Toronto-based Alliance Atlantis Communications and New Line Cinema have renewed their distribution agreement through to Dec. 31, 2005. The agreement gives Alliance Atlantis’ Motion Picture Distribution Group rights to New Line and Fine Line motion picture product in all media in Canada. The agreement with New Line, an AOL Time Warner company, was first signed in 1989 and was last renewed in June 1999. Financial details were not announced.

The recently issued CRTC Broadcasting Policy Monitor Report 2002 indicates a slight increase in total revenue for private conventional English-language TV to $1.52 billion in 2001, almost all derived from the sale of advertising and commercial airtime. Revenues for conventional TV have remained essentially flat since 1998, while revenues for English-language pay, pay-per-view and specialty TV continue to grow steadily, increasing to just over $1.2 billion in 2001, a 17% hike over 2000.

Guy Maddin’s critically acclaimed Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary adds the International Emmy for best arts programming to its growing list of awards. It was one of only seven programming awards presented at the 30th annual gala held in New York City Nov. 25.

A study released by Statistics Canada on Dec. 2 reflects the findings of the CRTC Broadcasting Policy Monitor Report that specialty television and pay-TV services are having a dramatic impact on the Canadian television industry, cutting into the market share of conventional television.

Canada’s film industry will have to adjust to major changes on the European coproduction scene. That is one of the key messages to emerge at Immersion 2002: Europe, a feature film coproduction and financing networking program held last month in Paris and produced by Telefilm Canada. Thirty-four Canadian producers participated in this year’s program (65 applied), joined for the first time by 45 European film producers.

Canada’s two principal coproduction partners in 2002 are again the U.K. and France, accounting for more than 80% of all coproduction activity.

Vancouver: Weird Homes and Weird Wheels information series producer Yaletown Entertainment has signed a new five-year, 50-picture output agreement with genre film producer Lloyd Simandl of North American Pictures.

Montreal: Former Cinar Corp. directors Micheline Charest and Ronald Weinberg have hired Desjardins Securities to review purchase offers for their 64% controlling shares in the company. Extended efforts to sell the company under former CEO Barrie Usher were not successful.

Montreal: Looking for higher production values and better returns at the box office, Telefilm Canada will increase its investment cap in selective component feature films to $3.5 million in 2003/04. The federal funding agency’s investment cap has remained unchanged over several years at $2.5 million.

Six of Canada’s most promising documentary filmmakers have been chosen to participate in the inaugural year of The Documentary Studio. Conceived by celebrated filmmaker Allan King (Warrendale), the Studio aims to promote and mentor emerging doc makers. Drawing on his extensive experience in documentary film, King seeks to guide participants through the process of producing innovative and commercially viable Canadian documentary content.

* Daniel Gourd hs been appointed executive VP, French television with Societe Radio-Canada. Gourd served as interim VP French television since Michele Fortin’s departure in July. He has held various managerial positions with SRC since 1985 and was named director-general of programming in 1999.

Ararat, Bollywood/Hollywood, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Atanarjuat: Canadian tales told by Canadians. But these represent something more. A paradigm shift, perhaps, in the content and in how we tell our tales? Certainly, these are not variations on Strange Brew or Goin’ Down The Road.

Vancouver: Canada’s drama industry may not be generating a galaxy of stars yet, but it is helping mayors get elected.

Best Motion Picture

‘In this corner, in the grey pompadour, his soft-spoken manner only hiding the grotesque machinations in his mind, the Baron of Blood – Dave ‘Deprave’ Cronenberg! And in this corner, in the spectacles – you’ll never see him do a romantic comedy – Canada’s Denizen of Downbeat – Atom ‘the Armenian Hammer’ Egoyan!’