After much anticipation, Jacques Bensimon has been appointed the next government film commissioner and chairman of the National Film Board, as appointed by the Heritage Minister Sheila Copps.
Bensimon will retain his position as executive vice-president of the Banff Television Foundation until June 15, the final day of the festival, and will take on his new order the following week.

Calling Dominic DaVinci! We may soon need an inquest into the fate of the Canadian drama series and what its probable decline says about the need for more, not fewer, domestic producers….

Content, whether it is televised, streamed or audio, has always been a disposable commodity for the consumer. For the producer and television broadcaster, content is an expensive asset to be controlled. Consumers now want not only the free content, but also…

After 13 years on the job, Michael McCabe is stepping down from his post as president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.
‘I came for five years and ended up staying for 13,’ says McCabe. ‘Things are in good shape at the association and I need to reinvigorate, get into something new, but I don’t really mean finding another job. I want to work at my own pace and do what I really like – public policy.’
Meantime, the CAB’s acting chair of the board of directors,Jim Macdonald, is heading up a search committee to replace McCabe, who will be leaving the building Nov. 9.

Vancouver: Service production crew members who anticipate forced holidays by U.S. writers and actors strikes may want to reconsider their vacation plans this summer.
Fears about summer work stoppages and even slowdowns have nearly evaporated now that the Writers Guild of America has recommended its 11,000 members ratify a new collective agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and major U.S. networks. Most expect the Screen Actors Guild to follow suit.
‘We can’t jump the gun on [a deal for] SAG, but there is a wave of optimism sweeping the industry,’ says Pete Mitchell, GM at Vancouver Film Studios, where production deals for summer shoots have been firming up since the WGA deal was announced May 4.

Montreal: Local distribs are expressing optimism the brand new AMC Cinemas 22 megaplex will become a welcome downtown venue for Canadian and indie movie fare, including more commercial French-language films….

The second annual Toronto Documentary Forum, held as part of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (May 1-6), has come and gone for another year, and although no money has changed hands yet, organizers speak in glowing terms of its…

The eighth annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival wrapped with an awards ceremony on May 6, where East Coast survivor docs rang in strong for Canada….

Montreal: The Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund awarded just under $3.1 million in grants and licence fee top-ups in 2000, a 50% increase over the previous year, according to the fund’s recently released annual report….

Montreal: Several new Canadian films are up for relatively wide theatrical releases, including the ensemble comedy Nuit de Noces, which will be launched on 70 screens June 1, and the teen horror flick Ginger Snaps, which opened across Canada on 84…

Cannes, France: The future of Montreal-based Cinar is as changeable as Riviera weather in April, but the president of Cinar Europe, David Ferguson, says production is chugging full steam ahead. …

Calgary: The big winner at the 27th AMPIA Awards, held in Calgary April 28, was Gary Burns’ directorial debut waydowntown, which walked off with a slew of Rosies, including the prestigious Best of Festival award….

CanWest $4M bonanza…

As if directing a feature film was not hard enough, consider Andrea Dorfman, working out of both her native Toronto and her adopted home of Halifax. Dorfman was not only director on Parsley Days, but director of photography, screenwriter and coproducer as well.
The film follows pregnant Kate (Megan Dunlop), who has fallen out of love with longtime boyfriend Ollie (Michael Leblanc), curiously the ‘king of contraception.’ Not willing to wait three weeks for a clinical abortion, Kate enlists the help of a herbalist friend who recommends an ‘all-parsley, all-the-time’ diet to induce a miscarriage. But after a few weeks – and a lot of parsley – Kate makes the clinical appointment.

Shaftesbury Films was a big winner in this spring’s LFP round of financing with at least four hot new projects, but an oversubscribed EIP has left the producer dangling on at least one new MOW.
Scar Tissue, which received more than $450,000 in LFP funding, was omitted from the EIP envelope, leaving Shaftesbury to look for alternative financing.
The MOW, in development with the CBC, is based on the Michael Egnotiaf book about a family battling Alzheimer’s Disease.
Dennis Foon is scripting the $3-million project, with Eric Till attached to direct and R.H. Thomson set to star.
Christina Jennings is producing and Oasis has international distribution.