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Three wins for Pilon in Montreal
Quebec director’s The Necessities of Life takes three prizes, including most popular film at close of World Film Festival
Amal tops Canuck films box
Richie Mehta’s feel-good drama rises above Quebec-mades in its third week
Marketing changes at Teletoon
Russell Ward hired as VP, Natalie Cunningham upped to director
TV sports just got a lot more competitive
With the announcement of three new sports outlets in a matter of weeks, the Canadian sports channel arena is set to get a lot more competitive.
Establishing Shot: The return of Atom Egoyan
Okay, ‘return’ might be a questionable choice of wording, because, after all, the Toronto filmmaker hasn’t really gone anywhere - except perhaps to the Big Apple, where this summer he remounted his theatrical production of Samuel Beckett’s Eh Joe, starring Liam Neeson.
AFF Preview: Opener Blindness puts spotlight on Brazil
HALIFAX — Taking a page out of Cannes, the 28th Atlantic Film Festival, running Sept. 11-20, has chosen as its opening gala Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of the José Saramago novel Blindness, a Canada/Brazil/Japan copro that will highlight this year’s focus on the film industries of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico.
Torresblanco, Halpern to speak at Strategic Partners
HALIFAX — Jan Miller, founder and director of Strategic Partners, the international coproduction market now in its 11th year, has seen the program grow from a small adjunct to the Atlantic Film Festival to the point where it is at capacity, hosting international producers, broadcasters, distributors, financiers and agents.
The Big Screen: Coyne, Burns craft life-changing short
As Paul Gross opens this year’s Toronto International Film Festival with his feature Passchendaele, Martha Burns, his wife, and fellow actress Susan Coyne will be nearby, premiering their short How Are You? as part of the festival’s Short Cuts Canada program.
Digital Media: Mobile film an official TIFF selection
When Motorola handed filmmaker Pat Mills a camera phone and told him to make a movie, little did he know that the resulting film, Pat’s First Kiss, would do the festival circuit, including a stop at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
Murdoch Mysteries leads Gemini noms
Two crime dramas will battle it out for bragging rights at the 23rd annual Gemini Awards, with Citytv’s Murdoch Mysteries in the lead with 14 nominations, followed closely by The Movie Network/Movie Central’s Durham County with 13.
CIS Vancouver goes to war in Tropic Thunder
When Ben Stiller needed crashing helicopters, explosion debris, bullet hits and CG planes for war scenes in the DreamWorks adventure comedy Tropic Thunder, he turned to Vancouver’s CIS Visual Effects Group, which handled most of the complex special effects work in the summer box-office hit.
Ottawa slashes culture funding
OTTAWA: Dismayed with recent government cuts to cultural programs, independent producers say they fear federal support for the Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund could also be axed.
Filmport looks to put Toronto ‘back on top’
After 10 years of politicking, posturing and false dawns, Toronto finally officially has a megastudio.
CFTPA unveils feature film producer noms
OTTAWA — David Hamilton, producer of Deepa Mehta’s latest, Heaven and Earth, is among the five finalists for the third annual $10,000 CFTPA Feature Film Producer’s Award, to be given out during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Colleagues remember Claude Forget
MONTREAL — Friends and family are mourning the loss of Claude Forget, renowned supporter of Quebec independent film and former director of distribution company Cinema Libre. Forget died Aug. 17 in Sainte-Julienne, QC, the village of his birth, succumbing to cancer-related complications. He was 57.
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