From the time CanWest created globaltv.com and established an interactive media division in 1999, the company decided the Internet would be a tool to assist advertisers and deliver information and entertainment to consumers, but not a business on its own. Leonard Asper, who was named CEO that year, says the company’s media ‘are totally synergistic. The cross-promotion aspects…the main thrust of what we’re doing. We want to build ratings and opportunities.’

Toronto-based director of photography Douglas Koch (Last Night, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing) didn’t need much convincing when director Deepa Mehta approached him to lens her musical romantic comedy Bollywood/Hollywood.

Can a project win awards for best writing, direction and actor despite not even being nominated for best TV movie or dramatic miniseries? The answer to the riddle is yes, as demonstrated at the 17th Annual Gemini Awards by Trudeau, the two-part mini chronicling the public and private lives of Canada’s most flamboyant prime minister. The trophy recipients were confused by the inconsistency.
‘It’s bizarre and endemic to award shows,’ Wayne Grigsby said backstage after getting the nod for best writing for Trudeau. The former Montreal journalist currently heads Nova Scotia’s Big Motion Pictures, producer of the mini, which drew two million viewers. He added that CBC and Radio-Canada have asked him to produce a prequel to Trudeau showing PET’s early years before he entered the political stage.
Trudeau director Jerry Ciccoritti picked up his seventh Gemini Award. When asked what he thought of Trudeau’s snub in the TV movie or miniseries category, he offered a polite ‘No comment.’

Depending on who you ask, people like Greg Neely and Laurence Roberts are either rewriting the rules of feature film development or they have wasted a great deal of time and money making a sci-fi action short.
Both men dream of making a lavish sci-fi picture called Torchbearer, and have for several years been working on a story, concept sketches, costume designs and other details. They shopped a script around – at Echo Lake Productions, HBO, the Independent Film Channel – but, having only one previous film credit between them, went nowhere.
‘We were having a heck of a time getting people interested without something to show,’ says Roberts, the director and writer whose documentary Amidst Us played the festival circuit in 1996. ‘That’s where Prelude was born, out of the need to have a portfolio piece.’
Prelude: The Calm Before the Storm is the short film Roberts and producer Neely made, with their own money, to pitch Torchbearer.

Canada’s federal broadcast regulator will not rethink its controversial 1999 Television Policy ahead of schedule, says CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen.
‘I don’t think it’s realistic we will see any changes to policies in 2003,’ says Dalfen. ‘The [Television] Policy is only a couple of years old. It’s only been in effect for a few years and that’s not enough time.’
He says the CRTC will almost certainly wait the usual four or five years before considering any change to the policies that many blame for scuttling production of English-language drama in Canada.
Dalfen made the remarks on Nov. 6, following a 20-minute speech to ACTRA Toronto members about the state of English-Canadian dramatic TV.

New coproductions at Cinar

As president of newly integrated Corus Television and Nelvana, Paul Robertson faces a $200-million writedown on the animation company, and although merchandising will play a role in turning it around, Robertson is not planning to transform Nelvana into a toy store as some industry pundits have urged.
‘Merchandising is not going to be the driver on all the projects,’ says Robertson. ‘We would like to do more projects like Jerolemon Street Players or Braceface that have so much merit as standalone TV shows.’

Deepa Mehta’s Canadian musical/comedy Bollywood/Hollywood opened Oct. 27 with a weekend take of $306,000, representing an impressive $8,700-per-screen average.

Telefilm Canada has announced a series of deadlines for English (national) and French-language submissions to the Canada Feature Film Fund main program in 2003/04.

Few Canadians tuned in to see how to Escape from the Newsroom.

Montreal: Andre Turpin’s Un Crabe dans la tete is Canada’s entry in the best foreign-language film category at the 2003 Academy Awards.

A recent deal between Alliance Atlantis Communications and CBC stands to boost independent television production by consolidating licence fees and, perhaps, reviving TV dramas. Both companies announced on Oct. 29 that a three-year agreement has been struck to co-commission more television projects, including children’s programming and dramatic series.

The upcoming edition of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Speaker Series features a three-part presentation by Telefilm Canada executive director Richard Stursberg on the general subject ‘The ABCs of Audience Building in Canada.’ The 90-minute midday program includes lunch followed by a presentation by Stursberg and a question period.

Ouch. Asked to rate the promotion of Canadian TV by the Gemini Awards, 42.7% of Playback readers answered that they did not watch any of the three-night awardathon that aired Nov 2-3 on local cable and Nov. 4 on CBC. In terms of it’s ability to promote Canadian television 34.6% rated it ‘poor.’ The Geminis got ‘adequate’ marks from 15.3% and only 7.2% thought it was ‘excellent.’

In the Oct.14 issue, The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie was identified as a Minds Eye Pictures production. The feature is produced by Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures and Anafi Productions of the U.K., a subsidiary of Visionview Films.