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Rogers beats expectations
Cost-cutting and iPhone sales continue to pay off, even as revenues take a hit on the print, radio and TV side
CCI to make Marfy
Toronto shop looking to coproduce 26 half-hours of the 2D toon currently before Italian broadcaster RAI
Radio takes a bite at Astral
Final-quarter earnings down due to charge on licences. Year finishes up 5%
Brazil looks to copros
Make sure to wear stretchy pants. That’s just one snippet of friendly advice on conducting business in Brazil from Toronto-based executive producer Tanya Kelen of newly launched Kelen Content.
A long and winding road
Described by producer Raymond Massey as ‘an apology’ to Chinese immigrants, Iron Road is based on the true stories of Chinese laborers who made the brave journey to Canada in the 1880s. In the end, the film was a journey in itself.
3 things you may not know about… François Macerola
François Macerola,, culturecrat
Movies and Signings
• The Canada Media Fund has tapped youth marketing expert Max Valiquette to fill the seventh and final seat on the revamped agency’s board of directors for 2009/10. The founder and president of Toronto marketing firm Youthography was put forth as a nominee by the Canadian Coalition for Cultural Expression, which is responsible for five nominees overall, while the Department of Canadian Heritage named two.
Straight Up & Down
+ CBS has followed CTV’s lead and renewed Flashpoint for another cycle. The latest vote of confidence for the Canadian cop drama sees CBS order 13 more episodes from Pink Sky Entertainment and Avamar Entertainment. In its second season on CBS, Flashpoint won its Friday night 9 p.m. slot, averaging 9.55 million viewers, or a 2.1/6 share in adults 18-49.
Hot, Not &…
<>HOT
Playback Barometer
Cold, turning eerily quiet
Building bridges with Oz
When Shawn Bailey speaks at this month’s GameON: Finance event in Toronto, he will impress upon the games industry crowd that it really is a big world out there, and that his multi-platform company is well-positioned to take advantage.
Peter Murdoch tackles tough issues
Peter Murdoch is in preparation mode. The social worker-turned-journalist-turned-union boss will fight one of the biggest battles for media members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union when he appears in front of the CRTC for the contentious fee-for-carriage hearings, set for Dec. 7.
Reading the signs
Over 12,000 executives made the pilgrimage to MIPCOM in Cannes this year, which is a good number considering society is on the verge of collapse. It’s too early to know how much business they did – but there’s no question the market threw up some interesting stories.
This series has 17 seasons
The way showrunner Ed Macdonald tells it, This Hour Has 22 Minutes is about telling the truth as politicians lie.
Sitting down for a snack with Defendor writer/director Peter Stebbings
Actor-turned-breakout-writer/director Peter Stebbings is sitting across the table from me at Lettieri Espresso Bar in Toronto’s Annex neighborhood. He’s backlit, eating a panini, drinking a smoothie and, at 38, looking every bit the part of James Dean – monochromatic golden skin and dusty brown hair, a sharp-cut jaw, intense eyes and an ever-creased forehead. His shoulders are perfectly square, his T-shirt perfectly white and his leather jacket perfectly worn to cap off the throwback image of a rebellious character actor from another era.
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