TORONTO – The Canadian film, television and print production industry “is in a death spiral” that only government action can halt, several experts agreed at a digital media conference held Saturday in Toronto.
The former Harper government, current Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, the CRTC and private broadcasters came in for heated criticism for failing to give content producers the tools to fight the falling advertising which print publications have been seeing – and the flight of viewers from conventional television to Netflix, Facebook, Google and others.
There were no shortage of solutions offered, but speakers on a film and TV panel…
Continue Reading
IF YOU’RE AGAINST THINGS like theft and plagiarism, then support of the FairPlay Coalition is a no-brainer.
Over 25 companies, unions, associations and other groups have banded together to file an application to the CRTC to try to curb blatant content piracy in Canada. The group (a list of organizations who are often at each other’s throats) is calling themselves the FairPlay Canada Coalition and the application (to which Cartt.ca was granted early access) calls for the creation of the Independent Piracy Review Agency, an independent, third party organization with a strong mandate to protect both net neutrality as well…
Continue Reading
Proposes new agency to battle billion-dollar problem
OTTAWA – FairPlay Canada, a new coalition of Canadian artists, content creators, unions, guilds, producers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors is has filed an application with the CRTC urging the Regulator to have Canadian ISPs shut down access to websites which enable content piracy.
According to the coalition, the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work in the creative sector (songwriters, set builders, TV writers, makeup artists, reporters, as well as cable technicians, engineers and customer service reps) are at risk as a result of increasing online piracy…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will once again return to Prime Time in Ottawa (PTiO) for a sit down with CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin on the state of the Canadian screen-based industries.
This will mark the third time that Minister Joly has attended the annual confab. The 23nd edition of PTiO will take place January 31 to February 2, 2018 at The Westin Ottawa.
“Canadians are fiercely proud of our creators and creative industry professionals,” said Minister Joly, in a statement. “I am delighted to join industry leaders here at Prime Time to discuss how we can…
Continue Reading
Q HOST TOM POWER is a good interviewer. But even he can’t penetrate Heritage Minster Mélanie Joly’s ability to avoid giving a direct answer to a direct question.
The Minister appeared on CBC’s Q last week (screen-capped at right) to talk about the #MeToo movement (she was in Toronto to meet with a number of groups on that topic) as well as discuss Canadian content in the new, digital era. We’ll pick up the chat at the 6:40 mark.
After mentioning Netflix’s planned $500 million investment in making content in Canada, which was the centrepiece of Minister…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Broadcast and music industry veteran and philanthropist Gary Slaight will receive the 2018 Humanitarian Award at this year’s Juno Awards.
Given out annually, the Humanitarian Award celebrates and recognizes the philanthropic efforts made by Canadian artists or industry leaders who have made a positive impact on social welfare worldwide. It will be presented at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on March 24, 2018 in Vancouver.
Slaight personifies the essence of the award through his devotion to Canadian music and emerging Canadian artists as well as his philanthropic support of health care, social service, culture and at-risk youth at…
Continue Reading
A curious omission, though
OTTAWA – Just before the federal government shuts down for the holidays, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Innovation Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains co-signed a mandate letter for the committee about to begin the process of reviewing the Copyright Act.
“While often underappreciated, the Copyright Act impacts Canadians every day, shaping what we see and hear, and enhancing our systems for the creation and use of content,” wrote the minsters to the chairman of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, which will lead the statutory review in the new year.
The letter asks the…
Continue Reading
Search continues for new CEO
GATINEAU – Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly named five new directors to the CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors on Tuesday.
The new members are:
− Harley Finkelstein (Ontario), mandate effective immediately
Mr. Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer and chief of operations for Shopify. He is a member of C100's board of directors and advises Felicis Ventures, which makes him involved in two organizations that promote innovation. He was also one of the dragons on CBC's Next Gen Den. Mr. Finkelstein was a recipient of the Order of Ottawa in 2016 and recently received Canada's Top 40 Under 40 award.
− René…
Continue Reading
EDMONTON – Edmonton’s new French-language community FM radio station is one step closer to fruition after receiving over $600,000 in federal funding.
The Société radio communautaire du grand Edmonton Society said Monday that it received $400,000 from Western Economic Diversification Canada and almost $296,000 from Canadian Heritage for the new station Radio Cité.
The station aims to serve 38,000 potential listeners with local community programming plus offer advertising options to help promote the 325 businesses and community organizations delivering programs and services in French within the greater Edmonton area. It received CRTC approval in January 2017 to operate at 97.9 MHz.
“All…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canada’s Copyright Act should enable creators to get paid properly and on time as well as promote discoverability and Canada’s culture and heritage, say ISED Minister Navdeep Bains and Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly.
Copyright is a major driver of the Canadian economy, with core copyright-based industries representing an estimated contribution of $50 billion to the GDP and accounting for 483,000 jobs in 2015, reads the joint statement issued following the adoption of a motion put forward in Parliament to review the 2012 Act next year.
“In order to thrive in the digital economy, we need to support both creators and…
Continue Reading
