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NFB’S 12 Oscar wins
There is still no better measure of success in the film world than taking home an Oscar. And Canada’s National Film Board has a whopping dozen to its credit so far.
Tourism coin for TIFF
The Toronto International Film Festival has received a one-time $3-million grant, aimed at boosting tourism, as part of the federal government’s economic stimulus package. Peter Kent, minister of state of foreign affairs for the Americas, told a packed press conference in Toronto that the cash injection, which is earmarked primarily for marketing, should help TIFF to ‘increase capacity… diversity… service… and elevate its profile.’ He praised the festival as a ‘critical economic event for the Canadian film industry.’
Theaters buoyant thanks to ‘lipstick’
Despite economic doldrums, Canadian box office is up so far this year – by 14% to 16%, depending upon the week – according to consultant Howard Lichtman, president of The Lightning Group. Lichtman attributes the rise to the ‘lipstick factor’ – or people’s desire for a small indulgence, just like during the Great Depression when lipstick sales surged. ‘People want a two-hour escape, and going to the movies is a small treat,’ he stated.
Meyerowitz to lead new distrib Phase 4
Peace Arch Entertainment and 50/50 partner ContentFilm have spun off their North American home entertainment joint venture to a consortium led by Berry Meyerowitz.
New old cash for docmakers
TVOntario and the National Film Board have joined forces to relaunch the Calling Card Program, offering twin prizes of $45,000 to documentary filmmakers. Originally known as the Al Waxman Calling Card Program, the relaunch sees the NFB step in for the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The new collaboration between the board and TVO is expanding the program to include new media, in addition to the original television category.
NBC Universal looks north for talent
NBC Universal has set its sights on Canada and, in collaboration with the Canadian Film Centre, is launching a new talent development program designed to draw out writers with original concepts that could potentially land at the U.S. studio. The NBC Universal Content Creator Program, set to launch in the fall, will gather talent from across Canada to take part in forums and workshops in Toronto that focus on innovative storytelling, pitching and packaging. Any scripts or concepts produced through the program will be considered for TV.
Howsam cleared on all charges
In a dramatic reversal, California authorities have dropped all bank fraud charges against former Peace Arch Entertainment CEO Gary Howsam. ‘I’m feeling great that it’s over,’ a relieved Howsam said only hours after a federal judge dismissed all charges that stemmed from film finance dealings he had in 1999 and 2000 with the Comerica Bank of California.
BDU revenues top $10 billion
The cable and satellite industry shows no signs of slowing down, as evidenced in recent numbers from the CRTC, which say revenues for the sector eclipsed the $10-billion mark for the first time in 2008. Cable companies such as Rogers, Cogeco, Shaw and Videotron saw profits climb to $2.1 billion last year from $1.5 billion. Cablers also saw a slight increase in basic service subscriptions, up 2.9% to 7.9 million households.
Ratings: Dore delivers and a runway runaway
Coming off a strong second season, The Jon Dore Television Show has more than tripled its audience with The Comedy Network’s main 18-34 demo over last year. The Toronto-shot interview/issue comedy averaged 65,000 viewers over its latest 13 episodes, airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m., compared to its season one average of just 18,000, according to BBM Nielsen.
MySpace makeover
It looks like News Corp. is sick of getting its butt whooped by Facebook. The media conglom is shaking up its social networking site MySpace, hiring former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta as its new CEO, and former Sling Media president and MTV chief digital guru Jason Hirschhorn as chief product officer. (Van Natta comes to MySpace after a brief stint as CEO of Playlist.com.) Add to that the hire of AOL senior vice-president Michael Jones as chief operating officer, and it suggests some interesting moves are afoot at MySpace.
YouTube more like TV every day
YouTube has launched two new features to make video networking and viewing far simpler – and much more like television.
Flash forward to TV
Flash has made the leap to TV with the rollout of the new Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home, making HD video available for output on Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and the other assorted living room digital-age flotsam. What that means to non-geeks is that Flash-based applications will soon be able to run equally well on home television screens, the Web or mobile phones. (Right now, according to comScore Media Metrix, approximately 80% of online videos viewed worldwide are delivered using Adobe Flash, and the Adobe Flash Player is installed on 98% of Internet-connected desktops.)
Channel 4 defends against Ali G libel
In the U.K., Channel 4 has successfully defended a US$800,000 libel case brought against the U.S. version of Da Ali G Show. The plaintiff claimed that Sacha Baron Cohen used her name in a defamatory way during an interview with Gore Vidal, referring to her as a ‘minger’ and accusing her of always trying to ‘amend herself.’
The SAG-a continues
The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors voted 53.38% to 46.62% to approve and recommend to members a new two-year agreement which would give film and TV actors a 3.5% annual increase in year one – a 3% wage increase and a 0.5% pension and health contribution increase – and a 3.5% wage increase in year two.
What’s another million?
In the ‘life imitating art imitating life’ category, U.S. net ABC is bringing back Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for its tenth anniversary – five years after it was dropped from primetime on the network. The two-week run this coming August will unfortunately feature original host Regis Philbin and not Anil Kapoor, the actor who played host Prem Kumar in the surprise hit Slumdog Millionaire. Slumgdog’s success surely has to be credited for single-handedly resuscitating the tired format.
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