THE BANFF WORLD MEDIA FESTIVAL is launching four months of premium online content from May to September, following the cancellation of this year’s in-person festival due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Banff Virtual Edition program will connect the international media industry and help to ignite new projects and business development, say Banff organizers. The Rockie Awards (June 15) and Banff Day (June 16) will tentpole the season of programming, the majority of which will be offered to the global industry free of charge, says the news release.
International media companies already signed up to participate in sessions and exclusive networking…
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TORONTO — On Tuesday, CBC Sports launched the third season of its signature podcast series Player’s Own Voice, with the release of the premiere episode featuring a candid conversation with two-time Olympic bronze medal-winning soccer star Christine Sinclair.
Hosted by two-time Olympic speedskater Anastasia Bucsis, the Player’s Own Voice podcasts are a provocative talk series offering athletes an unfiltered way to speak on a variety of topics, providing a new perspective on the world of high-performance sports, says the news release.
Other guests joining Bucsis over the course of the third season include: curling star Jennifer Jones, field hockey player John…
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TORONTO — CBC announced Friday the 12-part BBC/Hulu series Normal People will premiere in Canada exclusively on the free CBC Gem streaming service on Wednesday, May 27.
Normal People (12×30) is based on Sally Rooney’s best-selling, coming-of-age novel and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (War of the Worlds, Cold Feet) and newcomer Paul Mescal. The series recently launched in the U.K. and the U.S. and has been touted as one of the best book-to-series adaptations in recent years.
The series tracks the complicated relationship of Marianne (Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Mescal) from the end of their school days in a small town in the…
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VANCOUVER — Multiplatform content production and distribution company Thunderbird Entertainment Group today provided an update regarding how the company is responding to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, saying it remains fully operational.
The company’s entire team of more than 1,000 crew members across all of its divisions have been set up to work remotely since March 30. Engineering work to move teams offsite started in February and was rolled out in March, with optimization taking place in early April, says the news release.
In addition to enabling all productions in development to move forward, Thunderbird’s ability to remain operational has also…
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GATINEAU — A letter sent to the CRTC by Quebecor Media after interventions were closed for the CBC/Radio-Canada’s licence renewal process will not be added to the public record, the Commission announced Wednesday.
Quebecor made the late submission to the proceeding on April 14, after the February 20 deadline for interventions. In its letter, Quebecor complained that CBC/Radio-Canada is competing unfairly with private broadcasters during the Covid-19 crisis. Quebecor had already submitted an intervention before the deadline, but followed up with additional complaints against the public broadcaster in its letter.
In a letter dated May 6 sent to Quebecor,…
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TORONTO — This year’s Canadian Screen Award winners will be announced in virtual presentations later this month, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced today.
The award presentations will be livestreamed on the Canadian Academy’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels as well as its website over four days, from Monday, May 25 to Thursday, May 28.
The announcement follows the cancellation of all Canadian Screen Week events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala that was originally scheduled for March 29.
The Canadian Screen Award virtual presentations will consist of eight pre-taped, thematically distinct online…
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By Greg O’Brien
ON SATURDAY, CBC.ca published a story that said nearly 60% of rural Canadians don’t have access to high speed broadband, a piece which of course whipped around on social media and was republished unquestioned by other websites.
If I want to be nice, I’d say the story is terribly misleading. What it is though, is just untrue.
The story’s sub-headline and again in the body copy says “CRTC data suggests as few as 40.8 per cent of rural households have access to high-speed broadband.”
This is, simply put, a false sentence devoid of all context split from reality and…
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QUISPAMSIS, N.B. — The Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) announced today Ian Spencer is joining the organization as manager of contracts, effective Monday, May 4.
Operating from his home base in Whitby, Ont., Spencer will be responsible for supporting Lori Rosenberg, CCSA’s vice-president of contracts, in negotiating current and future CCSA master programming agreements, managing staff in the administration of the agreements and implementing various CCSA member services. He will replace Debbie Randon, CCSA’s current manager of contracts, who will retire in July after 20 year of stellar service, says the news release.
Most recently, Spencer worked at CBC/Radio-Canada as manager…
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TORONTO — CBC and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced Tuesday the Junos 365 Songwriters’ Circle virtual series, featuring some of Canada’s best songwriters telling the stories behind their songs and performing from their homes.
Adapted for an online audience after the Jewel of the Junos event was cancelled in Saskatoon due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the five-part Junos 365 Songwriters’ Circle series is being presented by SOCAN in association with Music Publishers Canada.
The series begins Friday, May 1, with the first episode featuring Juno Award winner Brett Kissel bringing together stories and songs from Juno…
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Stingray to rebroadcast on its specialty channels
TORONTO – Following Sunday night’s all-Canadian special, Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble, organizers announced today more than $6 million has been raised to date to provide immediate support to Food Banks Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With donations still being tallied and accepted, more than 140,000 individuals were inspired to support local food banks. Canadians can continue to donate to Food Banks Canada by texting COVID to 30333 or visiting FoodBanksCanada.ca/StrongerTogether
The biggest multi-platform broadcast ever is now the most-watched (non-sports) Canadian broadcast on record, said the press release. Nearly one in three Canadians watched…
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