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If money doesn’t talk — then walk
FX workers beware: if your paycheque is late, turn off your computer and walk away from the project – fast.
Getting a piece of the action through one-time fees
ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell has seen record labels decimated by legal wrangling over peer-to-peer online music file sharing. So he doesn’t want to witness the same fate befall movie and TV rights holders expecting compensation in the Internet age.
Guild sounds off – composers should count too!
The Guild of Canadian Film Composers may have been operating since 1980, but it still hasn’t made a point. In fact, the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office of the Department of Canadian Heritage won’t give a producer even half a point for employing a local composer. It’s something that Marvin Dolgay, the guild’s president, and Maria Topalovich, its executive director, would like to see change in the near future. After all, it can affect whether a Canadian composer is employed – or not.
CAB staff slashed in half but association moving on
The CAB appears to be like conventional TV broadcasting – both are shrinking. The once-obligatory CAB convention vanished this year and the association has been getting smaller since the start of ’09.
Regional producers ready to fight back
Former Super Channel exec Nic Wry is rallying disgruntled regional producers behind a new national producers association.
CCE cuts to supervisors
The Canadian Cinema Editors – the 18-month-old association for Canada’s editing community – held a post-production supervisor panel at the end of September in Toronto at Deluxe, aiming to educate producers, editors, assistants and students about the supervisor’s role. The 70-plus attendees heard the six panelists weigh in on everything from working relationships to the Red Camera.
New studio, new jobs in B.C.
More than 100 digital effects artists could find work in Vancouver by the end of next year, following the arrival of Digital Domain. The California-based company is expanding to B.C. with the construction of a new 20,000-square-foot visual effects shop. The new location is looking to open in early 2010, bringing on 50 to 60 digital artists -‘primarily from Canada’ – to be followed by another 50 or more by the end of the year. The Vancouver studio, and the headquarters in Venice, CA, will be run by newly named feature film boss Gloria Borders.
Bell deal puts TMN online
The Movie Network is putting its programming online via an agreement with Bell TV. The pay channel’s new TMN Online service will make a selection of its movies and series available over the Internet to subscribers of Bell’s satellite system.
Alberta moving forward on studio
Calgary is a step closer to the dream of a purpose-built studio complex. The province of Alberta has plans to lead a combination of public and private parties to build a production facility in the city.
Creditor protection for Canwest
Canwest Global Communications has filed for creditor protection as part of an overall recapitalization deal agreed with its lenders. The agreement will see Canwest Global emerge from creditor protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in around six months without company president and CEO Leonard Asper in operational control of the restructured media group.
Bluepoint’s deal for station falls apart
A deal to purchase CKX-TV in Brandon, MB has come unstuck over CRTC regulations and Canada’s satellite TV monopoly, according to would-be owner Bruce Claassen. The result is the local station, which launched in 1955, has shut down with the loss of 39 jobs.
DGC cash saves location library
An endangered locations library will stay in business for at least another year, following an injection of cash from the Ontario branch of the Directors Guild of Canada.
Ottawa, networks settle on Part 2 fees
Days before its multimillion-dollar case was to be heard before the Supreme Court, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters reached an agreement with Ottawa on its lengthy battle over Part 2 fees.
Buccaneers sail out
With its Toronto premiere taking place at press time, Eating Buccaneers by writer/director Bill Keenan should gain some attention – if the on-screen talent is any indicator. The comedy, about four ad execs and a client who crash-land in northern Ontario, stars Peter Keleghan (The Newsroom), Leah Pinsent (Made in Canada), Shannon Beckner (Billable Hours) Steven McCarthy (Dead Mary), Jeff White (Little Mosque on the Prairie), and Neil Crone (Mosque). Also making a cameo as a hermit trapper is screen icon Gordon Pinsent.
ACTRA applauds Tory parental benefit promise
ACTRA is calling on the Liberals, NDP and Bloc to support the Conservative government’s plan for extending parental leave benefits to self-employed Canadians. The performers union – which has a history of being at odds with the Tories – says the majority of its 21,000 members are among the 2.6 million Canadians who are self-employed and are not entitled to basic benefits such as employment insurance, including maternity and paternity leave benefits.
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