There can be little doubt that all the recent news coverage of the Air India trial spurred, in some small way, Toronto 1 and its parent Craig Media to write a cheque for director Srinivas Krishna. Best known for 1996’s Lulu and his 1991 breakthrough Masala, Krishna had for some time been developing a project about the terrorist bombing that sent Air India’s Flight 182 into the Atlantic in June 1985 after departing Toronto, killing 329, most of them Canadians. Early this month he got the nod for a four-hour miniseries, backed by T1’s New Voices Fund.

Vancouver: Busy Vancouver cinematographer Vic Sarin (Margaret’s Museum) is directing and shooting (and producing with partner Tina Pehme) the low-budget Canadian romantic comedy Deluxe Combo Platter in Squamish until Dec. 2.

Reality bit in 2003. Not only did the War in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS affect the way Canadian broadcasters and producers did business this year, but the increasing impact of reality television made itself very clear right at home – as more Canadians watched Ryan Malcolm get elected Canadian Idol than had ever before watched a domestically produced series episode.

The following are the results of a web poll in which Playback asked readers: ‘What was THE industry story of 2003?’

Montreal: It has been a whirlwind, wonderful kind of year for Cinemaginaire producer Denise Robert and life partner, filmmaker Denys Arcand. So good, in fact, that the couple shares the honor of 2003 Playback Person of the Year.

Charles Biname’s historical saga Seraphin: Un homme et son peche set a modern box-office record for a Canadian film this year, pulling in $9.6 million (all results include taxes) since its release on 123 Quebec screens on Nov. 29, 2002.

On the funding crisis…

The 21-member board of the Canadian Television Fund adjourned Nov. 4 after two days of meetings in Toronto without signing off on major guideline changes designed to simplify next year’s application process.
‘We’re really close,’ says Phil Serruya, CTF director of communications, declining to comment specifically on the outstanding issues. ‘People should stay tuned. We’re really conscious of the need to get the information out as quickly as possible. But we’re not ready to do that until we’ve finalized all the decisions.’

Vancouver: The Canadian producers of Cold Squad and U.S. producers of Cold Case, a new CBS series with striking similarities to Canada’s longest-running drama, have begun preliminary communications into the thorny issue of copyright.
Vancouver-based Cold Squad producers Matt MacLeod and Julia Keatley have hired Los Angeles attorney Carole Handler of the law firm O’Donnell and Schaeffer to broker talks with Cold Case producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Bros.

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters says the impact of national DTH distribution on local TV stations, first in small markets and now increasing in major urban centers, is reaching crisis levels due to the loss of audience share and millions of dollars in advertising revenues.
Canada’s private broadcasters have asked the CRTC to place the issue of generalized decay of exclusive local TV program rights at the top of the agenda at licence renewal hearings for direct-to-home services Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice.

Broadcasters and producers are asking a pre-budget parliamentary committee to recommend the full restoration of government funding to the Canadian Television Fund to the former $100-million level. At the same time, both the CFTPA and the APFTQ producer associations are urging the Standing Committee on Finance to support long-sought-after changes to the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program.

CBC’s explosive new miniseries Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers over its two-night run. The first installment on Oct. 26 drew 1.4 million viewers and the second, on Oct. 27, drew 1.6 million.

Getting Canadian audiences into the theaters to see homegrown films is hard enough at the best of times, but asking them to choose a Canadian doc or drama over Hollywood horror-spoof Scary Movie 3, starring the big-budget bust of Pamela Anderson, on Halloween is a stretch.

Montreal: A new Toronto-based ‘edutainment’ company led by industry veterans Michael Hirsh and Toper Taylor, in partnership with TD Capital Canadian Private Equity Partners, have announced a deal to buy Cinar. The announced acquisition price is US$143.9 million and includes terms of settlement for outstanding litigation.