The adoption of new technologies and sagging film and TV production will dominate bargaining involving Canadian producers in 2006, as collective agreements with all the major unions and guilds are up for renewal.

In the past few editions of Prime Time, some attendees have complained that the CFTPA has been offering the same old same old. The event’s panel topics – and the conversations they have ignited – had mostly to do with producers grumbling over the level of support from government, broadcasters and distributors. (Of course, those doing the complaining were mostly government, broadcasters and distributors.)

Deborah Osborne is a post-production manager with 25 years’ experience on feature films, TV series, and live-to-air programming. She was on the organizing committee for Alberta’s recent High Definition Production: The Definitive HD Seminar, and presented a session there on HD Deliverables. Here she provides a recap of the seminar in anticipation of the CFTPA Prime Time panel High-Def CanCon: Are We Ready?

When the market for mobile video takes off – or continues to take off, rather – it will not, observers insist, go the fizzled-out, cash-poor way of the Internet.
A quick look at the numbers: currently, only 3.1% of the 16 million cell phones in Canada can play video, and only 10% of those users ever tune in, according to mobile shop QuickPlay Media. But, by 2008, roughly 90% of the projected 18 million cell phones will be video capable.

Sylvain Gagné of Christal Films contends that Karla is an important film to share with Canadians as – if nothing else – a cautionary tale, adding that he doesn’t fear a public outcry against the film or its partners.
The controversial U.S. feature about the exploits of convicted murderers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo was scheduled to open across Canada through the distrib on Jan. 20.

Rick Feldman, NATPE’s president and CEO, calls the annual conference and exhibition ‘a mirror of the business,’ and, as such, mobile content issues will factor heavily into this year’s event, Jan. 24-26 in Las Vegas.

CBC News hopes to strike a new note – five new notes, in fact – with 25-54-year-old news viewers across the country, but the early word from media buyers says the new and more youthful approach from the Ceeb’s newsies may already be falling flat.

Global Television’s primetime soap Falcon Beach premiered to 576,000 viewers on Jan. 5 in its 8 p.m. timeslot, according to BBM, despite stiff competition from hockey coverage on TSN.

Biopic Capote is gaining serious Academy Award consideration following a slew of awards noms and a best actor win for Philip Seymour Hoffman (above) from the Golden Globes on Jan. 16. Vancouver’s Infinity Features was responsible for financing the US$7.5-million feature for MGM/United Artists/Sony Pictures Classics, with Infinity’s William Vince, Michael Ohoven and Dave Valleau sharing producer credit. Other accolades for the film, about the titular author’s experience writing the classic novel In Cold Blood, include a best film of 2005 citation from the National Society of Film Critics. The film was shot in wintry Winnipeg, which doubled for late 1950’s Kansas. Released in Canada through Mongrel Media, it has taken in US$13 million at the North American box office

Of the three comedy pilots that aired on CBC earlier this month, Rabbittown fared the best, bringing in 251,000 viewers on Jan. 3 at 9:30 p.m.

Hockey took center stage in Quebec cinemas for the fifth consecutive week, as Les Boys IV edged towards the $4-million mark after a strong Jan. 13-15 weekend take of $160,000 in 71 venues across la belle province. As of Jan. 12, Maurice Richard was a stride behind after seven weeks and more than $3.7 million, while Deepa Mehta’s holdout Water trickled down to 14 screens and third place after an impressive nine-week run, maintaining a strong per-screen average of $5,113.

On the off chance that anyone had forgotten about Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock, a pack of flightless waterfowl recently reminded us all that there’s still a surprisingly large and lucrative market out there for good documentaries.

Rhombus Media has confirmed that Silk, François Girard’s first feature since 1998’s The Red Violin, will begin shooting in early February in Japan.
The ambitious $26-million project is based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same title, and will star Michael Pitt (The Dreamers, Last Days) and current It girl Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride & Prejudice). The production is an Italian/Canadian/Japanese copro to be distributed by New Line Cinema.

Montreal: Organizers of the New Montreal FilmFestival insist that their famously troubled fete has not been shut down, even though its recent make-or-break merger proposal with the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma has gone unanswered.

Autodesk seals deal