From Michael Morin of the Huffington Post:
Link: Leaderless CRTC Is Adrift And Without A Mission
Is the CRTC adrift without a mission?
At a time of unprecedented change, cultural industries need to decide on their future investments, not civil servants that see the industry as “the enemy.” The regulator must take technological change into account, show long-term vision and be capable of working with the industry. Continue reading.
From a media release:
Set in the saucy seventies, TERRIFIC WOMEN is a new CBC original comedy starring, written, and created by Toronto comedians Sara Hennessey and Stephanie Kaliner who play two clueless – and often inebriated – feminists.
Produced by Aircraft Pictures, the 9-episode series begins streaming Tuesday, July 11 at cbc.ca/watch. TERRIFIC WOMEN follows cocktail-sipping, two-time divorcée Linda Davis (Hennessey) and good-natured, naïve, and pregnant Joy Johansen (Kaliner) as they co-host their own late-night cable access television show. Together, they tackle relevant social issues geared towards the modern woman.
From a media release:
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced today that it will air the Canadian edition of Employable Me, a moving documentary series featuring job seekers who are determined to show that having a physical disability or neurological condition shouldn’t make them unemployable.
Produced by Thomas Howe Associates Inc. (THA), the six-part series provides an honest and emotional look at the challenges that individuals of varying abilities face in the job market. Each one-hour episode features two job seekers living with vision loss or a neurological condition such as Tourette Syndrome, Asperger Syndrome, Down Syndrome or ADHD.
Throughout the series the cast will focus on their strengths and explore their inherent talents with the help of experts in the medical and employment fields. The journey isn’t always easy but each individual is determined to overcome their challenges, help change employers’ perceptions and land a coveted job that they’re passionate about.
In order to be accessible for individuals living with vision loss, Employable Me features Integrated Described Video, where description is incorporated during the production phase, eliminating the need for a secondary audio track.
Employable Me is produced by THA in partnership with AMI and TVO, and is licensed by all3media international.
The series will air on AMI-tv with back to back episodes on August 11, 18 and 25 at 9 and 10 p.m. ET and PT. The full series will be re-broadcast on September 3 from 3 to 9 p.m. Full episodes of Employable Me will be available online at ami.ca.
From James Bawden:
Link: Little India: Village of Dreams A Must See
It’s entirely appropriate for the brilliant new documentary Little India: Village Of Dreams to premiere on Canada Day –it runs Saturday, July 1 at 9 p.m. on TVOntario.
Filmmaker Nina Beveridge tells me on the phone the ambitious film took a year and a half to plan and make –and that included multiple shooting days in the neighborhood. I well know the location in east end Toronto along Gerrard St. East just before Coxwell–I attended Riverdale College at Gerrard and Jones, graduating in 1964, when Riverdale was an all white Protestant bastion. Continue reading.
From a media release:
Today the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) submitted a joint petition to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, asking her to set aside, or refer back, the CRTC’s Group Licence Renewal decisions for Canada’s large television broadcasters, released last month.
Across the production sector, Canada’s creator community shares deep concerns about the damaging impact of these decisions. An independent analysis commissioned by the CMPA found that the CRTC’s decision to decrease the required amount broadcasters must spend on Canadian Programs of National Interest (PNI) will likely result in a drop of more than $900 million in production volume, causing a cumulative economic reduction of $1.15 billion in GDP over the five-year period during which the broadcasters’ licences will be in place. A backgrounder summarizing these findings is available here.
If these decisions are allowed to stand, the required PNI spend for channels operated by Rogers, Corus and Bell, will fall to just five per cent, having a severe negative impact on the production of Canadian television dramas, comedies, children’s programming, long-form documentaries, variety and performing arts shows,  and on the health and productivity of our sector as a whole.
In addition to greatly reduced PNI spending, the joint petition objects to the CRTC’s decision to remove evening exhibition requirements for the broadcasters’ discretionary services and the negative consequences of the CRTC’s failure to address the erosion of independently-produced programming.
