TORONTO — Marking its first-ever TV broadcast, the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards ceremony will air on Bell Media’s CTV on Tuesday, September 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, during the 45th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Announced today by Bell Media and the Toronto International Film Festival, the one-hour broadcast produced by Bell Media Studios will feature special messages from award honourees, who include Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins, who are both receiving TIFF Tribute Actor Awards. It was also announced director Chloé Zhao will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award and filmmaker Mira Nair will be honoured…
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TORONTO — The Ontario district council of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) has elected Annie Bradley the first female chair of its executive board.
DGC Ontario announced Tuesday Bradley was elected by members during the organization’s virtual annual general meeting on Saturday, August 8. She succeeds Alan Goluboff, who served as chair of DGC Ontario for the last decade.
“As chair of this organization, I will stand for empathic leadership that values accountability, transparency and inclusion,” said Bradley, in the news release. “We have uncharted waters ahead of us, including getting our industry back to work safely in the midst…
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TORONTO — Hoping to some day operate as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Canada, Toronto-based wireless start-up dotmobile announced today it is joining the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) association of independent Internet and telecom service providers.
“CNOC has been at the forefront of all regulatory and industry-related issues. Tiny telecoms like us are looking to enter into the Canadian market and compete using differentiated business models, innovative ideas and modern digital technologies. In many ways our interests (and dotmobile members’ interests) are aligned with CNOC members, there is a common goal to improve connectivity, preserve network…
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Xenophile may leave Ontario for B.C.
By Ahmad Hathout
PATRICK CROWE HAS sent a series of panicked letters to the digital media industry, colleagues and to Ontario’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips.
The president of Xenophile Media, an award-winning digital media and game studio in Toronto, has a serious problem: His company’s operations have stalled since 2016, he’s over half a million dollars in debt, he owes about $100,000 to his company’s contractors, and his home is about to be liquidated.
Crowe (pictured above) and Xenophile are preparing to move to British Columbia if Ontario does not apply tax credits under the Ontario Interactive…
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OTTAWA — At a time when it’s looking to revitalize its organization in the face of many challenges facing broadcasters, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is looking for a new president to be a strong voice in Ottawa and a tireless advocate for the country’s broadcasting industry.
The CAB’s de facto president Sylvie Bissonnette (officially the association’s CFO and vice-president of finance and administration) is retiring in November. The job ad for the new president’s position is posted here on Cartt.ca. Bilingualism is a mandatory requirement for this national role.
Executive search firm Boyden is assisting the CAB with…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The three groups granted intervenor status in the appeal of the country’s first website-blocking court order involving alleged pirate IPTV service provider Gold TV have submitted their final arguments this week.
The Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), and a consortium of publishers and sports organizations have all filed their arguments in Federal Court.
In June, the court allowed the intervenors to submit arguments on the condition that they be grouped together according to the unique arguments they will present….
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TORONTO — TLN Media Group announced today it has hired John Arnone (pictured) as its new director of client services and revenue management.
Arnone has an extensive media industry background in research, planning, analysis, digital and performance marketing, and revenue management, says the news release. He has worked in senior management roles for leading media companies in the broadcast, online and out-of-home sectors, including most recently as marketing director at Outfront Media Canada, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“As an established Canadian cultural organization with strong broadcasting brands and deep community roots, our continuing transition in the new digital world…
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OTTAWA and STERLING, Va. — The Canadian Secure Token – Governance Authority (CST-GA) announced today it selected Sterling, Va.-based Neustar Information Services as its Secure Telephone Identity Policy Administrator (STI-PA) and Certification Authority (STI-CA) as a first step toward implementation of STIR/SHAKEN call authentication to combat nuisance and fraud calls in Canada.
STIR/SHAKEN stands for Secure Telephony Information Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs, and it is a framework of interconnected technology standards that supports authentication of incoming calls and offers a level of assurance that a call is from a legitimate person, business or government agency.
Neustar is…
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OTTAWA — Canada’s wireless incumbents are continuing their lobbying efforts against potential CRTC regulation that may grant mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) access to their networks.
Their case was put forward in a piece authored by Robert Ghiz, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), which appeared in The Hill Times today, a day after the federal government made headlines with its new wireless pricing tracker.
The article backs up the industry’s arguments against mandated MVNOs by citing a recent two-part study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which we reported on here and here. (The study was…
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OTTAWA — As part of the federal government’s stated commitment to help reduce the cost of some wireless plans by 25% over the next two years, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Navdeep Bains today released data showing how prices have not yet declined for the data plans the department has chosen to study.
Over the next two years, the federal government expects the three major wireless providers and their flanker brands, which together represent 90% of the national market, to offer data plans in the 2 GB to 6 GB range that are 25% cheaper than they…
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