The Television Bureau of Canada’s annual Bessie Awards ceremony is on track for another celebration of Canadian advertising. Despite the recent assertions by Quebec’s premier that the province is ‘a nation state,’ there is no question Quebec is still a vibrant and creative part of the country and one that is producing exciting advertising.
But why is there only minimal interest generated by the Bessies in the province of Quebec? And why is one of Canada’s foremost commercial production centres invisible at what is billed as a national award ceremony?

A lot can happen in one year when you’re an in-demand spot director, and sometimes award show memories can get hazy. At least this is the case with John Mastromonaco out of Toronto’s Untitled. …

Demand for docs is high, but so is the pressure to market them in exactly the right money-spinning way. And guess what? ‘Reality’ is SO documentary, at least that’s what some say.
Stephen Ellis, president of Ellis Entertainment in Toronto, sees a trend brought about by a strong marketplace.
‘We’ve certainly had a growth of the majority of U.S. powerhouses: Discovery, A&E, Biography…all with grouped channels, and that is having a profound effect on the market,’ says Ellis.
‘You’ve got to produce something very focused for History or Biography or TLC, and it may be so specific that it’s a tougher sell to a terrestrial. The terrestrial guys are still working to a large audience, they are not as tuned to a narrow demographic as the specialties, which are geared to almost a psychographic.

A happy couple strolls in the country on a summer afternoon; it is an idyllic scene, until suddenly, disaster strikes. A rake.
In the completely deadpan mockumentary Rakes, the gardening implement is a silent killer that lurks among us. And rakes can strike anywhere, anytime. Footage shows rakes striking the unaware in yards, offices and even the bathroom.
David Manning, who works as an editor for comedy programs, is the brains (director, producer and editor) behind Rakes. He describes his mock doc as ‘very similar to a documentary about landmines except rakes are…quieter. It’s a parody of any Hard Copy-style, one-sided story about some horrible thing in the world that’s a danger to everyone.’

According to Neil McOstrich, to understand the success of Palmer Jarvis DDB’s recent Pine-Sol campaign (a possible contender at this year’s Bessies and winner of Campaign Gold at the 2001 Marketing Awards), one should look to diving or ski jumping -…

Could the collision of the Internet and the form of documentary see the end to ‘comatose’ viewers? Peter Wintonick, filmmaker and cocreator of new media conference Cutting Truths, thinks so. …

Last year, to howls of intervening protest, the prize of a digital licence for a documentary channel was awarded to Corus Entertainment of Toronto….

The film that walked off with the Palme D’Or at Cannes last year almost didn’t get made….

THE awards offered this year as part of the Hot Docs festival differ from last year. The biggest difference: this year ‘nominations’ embrace all films with the relevant credentials….

Ten years ago, the Montreal Canadiens were competing for the Stanley Cup, Brian Mulroney was prime minister and the 500-channel universe was still a dream. A lot has changed since then including the coming of age of Canadian series television productions. Shows like Traders, Dudley the Dragon, LEXX, Deux Freres, Radio enfer, Big Comfy Couch and The Associates have been broadcast since that time, attracting millions of viewers here and internationally. Helping to make that growth possible has been the Independent Production Fund and its executive director, Andra Sheffer.
‘Ten years ago,’ recalls Sheffer, ‘there was very little private money in the industry. Producers had to rely on government subsidization for their programs to be made. And there always seemed to be a critical 10% of the budget that was never available in Canada.’

IPF at a glance…

Paul Donovan…

Cannes, France: Before MIP 2001, senior producers at various Canadian companies, including Alliance Atlantis Communications, were questioning the spring market’s timing and relevance. But although many sellers on the Croisette noted lower traffic in the Palais and fewer parties chaque soir, almost all reported brisk program sales on site with more deals to come.
(No one made the infamous claim that it was the best market yet, but one producer did venture to say it was the best market in four years. ‘Sales have been phenomenal.’)
Notable trends include several Canadian production houses pursuing self-distribution, less discussion of multi-platform content, more talk about formats, and a predictable surge in the number of companies moving into feature films. (Much of the upswing in features is linked to the new Canada Feature Film Fund, see story p. 1.) Also, some independent producers – distressed by the struggle to secure a U.S. broadcaster – seemed to want to shake up buyers’ expectations by announcing new types of production.

In a move to shed some responsibility and enter a level playing field with CanWest Global, CTV has decided it would rather renew as a station group than as a national network.
‘Not renewing as a network allows us to renegotiate some contracts with our affiliates,’ says CTV spokesman Tom Curzon. ‘Some of these contracts go back decades, and one is at least 30 years old.’
CanWest Global never had to become a network because it owns all its affiliates, but CTV, which owns only some of its affiliates, as a network is still responsible for all of its affiliates’ activities.
‘It comes down to an issue of responsibility,’ says CRTC spokesman Denis Carmel. ‘But whether they can do away with the network will have to be worked out in the
hearings.’

Montreal: Telefilm Canada’s interim Canada Feature Film Fund guidelines, released March 29, officially set the stage for enhanced box-office performances on the part of this country’s theatrical movies.
The guidelines are at the top of many industry agendas, with pressure coming from companies whose films have not made the reserved or performance funding list, including the producers and distributors of two recent Golden Reel-winning films, The Art Of War and Air Bud, and from larger distribution companies which claim the new guidelines place them at a disadvantage.