Leasing studio space from Cinespace and Pinewood
TORONTO – Netflix announced a significant expansion of its Canadian production presence this morning.
The company said today it is creating a dedicated production hub in Toronto, leasing four sound stages and office space from each of Cinespace Studios (164,000 sq. ft.) and Bell Media’s Pinewood Toronto Studios (84,580 sq. ft.) for multiple years.
Financial details were not disclosed but the new agreement will help Cinespace expand its film and television production presence inside Marine Terminal 51 and the Cruise Ship Terminal, owned by Ports Toronto and under long-term lease to Cinespace, said that company’s…
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MIAMI – CBC has a picked up a slate of new kids content for its OTT platforms CBC Gem and French-language ICI Tou.tv after announcing an expanded commitment to serving young audiences.
“As Canada’s public broadcaster, we want to accompany Canadians on a lifelong journey”, said CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait Tuesday from the annual international Kidscreen Summit. “To better engage young audiences beyond the preschool demographic, we are redirecting some funding to invest in programming including digital content targeted to school-aged kids, tweens and teens. This includes acquisitions and original storytelling from Canadian creators that celebrates inclusiveness, diversity,…
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TORONTO – One in four Canadians tuned-in to Saturday’s 12 ½ hour marathon broadcast of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada on Sportsnet, Citytv and CBC.
The broadcast, live from Swift Current, SK, reached a total of 9.6 million Canadians, up 5% from last year’s broadcast, and marked the fourth consecutive year of audience growth for the annual event.
Quoting Numeris data, Sportsnet added that the average minute audience for the Celebrating the Game pre-show was up 32% year-over-year, and that the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens was the most-watched program in Canada on Saturday with an average minute…
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TORONTO – Former Bell Media and Temple Street exec Trish Williams is now executive director, scripted content at CBC.
Williams, who will join the public broadcaster this week, will oversee its drama, comedy and film teams across all broadcast and streaming original long-form programming, reads Monday’s announcement.
Before the Corp, Williams was scripted programming VP at Temple Street Productions where she oversaw the creative execution of series for production as well as the sourcing and development of IP and new original series for primetime cable, pay and conventional markets. Prior to that, she was co-executive producer of drama series Killjoys, and drama director…
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By Maite Taboada and Fatemeh Torabi Asr
“I BELIEVE THAT ALL voices are equal and deserving of equal respect.” That’s what Siri responds when asked if she is a feminist.
We share Siri’s sentiment. That’s why, using computational linguistics — the technology behind voice-activated assistants — we’ve created the Gender Gap Tracker to help us analyze how Canadian media represent women’s voices.
Using the Gender Gap Tracker, in partnership with Informed Opinions and supported by Simon Fraser University, we’ve downloaded and analyzed thousands of news articles posted on mainstream media outlets in Canada, including CBC, CTV, Global, Huffington Post, the National Post, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto…
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TORONTO – CBC has a kicked off a cross-country search for the next generation of Canadian comedic talent.
CBC Comedy’s Next Up is calling on amateur comics to submit a 60-to-90-second video of their best material for the chance to win a performance slot at the 2019 Ha!ifax ComedyFest in April. Online submissions are open now through February 21, 2019.
The CBC Comedy team will review all submissions and unveil the longlist of comedians on March 1, before inviting fans to watch and vote on their favourite entries through CBC Comedy social media platforms. The shortlist will be revealed…
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TORONTO – Former Corus Entertainment exec Barbara Williams is joining the CBC as its executive vice-president effective May 1st.
In a memo to employees on Wednesday, CBC CEO Catherine Tait described Williams (pictured) as a “veteran media executive with deep knowledge of Canada's ever-changing media landscape”, noting her past roles as EVP and COO at Corus Entertainment, as well as senior positions at Shaw Media and CanWest Broadcasting.
This had been a widely rumoured landing spot since she left Corus at the end of October.
“A visionary leader, Barbara brings with her a wealth of experience with…
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OTTAWA – It was billed as the first time Canada’s key broadcasting leaders would debate the “critical issues at the heart” of the current review of the federal Broadcasting and Telecommunications acts.
However, the “Beyond Disruption: Crafting a Framework for the Future of the Industry” panel at last week’s Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time annual national conference in Ottawa was more about how a key global streaming giant is messing up the existing framework of the Canadian broadcasting system.
Bad luck for him or prescient planning by organizers situated Stéphane Cardin, Netflix’s director of public policy for Canada, in the…
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OTTAWA-Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s first appearance at the annual Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time national conference in the capital last Thursday was short – lasting 17 minutes – and sweet, based on the effusive reception that greeted the Argentinian-born, guitar-playing Liberal cabinet minister.
“What I’ve noticed in the past few months since your appointment is what I’ve been calling Rodriguez-mania,” the CMPA’s affable president and CEO, Reynolds Mastin, said of his special guest prior to beginning a friendly question-and-answer session with Rodriguez. “You just effortlessly relate to people, and people open up to you…
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OTTAWA – As talk of Canadian broadcasters battling Netflix and needing online scale dominated last week’s Prime Time conference, spare a thought for kids TV producers also struggling to reach audiences on tablets, smartphones and TV Everywhere.
It turns out a combination of streaming VOD services buying up high end kids fare to entice new subscribers and reduce churn, and the global explosion of YouTube and user-generated content is putting the squeeze on kids content creators.
"The trend is the middle is going away. You're either producing something very high cost, industrial, or entering the space by doing something low cost…
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