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Vancouver Film School to teach biz side of industry
The Vancouver Film School is going into business with entertainment lawyer Jeff Young, who will serve as department head for a new diploma program launching in March that will focus on preparing students for what the school refers to as the ‘new era of the business professional.’
Alias looks for talent that’s Ahead of the Curve
In the interest of getting them while they’re young, Toronto software developer Alias is organizing a contest aimed at recognizing students who demonstrate ‘exceptional creativity and skill’ at design.
Big Girl in Berlin
Kris Holden-Ried and Samantha Weinstein star in the short film Big Girl, written and directed by Renuka Jeyapalan during her stay at the Canadian Film Centre last year. The short will screen at the Berlin International Film Festival, which unspools February 9-19. The bittersweet comedy-drama, about a young girl who gives her mother’s new boyfriend a hard time, won the $10,000 Bravo!FACT award for best Canuck short at TIFF.
The Jane Show, take two
The first full season of sitcom hopeful The Jane Show is expected to re-debut on Global within the year – again with creator and comic Teresa Pavlinek in the lead, but with almost none of the supporting cast seen in the 2005 pilot.
Only Pavlinek and Kate Trotter - who plays boss to her befuddled, office-bound single-gal-in-the-city, Jane Black – survived the yearlong retooling process, says producer Adam Haight of Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films.
Blogs, podcasts at front of election coverage
For politicians and reporters alike, it was hard to get the attention of the public during the first, pre-holiday phase of the election. Viewership of the first French and English debates was weak – although the more civil format went over well – and it was just plain harder, thanks to snowstorms and such, to get news crews from Point A to Point B.
CTF teases changes for 2006/07
All drama funding will move to broadcaster envelopes, and the CBC will receive nearly 40% of all available funds, if proposed changes at the Canadian Television Fund become official later this month.
BGM deal could lead to new $130M fund
The proposed changing of the guard at Bell Globemedia could lead to a new, $130-mllion fund for TV programming, if the CRTC approves the transaction and if it considers the multimedia company to be under new management.
CHUM not on the block, says Switzer
CHUM Ltd. is not about to change hands despite the death last month of its founder and majority shareholder Allan Waters, according to company president and CEO Jay Switzer.
Les Boys wins face-off against Rocket Richard
Not only did Les Boys IV hold off a resilient Maurice Richard for four weeks in a row since its opening Dec. 9, but it elbowed out Peter Jackson’s King Kong for top spot on New Year’s weekend in Quebec, taking in $419,732 on 101 screens to reach a total of just over $3 million, according to distributor Christal Films.
Holiday World Junior Hockey action scores for TSN
Always a big draw over the holidays, the first four games of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship tournament featuring Team Canada averaged 1.2 million viewers on TSN, a 15% increase over the first four games last year.
Hot Sheet
The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period Dec. 23-29 and television ratings for the period Dec. 12-18.
Bensimon’s brave new board
Montreal: The beginning of 2006 brings closure for National Film Board commissioner Jacques Bensimon. This year will mark the conclusion of his five-year mandate as head of the Crown corporation, which – given the straits the NFB was in during much of the ’90s – has been marked by a return of good fortune for its formerly ailing filmmakers.
Virgo, Podeswa, Moyle score at OMDC
Projects by Clement Virgo, Jeremy Podeswa and Allan Moyle are among the films getting cash from a new $1.5-million program at the Ontario Media Development Corporation
Families valued
The complexities of family life sat well with the people behind Canada’s Top Ten for 2005, who gave high marks to features about mom, dad, the kids and the downside of being a preteen widow.
Industry turns out for Whistler
Whistler, B.C.: The Whistler Film Festival enjoyed a busy four days and drew some 5,000 people to its ski resort hometown last month – on course, say organizers, with their five-year plan to put the fest near the top of the Canuck film circuit.
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