BANFF – While Shelly Glover, our Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, hasn’t spoken publicly to or about the industry very much since her appointment last July, (we at Cartt.ca would love to know what she thinks of the challenges ahead of CBC, for example), she was pretty darn interesting in her first Banff World Media Fest speech.
First of all, she's an at-ease former cop, a motorcycle mama, comfortably bilingual, with an aboriginal granddad, and loves the hot Radio-Canada TV series Unite 9 along with Game of Thrones. Plus, she's also enamoured of the media and the arts…
Continue Reading
BANFF – Back in the day we had a plethora of annual Canadian industry events and mass huddles.
There was the Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual confab, and the BDU and cable lads with their CCTA round-up, among others.
Now when it comes to annual gatherings of we media types and our attendant bureaucrats, there's the International Institute of Communications highbrow event in Ottawa in the fall, the yearly CMPA yearly full court press in Ottawa in the winter, and a smattering of smaller events, but only Banff features the people, technology, and global programming so quickly changing the landscape of…
Continue Reading
BANFF – Jamie Brown, executive producer of the Winnipeg and Toronto –based Frantic Films, was named the new chair of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), Saturday at the CMPA board of directors meeting in Banff.
He replaces David MacLeod (Big Motion Pictures) who is stepping down after a successful two years as chair.
Over the past 20 years as the founder of Frantic Films, Brown has created or co-created over a dozen series and is responsible for hundreds of hours of production including documentaries, Movies of the Week, scripted and unscripted series, and feature films. His productions have…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The number one complaint Canadians have about the Super Bowl is that due to the simultaneous substitution of the Canadian feed, we don’t see all the cool new ads American fans see.
So, CTV announced today it is teaming up with the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) for the Super Bowl Canadian Ad Challenge. The new initiative calls on the Canadian ad industry to create dynamic, original creative, specifically targeted to Canadians.
Announced in advance of this afternoon's CTV Upfront presentation in Toronto, the ad challenge is a creative advertising competition designed to celebrate and elevate Canadian Super Bowl advertising….
Continue Reading
EMERALD PARK, Sask. – It may have taken a little longer than expected for Ag-Com Productions to bring The Rural Channel (TRC) to life, but it recently celebrated its one year anniversary. On May 29, 2013 the rural lifestyle and agri-food business channel hit Canadian airwaves through an exclusive distribution arrangement with Shaw Direct.
Originally licensed in August 2008, TRC took five years to come to fruition. It had planned to go to air in 2011, but it had to wait on the launch of Shaw Direct’s new satellite. Even so, Bill Wilson (pictured), founder, president…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Live entertainment company Live Nation Canada is teaming up with Huawei to promote its smartphone devices at major concert events across the country.
The ‘Make it Possible’ campaign, Huawei's first major brand campaign in Canada, will leverage multiple live events in communities from coast to coast, along with social media and mobile platforms, to create unique and memorable experiences for Canadian music fans. Concert-goers will be eligible for prizes, tickets, concerts and once-in-a- lifetime experiences with major global artists performing in Canada.
Operating in over 150 countries, Huawei is now the world's third largest manufacturer of smartphone devices.
"We are…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – “A suitable framework” and “a good interim measure” were the words Simon Lockie, chief regulatory officer at Wind Mobile, used to describe the federal government’s domestic wireless roaming plan as proposed in amendments to the Telecommunications Act during an appearance before a Senate committee on Tuesday.
In his opening remarks to the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications, Lockie launched a scathing indictment of not only the negotiations it held with its roaming partner, Rogers Communications, but also the terms of the roaming agreement. He described talks with Rogers as “an artifice of negotiations” that “were…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Bell Media has signed an agreement with the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC) designed to support and foster independent Canadian French-language productions.
Concluded specifically for Bell Media's French-language specialty and pay television services, the five-year renewable agreement details the general principles of a trade agreement that aims to cut the administrative and legal costs of transactions between Bell Media and independent producers, plus streamline the process for independent production companies.
The broadcaster said that this initiative is part of its commitment – within the framework of its acquisition of Astral – to invest $246.9 million in new…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Corus Média has named Carol-Ann Kairns as general sales manager, responsible for the oversight of advertising sales and revenues for specialty channels Historia, Séries+, Télétoon and Télétoon Rétro. Her appointment is effective June 16, 2014.
Kairns (pictured) has more than 30 years of experience in the advertising industry. She joined BCP in 1989, and until recently, was the agency’s media lead and general manager. Kairns played a critical role helping to strengthen the agency’s position both in Quebec and Canada as a result of a successful strategic partnership with SMG.
“As a key player in Quebec’s specialty television sector,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) is currently accepting applications for the 2014-15 edition of the Screen-based Media Production Program.
This hands-on training program will offer 30 emerging producers under the age of 31 the opportunity to gain long term full-time work experience in the film, television and digital media production industry. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy, the Screen-based Media Production Program emphasizes both management and technical skills in today’s rapidly changing knowledge economy in the digital world. Applications will be accepted until September 15, 2014 or while funding remains…
Continue Reading
