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Le Dernier tunnel leads Genie noms
Quebec’s movies have again swept the Genie nominations and, this year, going into the silver anniversary of the awards, hold sway over almost all of the key categories, including best director, actor, actress and best picture on the strength of such recent box-office hits as Le Dernier tunnel, Ma vie en cinémascope and Monica la mitraille.
Is Global getting serious about drama?
The focus groups have spoken. The life of Jane Black appears to be funny, well plotted, populated with strong comic characters and, on the whole, is likely to click with its target demographic. But the title character needs some work.
Features closing on 5%
In 2004, 4.5% of what Canadians spent at theaters went to Canadian films, up from 3.6% in 2003, evidence that the industry is inching ever closer to Telefilm Canada’s goal of a 5% market share for domestic films by 2006, according to stats released last month by the federal agency.
Sundance with the Devil
Park City, UT: For a year that looked slow for Canada at the Sundance Film Festival, with only one feature and seven shorts playing the indie fest, it turned out to be anything but.
Global scores with Super Bowl
Global scored big with this year’s NFL final when 3.1 million Canadians tuned in to Super Bowl XXXIX on Feb. 6, drawing a 13.1 rating with 18-49s in Toronto and 13.8 in Vancouver. And yet, the numbers were down from last year’s big game, which brought in 3.6 million and hit shares of 16.3 with the same demo in Toronto and 13.9 in Vancouver.
Childstar struggles
Don McKellar’s Childstar won four awards from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, including best Canadian film, best actor and best director for McKellar. It also took five Genie nominations, including best screenplay (see story, p. 2). But despite such critical acclaim, box-office receipts for McKellar’s second feature are not nearly as positive.
Canucks more positive after NATPE ’05
Divine Restoration could also be the name of a series about the rebound of NATPE, and not just one of the hotter-selling titles at this year’s market from Ellis Entertainment.
CFTPA calls for a new deal for producers
Ottawa: The CFTPA is calling for new strategies regarding the Canadian production sector, following the first marked decline in film and TV volumes published in its annual state-of-the-industry study, Profile 2005.
Famous cuts prices
Famous Players doesn’t just want people to see Sideways. It wants people to see it two, three, maybe even four times, and it’s dropped the prices at its Ontario theaters to make it happen. The exhibitor chain announced late last month that it was knocking $4 off its general admission price – down to $9.95 – in hopes of drawing bigger crowds.
People
* Peter Moss has gone from EVP of programming to creative consultant at Corus Entertainment’s TV division, looking to concentrate more on producing and directing. Meanwhile, Phil Piazza has been appointed VP of programming for children’s television, a position previously held by Joanna Webb, who is now VP of programming at Corus-owned W Network.
Ad infinitum
The CRTC has released a series of incentives intended to improve the viewership of French-language drama on private and conventional TV. Broadcasters can now earn the right to air between two and three additional minutes of advertising for each hour of original French-language drama aired during peak hours.
Williams goes CanWest
Barbara Williams has exited the top spot at Toronto 1 to be SVP of programming and production at CanWest Mediaworks, and will oversee buys and productions for all of CanWest’s conventional and specialty channels under Kathleen Dore as of Feb. 17.
Jump Cuts
Restructuring at CHUM
Training: the road to cultural riches
Michelle Nadon is managing director of Toronto-based MediaIntelligence, which offers end-to-end recruitment and training services for the Canadian media and culture employment markets, providing a tangible connection between talent, employers and cultural industry stakeholders.
Playback Readership Poll Results
Not enough, say Playback readers. In a recent online Playback poll question asking ‘Are the increased tax credits in B.C., Quebec and Ontario enough to turn around the industry in those provinces?’ 69% of respondents voted No, and 31% voted Yes.
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