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Four decades of production
1970: Begins six years as unit manager at CTV Toronto
Mayson: Whitley ‘a wise and stable voice’
In addition to his management duties and work as a producer at Dufferin Gate Productions and Temple Street Productions, Patrick Whitley is one of the production sector’s busiest advocates. A significant part of that has seen him as a CFTPA board member for the past six years.
Showtime praises longtime partner
The relationship between New York-based Showtime Networks and Dufferin Gate has lasted 10 years, and is built on a more solid foundation than many marriages. According to Michael Rauch, Showtime’s EVP of motion picture production, the ongoing partnership has been based largely on trust.
Patrick Whitley: the making of a producer
Today Patrick Whitley lords over two successful production companies and a couple of studios, which is all a far cry from cutting his teeth at CFTO, CTV’s Toronto affiliate, as a unit manager for six years starting in 1970.
Queer as Folk a Showcase mainstay
Laura Michalchyshyn, Alliance Atlantis Communications’ senior VP of dramatic programming, admits to being a big fan of Dufferin Gate Productions. Small wonder – Temple Street Productions, Dufferin Gate’s sister company, coproduces Queer as Folk (along with Cowlip Productions and Tony Jonas Productions), an adaptation of a limited-run British series about gay relationships. The show is a major attraction for AAC’s Showcase specialty, sometimes pulling in more than 340,000 viewers per ep.
Huston in Hamilton
Toronto: Service house Front and Centre Productions had a busy month in June, wrapping the MOW Say When at Toronto’s Cinespace Film Studios while dividing its time between Toronto and Hamilton for the 20-day shoot of Riding the Bus with My Sister, an MOW for Hallmark and CBS directed by Anjelica Huston.
Summer in the studios
The summer of 2004 may not go on record as the busiest this country has ever experienced in terms of production, but there are nonetheless a number of intriguing projects underway from coast to coast. For this year’s Studio Facilities & Location Services report, Playback has selected five of the most notable productions shooting across Canada to see what studios they have booked and some of the key service providers they have hired. The list, which reflects the diversity of the national production sector, includes Hollywood and domestic features, as well as a major miniseries and English Canada’s favorite indigenous comedy program.
Studio facilities across Canada
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Coupland signs Souvenir deal
Toronto: The docmakers at Media Headquarters (Le Mozart Noir, Modern Marriages) have hooked up with author and visual artist Douglas Coupland to make Souvenir of Canada, a 90-minute adaptation of the latter’s bestseller for CBC.
Docs
Destinies Apart in Newfoundland
Service
Burnett brings Global Frequency pilot to Vancouver
Broadcast
Sweet revenge
Features
Lohman to star in new Egoyan pic
Boutique distribution option from Alberta Filmworks
Calgary: Alberta Filmworks principals Jordy Randall, Tom Cox and Doug MacLeod have teamed up with Michael Jacobs of MarVista Entertainment, a U.S.-based distributor of dramatic and children’s television with offices in L.A., Boston and Barcelona, to provide a new boutique distribution option for Canadian producers.
Bell fund invested $6.6M
Despite a major funding cut, the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund spent more money last year, investing $6.6 million in the production and development of 74 TV projects, all with strong interactive elements, according to its recently released annual report.
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