TORONTO – Canadian screenwriters and producers have a new collective agreement governing English-language screenwriting in Canada after the new independent production agreement was ratified by the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), and the Association Québécoise de la Production Médiatique (AQPM).
The agreement, reached in principle in January, came into effect March 16, 2015 and sets the terms of engagement until December 31, 2017. It includes automatic jurisdiction over TV series bibles written by WGC members, which were not covered in the previous agreement, and an improved royalty formula which the WGC says will result…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s broadcasters aren’t about to give up spectrum and go through another digital upgrade again without being paid for moving – and believe some of the funds coming from the next big wireless auction must be re-directed towards a new local television production fund.
First comments were due into Industry Canada Wednesday on its consultation into repurposing the 600 MHz band – the slice of spectrum upon which much of the country’s TV signals ride.
While most agree that harmonizing our bandwidth plan framework with the United States is a good idea, independent broadcasters and vertically integrated media and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC unveiled sweeping changes to the Canadian TV broadcasting system earlier today. The Regulator has eliminated genre protection rules, shifted from Canadian content exhibition quotas to spending requirements and created a new class of online video-on-demand (VOD) services.
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Commission chair Jean-Pierre Blais underscored the need to adapt the broadcasting system to meet the realities of today where “people watch content in the ways, on the devices and at the times that most suit them.” He acknowledged that content is still king, but added that the viewer is now…
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OTTAWA – Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) is teaming up with Microsoft Canada in an effort to raise the profile of women, their roles, and their contributions to Canada’s technology sector.
Already a strong promoter of diversity in the ICT sector, Microsoft Canada said that it is committed to building a diverse workforce of future leaders, collaborating with academic institutions, professional organizations and national advocacy partners like WCT. In addition, Microsoft Canada president Janet Kennedy is an executive sponsor with WCT’s Protégé Project and vice-president Staci Trackey Meagher sits on WCT’s national board of directors.
“We’re delighted to welcome…
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MONTREAL – Telefilm Canada unveiled its 2015-2018 strategic plan that it says updates its commitment to support Canada's audiovisual industry so that it can connect with target viewers on all screens, both here in Canada and around the world.
The plan, Inspired by Talent. Viewed Everywhere, also defines how Telefilm will help the industry take on the challenges of the digital age at a time when fundamental changes are transforming the way audiovisual content is produced, distributed and consumed.
The plan’s six priorities are: promoting the excellence of Canadian content; fostering innovative marketing practices; making decisions supported by meaningful metrics; diversifying sources…
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OTTAWA – A group representing distributors of Canadian feature films believes Canada’s broadcast regulator should do more to help foster the growth of Canada’s movie industry.
The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE) and one of its members, Elevation Pictures, told a House of Commons committee Monday that there is a role for the CRTC to play to spur demand for Canadian feature films, possibly through a quota system imposed on broadcasters or by bringing so-called over-the-top (OTT) content providers under the regulator’s jurisdiction.
“One of the most difficult challenges we face is that these OTT services…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada’s ExpressVu must pay $137 million to Videotron and TVA for failing to prevent the piracy of its satellite signals in Quebec, the Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled.
The unanimous ruling upheld a lower court decision issued in July 2012 which awarded $600,000 in damages to the two Quebecor subsidiaries. The actions stem from allegations made by Quebecor that Bell failed to prevent the piracy of its Bell ExpressVu satellite television service between 1999 and 2005.
Friday’s court decision ordered Bell to pay $82.3 million to Videotron and $404,000 to TVA Group, which includes interest and…
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OTTAWA – Film and television production in Canada experienced an overall increase in production volume of 2.1% to $5.86 billion between 2012/13 and 2013/14, according to a new report from the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) unveiled during the organization’s annual conference Prime Time in Ottawa.
The report, Profile 2014: An Economic Report on the Screen-Based Media Production Industry in Canada, provides a statistical overview of the three main screen-based production sectors in Canada: Canadian production (includes television and theatrical), foreign location and service production, and broadcaster in-house production. These sectors helped to sustain 125,400 fulltime jobs in 2013/14.
Foreign location…
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OTTAWA – Kevin Crull, president of Bell Media, took to the pulpit at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time conference on Friday to criticize the CRTC for creating a regulatory environment that in fact hurts the Canadian system and to call for the banning of American OTA TV signals from Canadian cable, satellite and IPTV carriers.
During his nearly 25-minute speech, Crull spoke about a number of problems facing Canadian broadcasters, rights owners and distributors as a result of the commission’s current trajectory. This ranges from the advantage U.S. specialty channels enjoy, subscriber fees, geographic rights…
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OTTAWA – Two big story lines emerged from Friday's Industry Canada’s AWS-3 spectrum auction results: Rogers Communications failed to secure any additional spectrum, while Telus forked over more than $1.5 billion for 15 licences with a combined population coverage of 30 million Canadians.
The results, released Friday morning, show that Bell Mobility, Bragg Communications (Eastlink), Videotron and Wind Mobile were the other winners. Full details on the amounts paid and licences won are available here.
With Mobilicity unable to secure the financing required to compete in the auction, Wind Mobile scooped up the coveted 30 MHz set-aside licences in British…
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