Vancouver: The new Canada Feature Film Fund won’t be the boon to B.C. producers that it will be for producers in Central Canada without major restructuring of the draft guidelines released March 29, says the local industry.
‘Overall the fund will be great for the Canadian domestic industry,’ says B.C.-based producer Steve Hegyes and a member of the advisory committee. ‘But B.C. lacks a base of content-providing companies. We have no Rhombus, no Triptych, no big distributors, no broadcasters that buy features. We need to create the same [working] environment that Toronto or Montreal has. Our indigenous industry is in dire straits [and] we have yet to come up with a formula to capitalize film companies.’

Vancouver: CKVU’s licence expires Aug. 31 and there is still no buyer, says the West Coast office of the CRTC.
The Vancouver station – which will be cut adrift from owner CanWest Global’s television network this fall – has been on the block since July 2000 when the CRTC approved CanWest’s acquisition of market leader BCTV, sister station CHEK and other WIC Western International Communications television assets.
But the mandated sale of CKVU didn’t happen by the end of 2000 and, since the new year, the station has been placed into a trust arrangement managed by Winnipeg-based Bud Sherman and a board of six.

Montreal: The Quebec government’s March 29 budget includes a number of technical clarifications related to the refundable tax credit for film and television production.
Conformed with industry practices, the budget indicates wages and salaries, as well as remuneration paid other than wages and salaries – including the buyout of a performer’s rights independent of a film’s profits or receipts – are deemed to be admissible as production and labor costs for purposes of the tax credit.
The ruling from Quebec’s Finance Department effectively clarifies a recent Quebec Revenue draft interpretation which would have disqualified the buyout (droits de suite) portion.

Montreal: Cinar Corp. has released unaudited or ‘best information’ financial summaries for the fiscal years 1999 and 2000, reporting a net loss of $55.8 million in the case of the latter period. The company is also reporting former principals of Cuyahoga,…

Montreal: Henry D. Winterstern, an acquisitions advisor to Capital Communications CDPQ, a Caisse de depot et de placement du Quebec investment subsidiary, and president of Montreal investment firm Winterstern & Associates, has joined the board of directors of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer….

With a notable absence of Canadian programs and one of the strongest showings for U.S. producers and broadcasters, the 22nd annual Rockie Awards are heading into full gear, with 86 nominees competing in 14 categories for more than $100,000 in prize…

The 9th annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival, this year tagged the Wandering Jewish Film Festival, returns to its home at the Bloor Cinema April 26 to May 3….

On the party circuit in Cannes, France, where Reed Midem holds the MIP-TV market, the strangest nightclub/bastille to be stormed is called the Cat Corner. From without, it’s just a narrow, windowless black door on the left as you ascend from…

The 14th annual WIFT-T Crystal Awards, this year hosted by the omnipresent Carla Collins, takes place April 23 at the CBC….

Montreal: Five women widely recognized in the industry for outstanding creative contributions over the years will be honored at this year’s Women in Film and Television Montreal’s third annual gala. The event, which takes place Friday, April 27 at the Hotel…

* Juliet Jones has been promoted to CEO at Vancouver’s Peace Arch Entertainment. She was CFO since 1996. In her new role, Jones will be responsible for framing the overall direction for Peace Arch’s strategic growth and market objectives, spearheading financial…

I read Mark Dillon’s article ‘Rethinking Convergence’ in the April 2 Playback and quite enjoyed it. The only flaw I can see in the article is the notion that there was ever any serious thought about convergence in the first place….

The series Bugs and Blooms from Calgary-based White Iron is budgeted at $500,000, not $5 million as reported in the April 2 issue….

Vancouver: DaVinci’s Inquest, Outer Limits, short film Evirati and youth series Caitlin’s Way dominated their competition as nominees in the 2001 Leo Awards celebrating the B.C. film industry. …

The Writers Guild of Canada honored its members April 9 at This is London, a nightclub in downtown Toronto. The 5th Annual Top Ten Awards ceremony was a fast-moving, jam-packed, stand-up affair hosted by Cathy Jones of This Hour Has 22…