TORONTO – The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has chosen Canadian actor, humanitarian and activist Tina Keeper as its 2017 ACTRA National Woman of the Year.
The award is bestowed annually on an ACTRA member who uses her passion to support her fellow female ACTRA members and women within the audiovisual industry as a whole. Keeper (pictured) joins past recipients Shirley Douglas, Tantoo Cardinal, Sandi Ross, Mary Walsh, Jean Freeman, Amanda Tapping and Catherine Joell MacKinnon.
An active member of Canada's film and television industry for over 30 years, Keeper is well-known for her role as RCMP officer…
Continue Reading
Minister Joly says "timing was right"
GATINEAU, QC – Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly is sharing some of the input she received during her recent consultations on Canadian Content in a Digital World.
Based on feedback collected by Ipsos via the online portal, in-person events, social media discussions and mail and e-mail submissions, What We Heard Across Canada: Canadian Culture in a Digital World, released Tuesday, identified the following eight key themes and messages heard during the consultation:
– Showcasing Canada’s cultural sector: increased support for production of Canadian content as well as sustained efforts on marketing and communication will help underscore…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – After securing a global Netflix streaming deal for its new original show, Wow! Unlimited Media’s CEO Michael Hirsh says opportunities abound for Canadian content.
Wow! Unlimited Media (formerly Rainmaker) scored its big win earlier this month when it announced that Netflix would stream Castlevania, the first proprietary production from its subsidiary Frederator Studios. The program, a mature-rated animation project, is written by best-selling author and comic book legend Warren Ellis.
The original Netflix series, which is to debut in 2017, is a dark medieval fantasy that follows the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – BCE Inc. got the official go ahead to proceed with its $3.9 billion purchase of MTS early Wednesday after the Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) offered their respective blessings.
As part of the regulatory wrangling, Bell and MTS agreed to transfer 40 MHz of 700 MHz, AWS-1 and 2500 MHz wireless spectrum currently held by MTS to Xplornet Communications who will launch a new mobile wireless service in Manitoba in the coming months. In addition to picking up 24,700 new mobile customers from Bell MTS and six retail outlets in the province, Xplornet…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – It’s been argued that Canadian cultural content won’t earn greater success unless it’s gets seen by a wider, and global, audience. The federal government believes that and is working on such strategy. Melanie Joly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, highlighted some efforts that could bear fruit in the near future at an Ottawa conference on Thursday.
In a Q&A style appearance at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA) annual Prime Time in Ottawa event, she noted that money from Budget 2016 is already being used to open up doors for Canada’s cultural and creative industries. Last February, the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – As the CMPA’s Prime Time conference debated the economics behind who’s making and buying content in a rapidly-changing global media business, attention turned Thursday to 6 out of 10, 8 out of 10 and 10 out of ten.
No, delegates weren't talking judging for Olympic figure skating.
The conference held a debate over Canada in the emerging digital age, and specifically whether or not the current Canadian-content points system should be retained or revamped to ensure innovation and growth. (Readers will remember this has been a serious bone of contention between the CRTC and producers…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada vowed to become more digital, more local, and more ambitious in its Canadian programming in a new plan detailing how it will spend the federal government’s reinvestment.
The public broadcaster released its accountability plan Wednesday, in response to Budget 2016 which promised to invest an additional $75M in CBC/Radio-Canada for 2016-2017, rising to $150M in the following years. But it also tasked Minister of Canadian Heritage Joly to work with the public broadcaster to develop an accountability plan on how the funds would be allocated.
According to the aptly named CBC/Radio-Canada Accountability Plan, the Corp. will…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Those unable to attend the Canadian Media Production Association’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference this week will have the opportunity to watch livestreams of four of the scheduled sessions.
Thanks to the support of the Canada Media Fund, the CMPA will livestream the following on both Facebook Live and YouTube:
– February 2, 8:45 AM – 9:00 AM: Opening remarks by CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin;
– February 2, 9:45 AM – 11:00 AM: panel entitled 'Media Leaders In The Age Of Experimentation';
– February 2, 4:30 PM – 5:15 PM: Keynote conversation between CMPA’s Mastin and Heritage Minister…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Telefilm and its partners are launching multiplatform "discoverability" initiatives designed to promote English- and French-language Canadian movies in honour of the 150th anniversary of Canada's Confederation.
Five initiatives aim to bring the best Canadian cinema has to offer to audiences at home and abroad:
– a specially curated Canada First collection of feature films exclusively for iTunes;
– a complimentary selection of Canadian films offered to travellers along VIA Rail Canada's Quebec City–Windsor corridor;
– a selection of films by up-and-coming Canadian directors on NFB.ca's Emerging Talents channel;
– the Spanish subtitling of restored heritage Quebec…
Continue Reading
Posting makes it highly unlikely chairman Blais will be retained
OTTAWA – January 23rd, the federal government made public a slew of Governor-in-Council appointment vacancies, including four at the CRTC.
While many, us included, had been postulating (apparently incorrectly, as it turns out) that CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais would have his term extended beyond his current five-year mandate which ends June 17th of this year, the fact his job is now publicly posted as open to applicants would seem to bring to an end his reign atop the Regulator – unless of course…
Continue Reading
