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The unions address the renewal hearings
Although he’s proven himself to be no lightweight in recent months, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein doesn’t appear to be prone to fits of gratuitous violence. That was made evident recently at the CRTC’s licence renewal hearings for private over-the-air broadcasters, when CFTPA national EVP and counsel John Barrack suggested the CRTC ‘give everyone a nudge’ – meaning broadcasters, of course – to honestly negotiate on terms of trade.
Moves & Signings
MOVES
Hot Sheet: Chris Landreth’s spineless wonder
There is something so deeply disturbing about Chris Landreth’s new ‘psycho-realism’ short – The Spine – that two weeks after screening the 11-minute animated film, it’s still perturbing on a number of levels.
Hot Not & …
HOT
Straight Up & Down
+ Hunter Hunter from Winnipeg’s Shawn Linden and Megan Hekem is the winner of the inaugural Jim Murphy Filmmakers Bursary from the National Screen Institute.
Pixar to open B.C. studio
Canadian animation got a boost on news that Pixar will open a new studio in Vancouver this fall to handle spillover work from Los Angeles. Attracted by the local talent and government subsidies, Pixar is to employ up to 100 animators at a 20,000-square-foot studio in a still-to-be-determined downtown location.
Big win for White Pine
Hot Docs’ Toronto Documentary Forum concluded with Canwest commissioning editor Sara Jane Flynn handing the $40,000 prize for best Canadian pitch to White Pine Pictures for its project The Team.
DGC, NFB strike new deal
Documentary and animation directors working through the National Film Board will benefit from a collective agreement for the first time, under a three-year contract signed by the board and the Directors Guild of Canada.
Stations go for $1 each
CTVglobemedia says it has found a buyer for its troubled stations in Manitoba and Ontario, and stands to make three bucks in its deal with Shaw Communications. The network says it has accepted an offer from Shaw to buy its A stations in Windsor and Wingham, ON and CKX in Brandon, MB for a dollar apiece.
Few willing to pay more TV fees, says study
A significant percentage of Canadians would not be willing to pay more to receive CTV, Canwest or CBC signals, according to research from M2 Universal. Of the 1,000 Canadians surveyed by the media planning firm, 42% said they would cancel their conventional channels rather than pay more for them. Another 26% would cancel other channels to pay for conventionals, while only 16% would pay a premium to keep them. Of those who would be willing to pay more, 83% would be willing to pay up to $2 per channel, more for CBC/Radio-Canada.
Producers, ACTRA close to deal
What a difference two years and a recession make. Producers and actors say they are close to signing a new contract on independent production, and emerged from talks with words of co-operation and maintaining, for the most part, the status quo. The tentative terms for the new Independent Production Agreement revealed by ACTRA, the CFTPA and the APFTQ would give actors a 2% pay hike each year for three years, leaving the rest of the contract unchanged.
$50K for Sticks and Stones
And the $50,000 Shaw Rocket Prize goes to… Sticks and Stones, a film from Cirrus Communications (Montreal) and Dream Street Pictures (Moncton). Now in its fifth year, the Rocket Prize is offered for the most innovative and creative Canadian production of 2009 for youth and families.
Shaw, Corus pair up on 3D
A new partnership between Shaw Communications and Corus Entertainment is sending 3D TV into Canadian homes. The cable company and Corus’ Movie Central are preparing to roll out of a range of 3D content including feature films, family programming, sports, concerts and specials. The schedule is set to launch this summer, and will include films such as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Nascar: The IMAX Experience and Warner Bros.’s Deep Sea, an IMAX underwater adventure.
Canucks spent less in L.A., say studios
CTV and Canwest Global have, via output deals, virtually split the slates of the major studios between them following the L.A. Screenings…
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