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People
* David Lazzarato, formerly of Allstream, has replaced Judson Martin as EVP and CFO of Alliance Atlantis Communications. Martin recently stepped down for health reasons.
Collector fills its trophy case with Leos
The aptly named series The Collector was the big winner at this year’s Leo Awards, walking off with 10 trophies for its first season, including those for best dramatic series, best direction, cinematography and nods for best male and female guest performances.
B.C. public backs film biz
Show business is big with folks out west, according to a new poll that shows resounding support among British Columbians for the provincial film industry.
More about the ship than the showmanship
The storied public pitch sessions that have provided the Banff World Television Festival’s most gripping moments are getting a facelift for the event’s 26th iteration. Gone is the ticking clock, loudly counting down what must have seemed to many pitchers much less than the three or five minutes they were promised.
Shadow Pleasures sweeps Yorkton
Shadow Pleasures was the big winner at Saskatchewan’s Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival – its biggest, in fact, in the 58-year-old fest’s history. The one-hour performance film, directed by renowned choreographer and former ballerina Victoria Tennant and written and narrated by author Michael Ondaatje, took home an unprecedented seven Golden Sheaf Awards.
Jump Cuts
Hardacre goes national
U.S. activist Swift dies
Brent Swift, former chairman of the Film and Television Action Committee and a vocal opponent of runaway production, has died of liver cancer. He was 60. Swift was with the FTAC from its inception in 1999, working on behalf of below-the-line crews to keep filmmaking jobs in his native California. As chairman, he expanded the lobby group’s efforts and was a passionate opponent of U.S. productions that shot in foreign locations such as Australia and Canada.
Five vie for best Canuck program
Traditionally at the Banff television fest, top Canadian TV programs vie for Rockie Awards against the world’s best. This year, they will also compete with one another.
Telefilm doles out another $5.8 million via CTF
One week after handing out nearly $100 million to English-language drama on May 16, the Canadian Television Fund added $5.8 million for French-language television produced in English Canada. The May 24 decisions by Telefilm Canada, which administers funding for French-language productions outside Quebec on behalf of the CTF, greenlit 16 documentaries, three dramas and one variety show. Total budgets for the 60 hours of programming are $11.9 million.
Banff Bits
Teachers of wisdom
Building relationships and meeting broadcasters
The following is based on a handout being given to participants of the Banff World Television Festival’s June 12 Rookies and the Rockies session, developed by Joe Novak of Calgary’s Joe Media.
Letter
Casters still love The Corporation
What is CAVCO thinking?
Proposed changes to the rules governing the administration of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit have been raising eyebrows across the production community. And for good reason.
New old-style animation from Waterfront Pictures
Vancouver: David Doerkson, former president of Saskatoon, SK-based prodco Edge Entertainment, is in the final stages of completing a deal that will essentially merge Edge with Vancouver’s Waterfront Pictures to form a new company. Doerkson says he has been working on the deal for 18 months and expects it to be finalized Sept. 30.
The new company, which will go under the Waterfront banner, will focus on distribution, with Doerkson taking the reigns. Production will continue to be an element of the company, although Doerkson says volumes will be smaller than those he was used to at Edge, which in 2002 produced four MOWs based on stories by Mary Higgins Clark. Each movie was budgeted at $2.8 million.
Broadcast
Pumping more Gas
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