Whether he’s editing with Final Cut Pro on his laptop from a street corner in Rome or conducting interviews from a bar in Miami, the winner of the 2002 Bessie for Best of Series in editing does not spend most of his time locked away in an edit suite. Peter McAuley, known for his effects-driven editing, is on set, working with directors and DOPs on the production level supervising FX.

When David Baxter was a Ryerson Radio & Television Arts student, he spent a week shadowing Toronto commercial producer Bob Schulz for a school project, which ended up helping Baxter secure his first industry job as a projectionist screening rushes for Schulz Productions.

Identity is a precious commodity, particularly in the media world where an authentic, exciting presence is of paramount importance. Over the past three years, the CBC has committed itself to a transformation plan that consciously redefines the broadcaster to the Canadian public. A team consisting of, on the English broadcast side, top management figures Slawko Klymkiw, the executive director of network programming; Harold Redekopp, English television’s executive vice-president; and Alex Frame, the executive VP of radio; along with key program directors Deborah Bernstein, Nancy Lee, Tony Burman and a select few others formulated a new plan for the national public broadcaster.

Fifteen years after the founding of a company is no time to relax and rest on any laurels, declares TOPIX president and partner Chris Wallace. Not that any of the approximately 25 creatives at the Toronto-based animation/computer graphics shop would have much time for any resting on anything: TOPIX is currently in the midst of developing new projects, nurturing fresh talent, forging ahead into uncharted creative territories and expanding its client base further into the United States and Mexico.

Entering into the state-of-the-art Mr. X studio and surveying the scene, one can’t help but notice the many sets of eyes gazing back at you. Big reindeer eyes, that is, looking out from pretty much every one of the 28 computer screens in the room. For many of these sleigh-pullers, it’s time for their close-up, and their faces – with lips moving – fill the screens. Other buck and doe are playfully flying through the CG-magical midnight-blue air. Meanwhile, in the corner of the studio, a large life-size puppet reindeer with soft brown eyes is watching over the proceedings.

If there is a single message that federal regulators have been trying to get out to broadcasters in recent years it is that they need to better represent the multicultural reality of Canada.
This was a point driven home April 8 when the CRTC awarded new Southern Ontario over-the-air licences to Calgary-based Craig Broadcast Systems and Toronto-based Rogers Broadcasting. Both emphasized an ethnic component absent from the other competing bids.

The sets for I Love Mummy are so bright you gotta wear shades. The color palette of rooms in the home of the Barnes family, whose misadventures are the focus of the teen/tween sitcom, incorporates yellow walls and red couches, giving it a style quite apart from your average Canuck series.

Vanccouver: Fewer than half of the English-language applicants to Telefilm Canada’s Equity Investment Program received funding in 2002 and Canadian icon The Beachcombers wasn’t among the fortunate, an indication of the fierce competition.
By category: 31 of 63 English-language drama applicants were supported (49%), 13 of 31 children’s programming applications made the grade (42%), and six of 13 variety show applicants were successful (46%).
By dollar value: unaudited estimates indicate that successful applicants in English-language drama will share $39 million (57% of overall demand), children’s genre producers will share $12 million (44% of demand) and variety producers will share $1.6 million (57% of demand).

A packed house at the Toronto premiere of director Nisha Pahuja’s first film Bollywood Bound brought Hot Docs 2002 to a close on Sunday, May 5, marking the end of a highly lucrative event for Canadian doc makers, broadcasters and distributors alike.
This year’s international documentary festival, held in Toronto April 26 to May 5, was the largest on record, expanding by three days from last year in response to growing public and industrial interest. The number of registered industry delegates rose from 1,400 last year to 1,542 this year and the Toronto Documentary Forum added more than 20 registered delegates, growing to 288 from 261 in 2001. One hundred and forty-nine commissioning editors, acquisition executives and distributors, with more than 100 screenings to select from and 1,130 additional films available from the Doc Shop, make Hot Docs a key documentary marketplace.

The Last Just Man, a Canadian production from Alan Mendelsohn, directed by Steven Silver, was the only film recognized twice at the Hot Docs festival’s closing-night awards ceremony on Sunday, May 5, receiving the Audience Award and the Humanitarian Award. The film is about a Canadian haunted by his experiences commanding UN peacekeeping operations in Rwanda before the 1994 massacre of 800,000 Tutsis.

The boom in documentary production, driven by the explosion in specialty and diginets and an unprecedented number of funding applications to the CTF, has once again raised the question: What is a documentary?

Suzuki to be honored at Banff 2002

Asked, ‘Do you agree with the recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling against ‘grey market’ satellite operators or should the choice have been left to the consumer,’ 96.38% of poll participants sided with consumer choice, while 3.62% agreed with the ruling.

Scott Simpson directed the Chronicle Pictures feature film Touch and Go mentioned in the April 29 issue of Playback. Michael Melski wrote the screenplay .

Montreal: A coalition of seven Quebec professional associations, representing producers, writers, performers, distributors and others, has told the Heritage standing committee reviewing the broadcasting system danger lies ahead if telecom and cable companies come under the control of foreign ownership.