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Derek, Buzz land on Super RTL
Live-action series from Decode and Shaftesbury picked up by German broadcaster
History conference cheers Cronkite
Former CBS anchor and ‘most trusted man in America’ to take first lifetime achievement award at three-day meetup in New York
TiVo comes north
Bell ExpressVu and Rogers are getting some competition for Christmas, thanks to the California-based PVR pioneer
The professionally ambidextrous Christian Larouche
When hearing the story of how Christian Larouche joined the film business, it’s impossible not to think of the words ‘humble beginnings.’
The Small Screen: Paying for the group that regulates you
Imagine finding yourself in a sticky situation such as this. Your bank manager, Mr. von Freermarket, calls you up to say he wants to raise the service fees you pay in order to embark on this-and-that development initiative – all to serve you better, naturally. He’s putting in for an operating budget increase of, say, 19%, and he needs to take your input to his department head – you know, to help make his case.
Making sense of syndication
Michael Shepard is president of Thunderbird Films, which, with Program Partners in the U.S., distributes Canadian TV shows including Intelligence, Degrassi: The Next Generation, ReGenesis and Da Vinci’s Inquest
Three dramas, two U.S. game shows join CBC
CBC programmer Kirstine Layfield rolled out the network’s winter schedule Nov. 20, unveiling a lineup that includes three new dramas, the daytime lifestyle show Steve & Chris, and the U.S. game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
Producers see opportunity in WGA strike
Canadian producers are privately salivating at the prospect of U.S. networks buying their strike-proof shows during a prolonged WGA strike.
Crystals honor women from mobile to large-screen worlds
Five women representing the wide spectrum of the Canadian film and TV industry – from the ultra-small mobile screen to large-format film – are being honored for their achievements by Women in Film and Television-Toronto.
Unions, guilds want bigger benefits from CanWest
GATINEAU, QC: The benefits package put forward by CanWest Global drew harsh criticism from unions and other groups as public hearings concluded Nov. 20 into its $2.3-billion buyout of Alliance Atlantis. Groups including the CFTPA, ACTRA and the WGC called on CanWest to put more money into the package, and on the CRTC to make it off-limits to in-house productions.
People
• Kathryn Humphreys has exited Citytv, followed by her boss Stephen Hurlbut. The veteran sportscaster walked away after 10 years early this month when, according to Hurlbut, national VP of news, she was unable to close a new contract with the Toronto station group. Days later, Hurlbut himself was gone. Tina Cortese, City director of news programming, will fill in for him on an interim basis.
Sold!
• Rogers Media is buying the Outdoor Life Network from its partners CTVglobemedia and Versus, taking the one-third share owned by each in the sporty cable channel. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008, according to a statement issued by the Toronto media conglom, and is subject to CRTC approval. Financial details of the separate agreements with CTVgm and Versus, a U.S.-based cable and satellite sportscaster, were not revealed.
The Burning Question
You probably haven’t heard – there’s been so little written, posted, aired, blogged and Facebook’ed about it – but the writers are on strike down in the U.S. And after some three weeks, the fallout has quickly spread beyond the picket lines in L.A., with shoots in B.C., including The Bionic Woman and Men in Trees, shutting down for lack of scripts. So we ask:
Hot Not Next
HOT
Curtain rises on Darkness
Emma De Caunes, Diane Kruger, Rosalie Julien and Caroline Néron star in Denys Arcand’s L’âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness), which opens in Quebec on Dec. 7. The highly anticipated follow-up to Arcand’s Oscar-winning Les Invasions barbares also stars Marc Labrèche, as a man who fantasizes to escape his mundane life. Although the film received mixed reviews at Cannes and Toronto, it is Canada’s selection for best foreign-language film at this year’s Academy Awards.
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