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MPD should have sold
Even as Alliance Atlantis’ Bon Cop, Bad Cop closes in on Quebec box-office history, the distrib’s corporate woes are providing even more compelling drama.
Correction
The byline for the story ‘Bidder emerges for MPD’ in the Aug. 21 issue was accidentally omitted. The story was written by Dustin Dinoff.
Playback readership poll results
They must be mostly from Quebec. In response to a recent online Playback poll asking ‘Do you plan to see Bon Cop, Bad Cop?’, 60% of respondents voted yes, and 40% voted no. The lion’s share of the film’s box office so far has come from la belle province.
Gals shooting Stone Angel
Winnipeg: Production is underway in Winnipeg on writer/director Kari Skogland’s big-screen adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s classic novel The Stone Angel, which is scheduled to wrap Sept. 22.
Horseman rides again
Montreal: Fans of the late Mordecai Richler have reason to celebrate, as his popular novel St. Urbain’s Horseman is being made into a miniseries for the CBC.
Insight on the Runway
Toronto: Insight Production is teaming with producer/distrib FremantleMedia (the Idol franchise) to put a Canadian spin on another hit U.S. reality show, Project Runway.
Wheeler likes Competition
Vancouver: Director Anne Wheeler is at the helm of The Competition, a holiday comedy currently shooting in B.C. for Lifetime Television.
A whale of an MOW
Screen Siren Pictures is heading into post on Luna: The Way Home, the latest in CTV’s Heroes, Champions and Villains MOW series. The film – based on the true story of Luna, a recently deceased killer whale that lived in the harbor of a B.C. village for five years – shot around Vancouver Island last month.
Briefly
* Imaginary Playmate, a Lifetime Television MOW about a little girl whose ‘imaginary’ friend unleashes some supernatural evil on her and her family, was scheduled to wrap in Victoria, BC on Sept. 1. William Fruet (Wild Card) is at the helm of the thriller.
Canadian CWC entries probe identity
Who are we, beneath brand names, ethnic designations and man-made addictions, and how do we relate to – or, really, see – our families or broader society? Four Canadian features in TIFF2006’s Contemporary World Cinema program look to digest these universal issues.
Docs have greater prominence at TIFF2006
The latest offering from Allan King headlines a half-dozen Canadian feature docs making their world premieres at TIFF2006, up from four last year. A total of 10 Canuck feature docs will unspool at the fest.
Animator extraordinaire
TIFF2006 will feature a retrospective of the short works of Norman McLaren (above), who created some of the National Film Board’s best-known animated and experimental films. The 76-minute collection – which screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year – will feature the filmmaker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Blinkity Blank, Academy Award winner Neighbours, Le Merle, Hen Hop and others. McLaren died in 1987 at age 72. The program screens on Sept. 8.
Distribs ready for more bidding wars
The term ‘unofficial’ has recurringly been used to characterize the market at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Haggis, De Palma to mingle at Talent Lab
Emerging Canuck filmmakers will once more enjoy unique exposure to veterans of the film biz in an array of industry events at TIFF2006.
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