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Service
Secret agent man
Spinning towards feature film FX
Spin Entertainment, the Toronto animation/FX/design shop with sister offices in Atlanta and Vancouver, played revolving doors at the close of 2004. The shop saw five staff come on board and four exit in what Spin CEO and executive producer Norm Stangl calls ‘a restructuring.’
Yowza – it’s Fat Albert!
Toronto’s Yowza Animation helped bring a beloved cartoon character to life in the feature Fat Albert, a Christmas release from Twentieth Century Fox that has earned more than US$47 million at the box office.
Marble, Rhombus hot on Burnt Toast
Toronto: Four years after their offbeat short Toothpaste struck a chord with performing arts fans, Matt Hornburg and Larry Weinstein are about to finish the sequel, an hour-long special called Burnt Toast, set to air next season on Bravo! and CBC’s Opening Night.
Features
Silent partners
Youth
A whole New Level
The latest from Canada’s broadcast design studios
More big projects
Eyes Post soldiers on in tougher T.O. market
Canada’s domestic post-production shops have been rocked by several setbacks in recent times, but, through it all, Toronto-based video post house Eyes Post Group soldiers on, having so far avoided the shuttering, mergers and buyouts so prevalent in the sector.
NSI launches producers into global market
For up-and-coming producers involved in Canada’s many academic film and TV programs, the concept of hands-on experience can be fairly straightforward: develop a script, raise some nominal funds, recruit talent and get the cameras rolling – and try to do it all within an allotted budget.
Teaching the business side of the industry
There are a number of universities, colleges and other training centers from coast to coast where students can learn the fundamentals of film and TV production, post-production and film theory. But, as many graduates will tell you, few sufficiently prepare their graduates for the dollars-and-cents realities of the industry. But there are other places where those budding Egoyans or MacMillans can go to get the kind of information necessary to get their projects off the ground, and, conceivably, make a living at this crazy business.
Production drop just the beginning?
Overall production in Canada declined 2% in the period from April 2003 to March 2004, down to $4.92 billion from $5.03 billion in the previous 12-month cycle, according to Profile 2005, the industry report from the CFTPA and Quebec’s APFTQ.
‘It’s a real cause for concern, and it’s time for a whole new strategy for the production sector,’ says Guy Mayson, president and CEO of the CFTPA.
The full breakdown by sector will be provided Feb. 3 at the CFTPA conference in Ottawa, in a presentation by Mayson and APFTQ president and CEO Claire Samson.
B.C. moves to bring credits in line
Vancouver: Answering threats of an exodus from the West Coast, the B.C. government announced on Jan. 20 that it will match the recently increased service and domestic tax credits of Ontario.
Ottawa to review Feature Film Policy
The plight of Canada’s feature film industry is turning heads in Ottawa again as the standing committee on Canadian heritage prepares to review the federal Feature Film Policy.
As early as February, the parliamentary committee will begin public hearings to assess the government’s support of feature films and evaluate the effectiveness of the FFP in the current market.
Ryan, Hardwood and Julia headed for the Oscars
The National Film Board is up for two Oscars at the 77th Academy Awards. Nominated in the best short animation category is Chris Landreth’s Ryan, and first-time director Hubert Davis’ Hardwood is up for best short doc, marking the NFB’s 67th and 68th Academy Award nominations. Meanwhile, Annette Bening’s best actress nomination for her performance in Istvan Szabo’s Being Julia marks the first time in two decades that a Canadian film has been nominated in an acting category.
International sales could save Nouvelle France
Richard Goudreau’s Nouvelle France, a $35-million Canada/France/U.K. coproduction that was supposed to be the successful Quebec producer’s biggest hit yet, may not have performed up to expectations at the home box office, but it still has the rest of the world to go.
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