OTTAWA – Divergent opinions on whether a movie and television producer should be credited as an author on their productions took centre stage at the latest Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which is discussing remuneration models for artists and creative industries in relation to the Copyright Act review.
Speaking on behalf of the Writers Guild of Canada on Tuesday, which represents more than 2,000 English-language writers working in film, television, radio and digital media production, director of policy Neal McDougall pointed out that both scripts and productions resulting from scripts are separate entities under…
Continue Reading
Consumer groups tell Commission most problems likely go unreported
GATINEAU – No one is disagreeing telecom sales practices can and should be improved. The companies know this and so do the consumers and consumer groups.
But, how deeply do the problems run? The telecom companies have said, for the most part, the bare number of complaints made to the CCTS annually and to the CRTC in this proceeding collectively point to sporadic, small problems which are inevitable given the tens of millions of customer interactions they log every month. Even counting all of the complaints from all sources, the total is…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Banff World Media Festival is calling for applications to the second edition of the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative, a national training and development program for underrepresented emerging and mid-career creators and producers of commercial television and/or digital media content, with a specific focus on Indigenous, Francophone and women industry professionals.
The imitative will jumpstart and accelerate the careers of up to 100 participants at next year's Banff World Media Fest by providing full registration access to the festival, a bespoke professional development curriculum, plus access to networking opportunities with key industry buyers.
In addition, a sub-group of 25…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – While most witnesses have insisted the Broadcasting Act is woefully out of date and the sky is falling on the industry, the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications reviewing that piece of legislation as well as the Telecommunications Act heard last week the Broadcasting Act actually works just fine, and the broadcasting system is relatively healthy.
On Wednesday, October 17, Marc Raboy, Beaverbrook professor emeritus in ethics, media and communications at McGill University and Gregory Taylor, assistant professor at the department of communication, media and film, University of Calgary, told a far different story than the appointed politicians…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Encore+ is partnering with the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival to stream a curated selection of Canadian shorts and feature-length films by some of the country's most accomplished Indigenous filmmakers.
Titles that will stream as part of the imagineNATIVE Playlist include: ?E?anx (The Cave) by Helen Haig-Brown; Choke by Michelle Latimer; File Under Miscellaneous by Jeff Barnaby; Inuit Cree Reconciliation by Zacharias Kunuk and Neil Diamond; My Legacy by Helen Haig-Brown; Prayer for a Good Day by Zoe Leigh Hopkins; Rocks at Whisky Trench by Alanis Obomsawin; Savage by Lisa Jackson; Shooting Geronimo by Kent Monkman; and…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications met this morning for the fifth time to continue its examination of how the three federal communications statutes (the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Radiocommunication Act) can be modernized to account for the evolution of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in the last decades.
With the testimony of the Privacy Commissioner, Daniel Therrien, it became obvious, to us anyway, that the many consultations undertaken by government lately, including the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) will necessitate significant co-ordination when they will be writing the recommendations leading to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Despite having more than 100 film and television credits to his name, in addition to stage appearances across North America, ACTRA president David Sparrow knows the struggles of an artist’s life all too well.
“That comparatively successful career does not necessarily make me a household name, or financially stable. This is a tough business,” Sparrow said Tuesday morning to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which gathered again in Ottawa to further discuss remuneration models for Canadian artists in the Canadian Copyright Act. Among those presenting were representatives from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists…
Continue Reading
Preliminary report in March, final report by June 2019
OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau wants to hear from consumers about their high-speed Internet services and their experiences with their providers as it continues its examination of broadband competition in Canada.
These results, gathered from a new online consumer survey released Tuesday, will help to identify trends in consumer behaviour and shape the Bureau's broadband market study that kicked off in May.
“High-speed internet plays a fundamental role in how Canadians work, learn, and thrive in the digital economy”, said interim Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell, in a statement. “We want to hear from Canadian consumers so…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canadian Media Producers Association and 14 other TV and film trade associations from around the world are joining forces to form the Global Creative Alliance (GCA), a new partnership to encourage more effective international collaboration between producers and increase opportunities for co-productions.
Trade bodies from Canada as well as Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, France, India, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, the USA and the UK will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at a reception Sunday at MIPCOM in Cannes, France.
As part of the MOU, all parties commit to using best efforts to share…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Stingray has arrived in the European market after acquiring in-store media provider DJ-Matic.
Launched in 2000, DJ-Matic serves clients in industries such as bars and pubs, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and fitness centers. The deal provides Stingray Business with commercial clients in 10,000 locations across Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.
Under the terms of the agreement, Stingray will fully own and operate DJ-Matic with the continued direction of the company’s current leadership team.
Stingray said Friday that the strategic acquisition supports its business plan and growth strategy by giving Stingray Business a solid foothold in Europe and a share in…
Continue Reading
