2009: Bold Moves
It was a troublesome year for local television as advertising revenues plunged and conventional networks, especially Canwest Global, began taking drastic steps to diminish losses by closing less profitable small-market stations.
Straight Up & Down
+ Montreal’s EyeSteelFilm was the big winner at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, garnering the VPRO prize for best feature-length film for its latest release, Last Train Home. The debut film by Lixin Fan, who was associate producer on EyeSteel’s previous Chinese doc success Up the Yangtze, had its European premiere at IDFA. The film was also selected for Sundance.
UN summons Canuck climate doc
Mark Terry never expected to get an official invitation to screen his ecological documentary The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The veteran docmaker merely hoped to get a pass to conduct interviews for a follow-up film. But within six hours of receiving Antarctica, organizers summoned Terry to present the film at the international event – being attended by climate groups and world leaders including U.S. President Barrack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Millions for Manitoba
The federal and Manitoba governments are putting $2.5 million into the province’s film industry in a bid to bolster its competitiveness. The funding will go to the association On Screen Manitoba and its Access project, an economic development effort aimed at the province’s film production companies.
Blades set for second season
Two days after it ended its first season, CBC ordered a second helping of hit reality series Battle of the Blades, to debut next fall. The 14-ep series, from John Brunton’s Insight Productions, emerged as a fall hit for the pubcaster, averaging 1.7 million viewers for performance shows on Sundays, while the Monday results episodes generated 1.3 million viewers. That’s despite tough fall competition from venerable U.S. shows including The Amazing Race and House, airing on CTV and Global, respectively. (All numbers 2+ and based on PPM data.)
New life for Listener
Move over NBC. Space, CTV and Fox International Channels have returned for a second season of The Listener from Shaftesbury Films. All three channels ordered another 13 episodes of the Canadian drama, which has been sold widely internationally by Shine International, even after the Peacock channel walked away.
CRTC okays Sextv, Drive-In sale
The CRTC has okayed the sale of both SexTV and Drive-In Classics to Corus Entertainment, passing the cable channels to new owners just two years after CTVgm claimed them in its buy-up of CHUM. The deal, valued by the regulator at $40 million, will see $4 million earmarked for new programming and other good causes across the industry, in keeping with the standard policy on the sale of TV outlets.
DeWalt wins Clean Out case
Minds Eye Entertainment has won a court battle against the State of Iowa over millions of dollars worth of frozen tax credits for its latest feature Clean Out. A Polk County District Court judge has ordered the Iowa Department of Economic Development to issue $6.5 million in film tax-credit certificates for Clean Out, an $18.7 million movie that had been set to shoot in Iowa in October but was forced to postpone production when the state suspended its film-incentive program.
RBC puts $12 million into Starz
Fresh from receiving a $23 million cash infusion from the Ontario government, Starz Animation Toronto has secured a $12 million financing deal with the Royal Bank of Canada to interim finance local tax breaks on behalf of Hollywood clients.
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