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The Establishing Shot: Celebrating the builders and the next generation
Over here at Playback, it’s lately been very much about talent.
The Big Screen: Slasher film risks running afoul of C-10
Psst! Don’t tell Stephen Harper, but it looks like the porn-again Canadian film industry is back at it, and this time under the prime minister’s very nose.
Zone3: number-five prodco eyes English Canada
As it turns out, Montreal-based prodco Zone3 is still part of the top group of Canadian production companies.
Big names at CFC shorts fest
Shorts by a bevy of name directors including thesp Kate Hudson, Lars von Trier and Winnipeg’s Guy Maddin will unspool at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, which returns next month with its largest lineup ever.
People
• Actor Luke Kirby has been paired with Lindsay Lohan, and will start work next month as the love interest in her new comedy Labor Pains. The Canuck star, seen recently on the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me and in last year’s TIFF selection All Hat, starts shooting next month in L.A. The picture will be directed by Lara Shapiro, working under producers Rick Schwartz (The Departed) and Celine Rattray (The Bell Jar, Blue State). Kirby is represented by Kishwar Iqbal of the Gary Goddard Agency in Toronto and by The Gersh Agency in the U.S.
Sold!
• Warner Home Video has acquired the U.S., U.K. and Mexican distribution rights to the feature documentary Global Metal from the makers of Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. The documentary will also open the 14th annual North by Northeast Music and Film Festival in Toronto on June 12.
The Burning Question
Even as the 2007/08 season limped past the finish line, networks and buyers met in New York in anticipation of getting a fresh start in the fall with a new crop of shows, the lack of pilots be damned. And so we ask the Canadian media buyers who made the trip:
Breeding a society of Zapruders
I see that CTV has recently launched a user-generated-content website. My News (mynews.ctv.ca) is an invitation to upload whatever news you happen to video with your phone or digital camera in the hopes that it is picked up by the CTV news desk, either for CTV’s main news website or the TV network proper.
Media moguls mean business online
Kate Hanley, B.A., LL.B., is president of Digital Theory Media Consulting, which specializes in assisting traditional players exploit opportunities in digital media. She can be contacted at khanley@digitaltheory.ca
Company grew out of Escape from Iran films
Canamedia has, over the past three decades, boasted a number of highlights.
NFB celebrates Champlain
OTTAWA: The National Film Board has put a modern twist on the life of Samuel de Champlain with a 3D project that looks at the famed explorer, and founder of Quebec City, through the eyes of a fictional, modern-day descendant.
Sarin takes Shine to Ireland
Director/cinematographer Vic Sarin (Partition) has taken his latest feature A Shine of Rainbows to Ireland, and in mid-May started work on the $6-million family flick at Malin Head, on the northern tip of Ireland.
Minds Eye goes filmless for Hybrid
Director Eric Valette (One Missed Call) has wrapped production on Hybrid, sending the action/thriller into post after a ‘filmless’ shoot in Regina. The project claims to be the first in Canada to shoot on a Red One camera, which stores images directly on a hard drive and which promises to cut the time spent – and needed – in post-production.
Motel story eyes TIFF
A motel on Highway 400 in northern Ontario prompted Ingrid Veninger to co-write Only, a 75-minute feature with which she is taking a run at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Nine industry icons enter the Hall
Publisher Peter Vamos announced last month that nine industry icons will be inducted into the 2nd annual Canadian Film and Television Hall of Fame, organized by Playback.
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