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Blueprint goes Mad
Deal with educational outfit The Mad Science Group will see companies develop a series and line of products aimed at preteens
Canadian ad spend on the rise, says CMA
And Canuck marketers are expected to be especially bullish about digital media, more than doubling 2007’s $1.4-billion spend
Stories make a comeback at Reel Asian fest
Documentaries, once the hot genre for the Toronto festival, take a back seat this year to comedies and dramas, starting with Justin Lin’s spoof Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee
Fox says 24 will return
Reports of this season’s cancellation were premature, say U.S. and Canadian networks. Action series will be back after WGA strike
The Small Screen: When it comes to momentum, Global’s got it
That Leonard Asper, what cheek. To hear him tell it, Global Television is, well…His own words on the CanWest year-end conference call say it best. ‘We really are in a dead heat with the CTV group across the key demographics in the key markets,’ he bragged.
Manufacturers begin lowering prices
While the loonie’s rapid rise has caused instability across the Canadian film and TV industry, limiting U.S. location shoots and post-production contracts, a bright spot has emerged on the cloudy horizon, with price breaks starting to appear in post and production gear.
Montreal lawyer Lacroix crowned at CBC
After a highly publicized candidate search, the government has finally announced its pick: lawyer and former sports commentator Hubert T. Lacroix will fill what may be Canada’s most thankless high-level public-sector job, running CBC and Radio-Canada.
The Burning Question
Lawyer and part-time sportscaster Hubért Lacroix has been tapped by
WGC warns of watershed year
If the CRTC doesn’t do something fast to get Canadian content on this country’s airwaves, the homegrown film and TV industry will continue its decline, says the Writers Guild of Canada.
Regina’s Gemini party draws ratings boost
Regina: Slings & Arrows picked up the most hardware, but CBC emerged the biggest winner at the 22nd annual Gemini Awards gala, held Sunday, Oct. 28 in Regina.
Whistler welcomes Egoyan, Chinese delegation
Vancouver: It started out as a cool place, literally, to showcase indie films. But heading into its seventh run, the Whistler Film Festival has evolved into more than just ‘see and ski.’ It’s earning a rep as the place to be, to meet and to deal.
People
• John Lewis is now international VP of IATSE, stepping up from his post as director of Canadian affairs to take over for the recently resigned Mimi Wolch.
Sold!
• Maple Pictures and Gold Circle Films have inked a multi-year output deal. The deal begins with the romantic comedy Chilled in Miami, starring Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr., and the thriller The New Daughter, starring Kevin Costner.
Hot Not Next
HOT
Correction
Halifax’s Egg Films is a television, radio and print production house. Inaccurate information appeared in the Oct. 15 issue. Credit for the photo that accompanied that story, ‘Halifax’s Egg Hatches new shop,’ goes to Cindy Douglas.
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