Canadian drama is still in a serious crisis while private conventional broadcasters are raking in the cash, according to The Need for a Regulatory Safety Net, a new study released by the Coalition of Canadian Audio-Visual Unions.

Vancouver: Last year was a bust for B.C.’s film and television industry, according to figures released this month by the British Columbia Film Commission. Film and television production spending fell 43% to $801 million in 2004, down from a record high of $1.4 billion in ’03. Domestic spending, however, was up by some 15%.
B.C. film commissioner Susan Croome blames the drop on a lack of foreign shoots, which last year brought a mere $191.6 million to the province, down from $821.6 million in ’03.

Canadian drama is still in a serious crisis while private conventional broadcasters are raking in the cash, according to The Need for a Regulatory Safety Net, a new study released by the Coalition of Canadian Audio-Visual Unions.

After its first weekend in Canadian theaters, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, released by Odeon June 10, grossed $42,449 from four screens.

Canadian Idol’s audience just keeps growing – its third-season, three-night premiere on CTV bested last year’s by approximately 26%, for a combined total average audience of two million viewers per episode. The shows ran May 30 to June 1. According to data from BBM Canada, 2.3 million viewers tuned in on May 30, 2.1 million on May 31 and 1.8 million on June 1.

CBC and CanWest are banking that high drama and sitcoms will help them catch up to first-place CTV in the coming season, and have revealed fall schedules heavy on scripted laughs, sci-fi and, in the case of the Ceeb, a parade of Canadiana specials and MOWs.
All three nets unveiled – to varying degrees – their plans for 2005/06 earlier this month, starting with CBC’s very modest press conference on June 2, where newly installed boss Richard Stursberg gave an oddly familiar talk about audiences.
‘There are big changes coming at CBC TV,’ he said, pointing to the new, drama-heavy schedule. ‘It is absolutely important for us to build both relevance and revenue, and that means building audiences.’

CHUM has not revealed its ’05/06 schedule but has picked up some key titles for fall, most notably the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, about comic Chris Rock’s childhood in New York in the early ’80s. It will play on Citytv stations along with the crime hour Wanted, the Jerry Bruckheimer law series Just Legal, the Sex and the City-esque Hot Properties and the aptly named Supernatural, about two brothers hunting down paranormal forces while on a search for their long-lost father.

Two days before its networks revealed their fall plans in full, CanWest MediaWorks switched presidents – replacing Rick Camilleri with longtime senior exec Peter Viner.

Alberta’s film industry has more wiggle room following recent changes to the Alberta Film Development Program that raise its per-production funding cap to $1.5 million from $750,000.

After being stalled by the near collapse of the minority Liberal government in May, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage completed the first stage of its investigation into Canada’s feature film industry with a public hearing in Vancouver June 9-10. The cross-Canada tour also included hearings with members of film and television communities in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

The team behind This Is Daniel Cook carried the night at this year’s Alliance for Children and Television’s Awards of Excellence, winning the Grand Prize for best program, all categories; best program in the all-genres, ages 3-5 division; and best website.

Well, at least some of them should be happy. In a recent online poll question asking Playback readers ‘Which agency do you think should govern television production funding in Canada?’, 41% voted for a merged agency between Telefilm Canada and the CTF. Twenty-eight percent chose the CTF alone, followed by 20% for Telefilm, while 11% found the status quo preferable.

Correction

In this issue, we feature a special report on Production in Ontario (p. 27), tracking the remarkable resurgence that the province’s feature film service sector is currently enjoying. It’s a good news story. We also have a tribute to producer Don Carmody (p. 15), who has enjoyed spectacular success making movies in Toronto and elsewhere.

Vancouver: The comedy feature Everything’s Gone Green, penned by famed West Coast novelist Douglas Coupland, went to camera in early June in and around Vancouver, with delivery scheduled for December. The film marks the scribe’s first feature script written directly for the screen.
A copro between Toronto’s Radke Films and Vancouver’s True West Films, Gone Green stars Ontario native Paulo Costanzo, best known as Michael on the TV sitcom Joey.