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CTF ‘a priority’ for Scherrer
The new minister of Canadian heritage says restoration of the federal government’s support of the Canadian Television Fund is a priority for her but, with the new federal budget just weeks away, she is offering no guarantees to put anxious producers at ease.
New minister on the record
Helene Chalifour Scherrer, the new minister of Canadian heritage, made her first major address to the Canadian film and television industry during a Jan. 29 breakfast speech at the CFTPA/APFTQ annual convention in Ottawa. Here is an excerpt.
New pan-industry lobby group in the works
Ottawa: Taking their cue from the success of FilmOntario, a who’s who of industry stakeholders from across the country gathered Jan. 28, prior to the Prime Time in Ottawa opening reception. Their mandate was to plan and create a new national lobby group representing the entire production sector.
Groups unite in open letter to Ottawa
With a federal budget expected to come down sometime this month, stakeholders from across the industry are asking Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to restore Ottawa’s support of the Canadian Television Fund in a Feb. 5 open letter.
Specialties hit with Canadian expenditure increases
At recent licence renewal hearings in Ottawa, the CRTC slapped nine of 22 specialty services up for review with higher Canadian programming expenditure requirements.
Jump Cuts
Monkey business
Les goes to the movies
Vancouver: On Jan. 26, in his first cabinet shuffle since taking office in 2001, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell shifted the responsibility for the provincial film industry to Chilliwack-Sumas MLA John Les, the former government caucus chair and the newly minted minister of small business and economic development.
Discovering your limitations – changes for Ontario litigation
Brett Harrison is an associate in the litigation group of the Toronto law firm McMillan Binch LLP.
Letter
IT was with incredulity that I read your story about the pending sale of Craig Media in the Feb. 2 issue of Playback (p. 2). In it your reporter quotes unnamed ‘observers’ who say the sale of Craig Media ‘means an end to Western Canada’s role in broadcasting’ and the end of ‘the era of the family-run [broadcasting] business.’
Toybox helps create game flick’s ‘blockbuster’ look
It isn’t easy to produce a movie based on a video game. Not only are you competing with blockbusters such as the Tomb Raider and Resident Evil franchises, but also the very nature of these games demands an action-packed, FX-rich film.
Golden Reel noms for Canucks
The Motion Picture Sound Editors organization has announced its 2003 Golden Reel Awards nominations, and several Canucks figure among them.
Robson Arms wrapped around emerging B.C. writer/directors
Vancouver: Omni Film Productions in Vancouver has put out the welcome mat for emerging writers and directors with the new CTV series Robson Arms (formerly Keys Cut Here).
The drama/comedy series – which is a B.C./Nova Scotia coproduction with Creative Atlantic Communications (Janice Evans and Greg Jones) in Halifax – tells the stories of the residents of Robson Arms, an apartment building in Vancouver’s urban West End neighborhood.
An American story in Canada
Producers Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes of Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures are not accustomed to profiting from the likes of Hollywood’s most famous madame, but as producers of the recent US$5-million TV movie based on the life of Heidi Fleiss, they were willing to make an exception.
Blum, Corder look on the bright side
If their stack of research papers is any indication, Jack Blum and Sharon Corder are clearly very ‘into’ writing their new project. The husband and wife team, who previously put in time at Traders and Power Play, and whose short DNA played last year’s festival circuit, showed up at a recent lunch meeting proudly showing off a phonebook-sized heap of newspapers and clippings – all from the 1930s, all about a forgotten natural disaster that killed hundreds and knocked this city on its collective, post-Victorian ass.
ACTRA grows into lobbying force
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts’ 60th anniversary in 2003 marked a distinct change in direction for the performers union, as it reorganized to address new challenges facing its 21,000 members in an increasingly uncertain domestic production industry.
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