Everything is going Andre Bureau’s way. The Astral Media chairman of the board and former president’s recent Gold Ribbon for Broadcast Excellence from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters was merely the capper for another strong year for Bureau’s TV, radio and outdoor advertising company.

1960-68: Bureau practices law at his father’s office in Trois-Rivieres, QC

On whether globalization is a threat to Canadian broadcasting:

Halifax-based Big Motion Pictures recently finished shooting its latest dramatic series, Snakes & Ladders, for CBC. The six-part series will be broadcast in HD, marking the first drama from CBC to be aired in the increasingly popular digital format.

Vancouver: Stargate Atlantis will come up for air before the eighth and probably last season of production on Stargate SG-1, from which Atlantis was spun off.
SCI-FI Channel and MGM Television Entertainment will do 20 hours of each of the series, which means a lot of dough for the local film economy and more work for some production staffers, now doing double duty this season.

Considering that it was a three-hour-long, word-for-word retelling of one of the more long-winded books of the Bible, The Gospel of John did better than generally expected when it quietly rolled into theaters last fall – scooping up an opening-week per-screen average of roughly $16,000 in the U.S., and scoring a respectable $400,000 box office across Canada through October and November.

Vancouver: Two years ago, British Columbia’s minister of competition, science and enterprise laid down a challenge: double B.C.’s production industry to $2 billion by 2004.
Even then, industry insiders, including the 70 delegates at the B.C. Film & Television Summit 2001 where Rick Thorpe tried to rally the troops, were squirming with discomfort. The domestic industry was already in steep decline and international markets were conspiring against growth of the service sector.

By the final night of a 27-day shoot, the cast and crew of Don McKellar’s latest feature, Childstar, have been to a different location almost every day, faced gripping cold, freezing rain and a winter wind that made shooting on Toronto’s lakeshore almost impossible. But what could be more fitting for a Canadian film about shooting a Hollywood blockbuster in the Great White North?

In the wake of production cuts, Montreal-based CineGroupe has filed for protection from its creditors with the Quebec Superior Court. The Dec. 22 filing prevents creditors from taking any actions against the company within the time frame established by the court and allows the animation producer to continue operations as it restructures its debt.

It was a close call for one of the Prairies’ most successful and longest-standing production companies, but Regina-based Minds Eye Entertainment has emerged from credit protection with a restructured business plan and a sobered outlook on Canadian production.

In the nine months since he took over as president and CEO of NATPE, Rick Feldman has had a lot of work to do. The U.S. association of TV execs has had a rough couple of years and – as markets have fragmented and economies have fizzled – has seen its annual conference shrink from a ‘must-go’ three-ring circus to something approaching a ‘why bother?’ roadside attraction.

‘The Newsroom ain’t what it used to be.’ At least that’s what Globe and Mail critic John Doyle said about CBC’s third take on Ken Finkleman’s TV news satire and the Nielsen Media Research overnight ratings seem to agree. But it was just one of three new big-ticket shows the pubcaster premiered Jan. 12.

Mel’s Cite du Cinema took two big slices of the Quebec studio pie over the holidays, inking a deal to buy Cine Cite Montreal and the Ice Storm Studio in nearby St. Hubert.

Canadian film distributors are firming up their release schedules and mapping out their marketing strategies for the new year, which is marked by a couple of blockbusters, potential sleepers, a wealth of docs and domestic features looking to break through.

The Statement picks up steam