Montreal- and Los Angeles-based production company Kingsborough Pictures is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against MCA/Universal City Studios and Miramax Film Corporation, alleging the defendants plagiarized the script The Dark Lady in the hit release Shakespeare in Love.

While Cinar Corp. continues to be entangled in a web of controversy, Arthur maintains its evergreen status, picking up three daytime Emmy noms for outstanding children’s animated program, outstanding achievement in music direction and composition (music director Jeffrey Zahn, composer Ray Fabi), and outstanding achievement in sound mixing – special class (Stephane Bergeron).

Montreal: Ongoing settlement payments, professional fees and current asset write-offs were among the primary factors in a $42-million net loss reported by Cinar Corp. for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 2001. The loss includes $9.9 million from the discontinued operations of Cinar Multimedia and related write-off of assets, and $32.1 million from continuing operations. Results for 2001 are fully audited. The company says no comparative information is provided as financial statements for 2000 and 1999 remain unaudited.

Montreal: Radio-Canada has advised management of the possibility of an extended strike by 1,300 members of Syndicat des Communications de Radio-Canada.

The Partners’ Film Company

Ian MacLean is a veteran broadcaster and vice-president of the Media Experts iTV Lab, a research division of Montreal-based Media Experts with the goals of understanding, exploring and anticipating the impact digital technologies will have on television and the television advertising model.

Bob Kennedy is a senior partner in Flashcut Editing, Toronto, and chair of the PVR subcommittee for CPAT.

So, they say the recession is over. And we barely felt it.

In the wake of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m left thinking about Ireland and all the Canadian entertainment companies that have set up shop there over the past several years. Well actually, what’s really got me thinking about the Celtic country is Alliance Atlantis jetting Ted Riley off to Dublin to open a new operations office – not that there’s anything peculiar about a man named Ted Riley taking up residence in Ireland. The truth is, while none of the the seniors at AAC, including Riley, were willing to talk to me about the move and the AAC spokesperson insisted that human resources and ease of travel were top of mind, it’s pretty clear that once again Ireland’s glorious tax incentives are the name of the game.

Riley relocates to Dublin

Asked should Chum, CTV and CanWest Global be eligible for Canada Feature Film Fund support for movies they want to produce, 47.65% of poll participants responded yes, 52.35% said no.

Despite attempts to appeal it, the letter of the law in the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s rules and regulations has rendered the final two seasons (20 x 1 hour, equating to $25 million of production) of Salter Street Films/Cinar’s Emily of New Moon ineligible for Gemini recognition.

Vancouver: Despite uncertainty about its future as a government agency, Knowledge Network is forging ahead with its summer and fall schedules and has prelicensed 25% more projects for 2002 than last year.

* Montreal’s Just for Laughs Group has announced it has hired former Cinar Corp. co-CEO Micheline Charest as an international business consultant. Groupe JFL also announced it has hired former Videotron VP Robert Bourque as VP finances, and former Cirque du Soleil executive David Gilmour to manage sponsorship sales in the North American market.

If you’re wondering why Toronto bar patrons have been spontaneously breaking out into the chorus of ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’ from the original Singing in the Rain soundtrack, you need look no further than Taxi Advertising’s Alan Madill and Terry Drummond.
The creative team is responsible for the latest Viagra spot on TV, an ad that in one fell swoop takes the sex-joke raunchiness normally associated with the penis-proud drug out of the equation, and simultaneously pulls a fast one on the Canadian drug advertising regulators.