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Executive shuffle at Corus
Doug Murphy takes top jobs at Nelvana and kids channels, Cassaday to fill in atop radio
Leader format goes to Mid East
Deal at Distraction paves way for regional version of CBC’s The Next Great Leader
Flashpoint promoted to Thursdays
CTV, CBS look to build on early success, knocking Swingtown out of synch on Global. Meanwhile, Mad Men to simulcast with AMC
Producers ready for talks with casters
English and French producers come together looking to hammer out terms of trade with networks. NAFTA negotiator Gordon Ritchie joins producers
Cineplex expands 3D
Chain to add another 175 digi-projectors by end of 2009, looking ahead to wave of 3D releases
Milbury hired at HNIC
Former player and TSN analyst signs with CBC
Davis rejoins Cuppa Coffee
Producer back after stints at Sullivan and Cookie Jar
B.C. studios busy, others quiet across country
Montreal and Toronto are both pointing to the potential Screen Actors Guild strike to explain why mega-soundstages such as Montreal’s Mel’s Cité du Cinéma and Toronto’s Filmport are basically idle during what is typically the summer service shooting bonanza. However, Vancouver has several big-budget American features shooting over the next few months, including 20th Century Fox’s Night at the Museum 2 (starring Ben Stiller), which is currently in production through to September.
The Small Screen: Entertainment One’s dog and pony show
If you’re an independent television producer wondering how Entertainment One’s recently proposed $51-million takeover of Blueprint Entertainment, Barna-Alper Productions, Oasis International and Maximum Films is going to affect you, you’re about to find out.
Canwest looks to develop showrunners
As Canadian broadcasters get set to crank up the fall TV war, the next Corner Gas or Little Mosque on the Prairie may well emerge from Canwest Broadcasting’s writers and showrunner training programs, which kicked off at the recent Banff World Television Festival.
Letter: Give our showrunners shows to run
In last month’s editorial, ‘Industry split on CTF split’ (June 23, 2008), Playback perpetuated a colonial model of Canadian TV, casting indigenous writers as the blank slates to be written on by their American betters. The editorial grudgingly acknowledges Canada’s ‘excellent showrunners,’ and then goes on to make them the subordinate clause of the paragraph – subordinate that is to the ‘far bigger pool of topnotch showrunning vets in Hollywood who would no doubt welcome the opportunity to work on a Canuck series.’
People
• Entertainment One has added Lara Thompson as SVP of worldwide acquisitions. She will report directly to E1 film president Patrice Théroux. Thompson, who formerly held a similar post at Sony Pictures Worldwide, will be responsible for acquiring projects for Canada, the U.K., Holland, Belgium and for U.S. home video.
Sold!
• Tricon Films & Television has found homes worldwide for lifestyles series Marriage Under Construction, Ad Persuasion, Fresh With Anna Olson and Restaurant Makeover as well as documentaries Slut and Catfight. Marriage and Fresh land with The Home Channel in Africa and Canal+ Poland on top of a slew of Euro distrib deals that also carries Persuasion overseas. SBS Netherlands and Finland’s Nelonen also nabbed Marriage, with the latter also picking up Fresh, Slut and Catfight.
The Burning Question
Odds are greater this month that – whoever you are – you now work for a branch of Entertainment One following its land grab of Blueprint, Barna-Alper, Oasis and Maximum.
The creation of a primetime hit
Cop series Flashpoint is lapping up praise for the amazing numbers its debut episode scored for both CTV and CBS, and it promises to be the first homegrown drama to make it in U.S. network primetime since Due South. Of course, we have yet to see how many of the eight million-plus summertime American viewers who tuned into the pilot will return, but in the meanwhile, we can all rejoice.
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