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Hogtown, Little Jesus lead pack at Hot Docs
The 12th annual Hot Docs, April 22 to May 1, marked the Toronto doc fest’s biggest and busiest year to date. Audiences grew, delegate numbers were up and, with documentaries becoming a hotter commodity for broadcasters and theatrical distributors internationally, market events were busier than ever.
NFB sponsors McLaren Cannes prize
The National Film Board took the opportunity of Hot Docs to announce a pair of international initiatives, including a new prize at the Cannes Film Festival dedicated to animated shorts pioneer Norman McLaren.
Features feature prominently at Doc Summit
Canada’s place as a producer of feature film documentaries dominated talk at the second annual Doc Policy Summit, held April 25 in Toronto in conjunction with Hot Docs.
HD rules awards at NAB2005
Las Vegas: Products for HD capture, post and broadcast dominated the awards handed out at the recent National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas (April 16-21).
Canucks watch fewer U.S. shows
Canadians are watching less U.S. TV, and Statistics Canada has the graphs to prove it, showing that domestic news and current affairs shows are growing in popularity among Canadians at the expense of American-made dramas and comedies.
YTV, Teletoon lead ACT noms
YTV and Teletoon lead the way with six nominations each for The Alliance for Children and Television 2005 Awards of Excellence. Programs in all genres and animation classifications will be recognized. This year’s award gala will see two new categories introduced: best interstitial or short program, and best website associated with a children’s program.
Jump Cuts
Maple launches Banff award
People
* Hollywood veteran Fred Fuchs is now EVP at Peace Arch Entertainment, responsible for all TV drama and digital properties and for increasing feature film production and sales. Fuchs (Dark Angel, The Godfather Part 3) worked at Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope for 12 years but recently relocated to Toronto.
New management, new structure at CHUM TV
CHUM Limited has restructured its television division into three functional groups under three VPs, each of whom reports to Jay Switzer, president and CEO of CHUM.
Faith station has new Vision
VisionTV has been taking stock and decided it needs a new outlook. While the Toronto-based faith and spirituality specialty is still not-for-profit, it has switched its focus to becoming a competitive broadcaster in the minds of media planners and buyers.
OFRB deadline extended
The government of Ontario has been given another four months to bring its theater laws in line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, dodging an April 30 deadline laid down last year by the province’s Superior Court of Justice.
CanWest Media Sales’ extreme makeover
CanWest Media Sales’ extreme makeover
Telefilm puts forward pitch for TV portfolio merger
Telefilm Canada is circulating a draft proposal addressing the governance and administration of Canadian TV funding that it hopes will be adopted in the coming weeks by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Letter
The new Canadian Television Fund rules regarding documentaries exhibit little or no understanding of the world of independent documentary filmmakers in Canada today. We have become slaves of big corporations who use us to make films for little or no money, and who only commission films that they in their infinite wisdom deem ‘commercial.’
Features
Six-figure shoot in Calgary
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