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People
• CBC is not renewing the contracts of foreign correspondents Don Murray in London and Beijing’s Patrick Brown. The network says neither newsman will be re-signed following the expiration of their current contracts later this year, though a Ceeb spokesman raised the possibility that they might continue to report on a freelance basis.
Talent
Benjamin Hollingsworth has been cast alongside Demi Moore and David Duchovny in the forthcoming Echo Lake picture The Joneses.
The Burning Question
Though not so much a culture war as a culture spat, the ruckus raised during the election over Ottawa’s role in the arts makes us wonder if things will be different with the 40th Parliament. So we ask:
Dinosaurs stomp through Sinking Ship
Mix Daniel Cook with Don Henderson of Alberta’s Royal Tyrrell Museum and you get Dan Henderson – the name of the lead character in Dino Dan, the new CG/live-action kids series from Toronto’s Sinking Ship Entertainment.
Brunton wants to Believe
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is headed back to the airwaves through a deal with John Brunton and his Insight Production Company. The new series will be a co-venture (or ‘one-hour weekly ‘shockumentary”) showcasing odd findings gathered from around the world by the gang at Ripley’s.
Mehta readies $35M epic
Preproduction is underway on Deepa Mehta’s latest and most expensive project to date, the $35-million epic Komagata Maru, through Hamilton-Mehta Productions. The true story follows the titular ship that sailed in 1914 to Vancouver with 376 passengers from India aboard, seeking a new life in Canada. Mongrel Media is the Canadian distributor.
Cronenberg circling Circle
David Cronenberg is in talks to helm his first big-budget action pic, the Robert Ludlum adaptation The Matarese Circle, for MGM. The picture, which has Denzel Washington attached to star, comes from Wanted writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas and Ludlum’s 1979 conspiracy yarn about rival spies confronted with a criminal organization that has infiltrated the government, according to the director’s Toronto office. MGM picked up the rights earlier this year.
CTV votes for Mayor sitcom
Dan for Mayor, a half-hour scripted comedy starring Corner Gas’ Fred Ewanuick, is ‘about a small – but not too small – town and a bartender who suddenly finds himself running for mayor,’ says creator and exec producer Kevin White.
Fresh, Blueprint team up
Fresh TV and Blueprint Entertainment have teamed up to coproduce a new teen series, In Maya’s Opinion. The single-camera series is currently in development with Corus Entertainment’s YTV and will follow the ups and downs of an overly imaginative 14-year-old girl though a mix of live action and CG.
More Porno for Shapiro
Toronto filmmaker Jody Shapiro has signed on to co-direct eight new Green Porno titles for U.S. broadcaster Sundance Channel. Written and conceived by Isabella Rossellini and commissioned by Sundance Channel, the original series featured the actress re-enacting the mating rituals of various garden fauna, including the snail and the earthworm. The new series will see Rossellini venture into the sea alongside new playmates: the shrimp, squid, anchovy, barnacle, limpet, starfish, elephant seal, angler fish and right whale.
Getting ‘hands-on’ with Canadian shows
Disney fare such as Zoey 101 and Hannah Montana are staples on Family Channel, but Canada’s premium, commercial-free specialty service has also spent some $162 million on indigenous productions since its launch 20 years ago.
Decode series creating Buzz
The March 14, 2008 premiere of Canadian live-action kids series The Latest Buzz achieved the milestone of becoming the most-watched premiere in the 20-year history of Family Channel, and solidified its position as the number-one pay and specialty service in Canada.
‘Unique trust’ forged with Disney
‘Television You Can Trust’ – the original branding line for Family Channel – still resonates for Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media, because ‘trust’ is the operative relationship he has cultivated with the legendary Walt Disney Company.
Distinct branding key to programming success
Joe Tedesco’s seven-year tenure as vice-president and general manager of Family Channel has been anything but dull.
Star power drives tweens online
Barbara Bailie, director interactive for Astral Television Networks, is the self-proclaimed ‘mother of Family.ca‘ who helped start Family Channel’s popular website in ’97 and crafted it into one of the top online kids destinations in the country.
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