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Toronto industry frets over studio land sale
The recent sale of Toronto studio land to a box store developer has again raised concerns among industry insiders over the future of the city’s production ghetto.
Gagnon, Roy promoted
Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm has shuffled its top execs, promoting Guy Gagnon to the newly created positions of executive managing director and chairman of the board, while upping Patrick Roy as his replacement as president.
Shuffle at Force Four
Vancouver: Three longtime staffers of Force Four Entertainment have inked a deal with founders Hugh and Debra Beard to take ownership of the Vancouver-based prodco and its parent company.
Vivafilm takes on Hollywood holidays
Hollywood blockbusters and Oscar hopefuls flood theaters over the holidays, which makes it a risky time to release smaller, homegrown fare on the big screen – except in Quebec, where taking on the major studios has become a tradition.
Passe-Partout madness sweeps Quebec
If you were to venture past a Wal-Mart in Quebec in the wee hours of Nov. 21, you might have guessed that Sony had airdropped replenishments of the PS3 gaming console.
Hot Sheet
The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period Nov. 10-16, 2006 and DVD sales in Canada for the period Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2006.
Grey Cup doesn’t disappoint for CBC
The 94th Grey Cup was less dramatic than last year’s thrilling overtime championship game, but CBC’s broadcast of the B.C. Lions-Montreal Alouettes matchup did score a few more viewers on Nov. 19.
Sophie Paquin coming to English Canada?
Montreal: CBC is eyeing an English version of the French-language comedy Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin (The Ups and Downs of Sophie Paquin) – despite its lacklustre performance in the Quebec market – and has ordered a half-hour pilot from Montreal-based Sphère Média Plus.
Top 20 TV programs
Top 20 TV Programs tracks ratings for the top 20 television shows in Canada for the period Nov. 6-12, 2006.
Horse play
Veteran cowpoke Keith Carradine (Deadwood) and Luke Kirby (Mambo Italiano) star in All Hat, a crime drama set in the world of thoroughbred horseracing, now shooting around Ontario under director Leonard Farlinger (The Perfect Son) and producer Jennifer Jonas (Monkey Warfare). Lisa Ray and Rachel Leigh Cook also star
Tricky deals for online shows
Despite recent efforts to bring more American TV to Canadian computer screens, insiders close to the recent online launches of Deal or No Deal, Survivor: Cook Islands and The O.C. note that the emerging broadband platform is still in its infancy and, with no working business models in place, that securing online rights to American fare requires complicated negotiations.
Sold!
* Shaftesbury Films has bought the rights to the Vincent Lam novel Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, recent winner of the Giller Prize, with plans for a series on The Movie Network.
Briefs
Feds okay second TSN
NFB’s Bensimon bows out
On Dec. 17, Jacques Bensimon will walk out the front door of the National Film Board’s offices in Montreal, ending a five-year run as commissioner during which he – and, he is quick to remind, his staff and colleagues – have pulled the dear old board back from the brink of oblivion.
Bensimon’s top 10
Asked for his favorite National Film Board movies made during his time as commissioner, Jacques Bensimon had a long list. These were the first 10.
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