Here comes the 1K Wave!

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Last May, Ingrid Veninger, the Queen of DIY Filmmaking in Canada, put up $5,000 of her own money for the first $1,000 Feature Film Challenge, or 1K Wave.

Now the films of the first 1K Wave go on view at Toronto’s Royal Cinema this Thursday through Saturday:

Hotel Congress Toronto actress Nadia Litz (The Five Senses, You Are Here) worked with her real-life partner Michel Kandinsky on this two-hander about love and fidelity, shot in a Tucson hotel room.

Me, the Bees and Cancer Veteran assistant director John Board (Naked Lunch, The Bay of Love and Sorrows) traces his search through stinging alternative therapies for a cure for his own cancer.

Mourning Has Broken This roving black comedy by Brett and Jason Butler (Confusions of an Unmarried Couple) centres on a guy who responds to his wife’s terminal illness by channelling his frustration toward all the nuisances of daily life.

Sockeye High-school student Ben Roberts pulls an all-nighter with his dad, TV actor Rick Roberts (Republic of Doyle), and discovers new plot twists in his family background.

Liquid Handcuffs: the Unmaking of Methadonia Indie-film veteran John L’Ecuyer (Curtis’s Charm) turns his unfinished film into a diaristic look at the theory and practice of making movies for almost nothing.

See Robert Everett-Green’s Globe and Mail article for more.

Canadian television industry to face extinction

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According to the Winnipeg SUN, Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Inc., told a MIPCOM audience that the Canadian television industry could “face extinction.”

Peladeau told the audience that two trends in particular are threatening the country’s current TV business model. The first is that the country’s funding systems rely on politicians and taxpayers who aren’t “feeling particularly generous these days,” he said. The second worrisome trend, he said, is the fact that the way TV is watched and distributed is evolving. “Obviously, an ecosystem based on declining funding and antiquated regulation is ripe for a major upheaval,” Peladeau said.

A major upheaval indeed. These guys can see the writing on the wall. Hence the reason why all content companies in Canada have become connectivity companies as well.

One Year Later

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Steve Jobs died one year ago today.

I’ve been using Mac computers for over 20 years. Sure the hardware’s gotten faster and cheaper every five years. But what I truly appreciate is all the Mac software I’ve explored and mastered. Among them:

  • FileMaker Pro introduced me to databases and remains one of the easiest, user-friendly and most powerful database applications out there.
  • HyperCard was a visionary blending of multimedia and programming.
  • Final Cut Pro took me from the analogue film world to the digital video realm.
  • iDVD helped me create beautiful DVDs of my work.
  • GarageBand released my inner rock star.

My hope is that Steve’s vision will remain intact and that Apple will continue to “Think Different”. I hope that in its quest to become a media empire it doesn’t forget about all the independent creators toiling away on their Macs.

Thank you, Steve, for the tools to unleash my creativity.

See Apple’s memorial video for Steve Jobs.

30 Years Later

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It’s been 30 years (minus one month) since SCTV aired the classic ‘Garth and Gord and Fiona and Alice’.

See Part One and Part Two. Love the 8-track tapes on the dashboard and Yonge Street. The opening and closing credits are required viewing.

Hilarious! But has anything changed?

Telefilm Microbudget Deadlines Approach

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In case you missed it in late June, Telefilm Canada has launched a Microbudget Production Program: “Telefilm will support eight to ten projects this year, through a non-repayable financial contribution of up to $120,000 per project to produce, distribute and promote a feature-length film that will be available to the general public through one or more distribution platforms, including digital.”

You must have either:

  • graduated from a film school in the last three years, or
  • joined a film coop in the last three years.

See Telefilm’s list of qualifying partners.

Be forewarned: each partner can only champion one project and their deadlines begin coming up later this month.

For instance, the NSI’s deadline is Monday, October 29, 2012.

Will the real Hollywood North please stand up?

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Which city springs to mind as standing in for “Hollywood North”?

Vancouver, BC, or Toronto, Ontario?

Toronto cracked $1.13 billion in production spending in 2011.

BC topped $1.188 billion in 2011.

Stay tuned for this year’s stats next March.

In the meantime, Vancouver’s in the same time zone as Hollywood. And I live in BC, so I’m giving it to Vancouver. So there.

Crowdfunding in a Canadian Context

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Nordicity and the Canadian Media Fund (CMF) have just released a new report entitled Crowdfunding in a Canadian Context: Exploring the Potential of Crowdfunding in the Creative Content Industries.

Although it concludes with these words:

Given the lack of clarity regarding legal, financial and policy issues related to crowdfunding and the relative novelty of the concept, producers exploring the potential opportunities offered by crowdfunding should adopt a philosophy of experimentation. In addition they should proceed with caution, ensuring they are aware of all the associated risks of engaging in this type financing activity before launching a campaign.

it’s one of the few documents I’ve seen that begins to wonder about the tax implications of crowdfunding in Canada.

NSI Aboriginal Documentary Deadline: November 2, 2012

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Are you a Manitoban who is a North American Indian or a member of a First Nation, Métis or Inuit producer or director?

Would you like $16,000 to make a 10 minute documentary?

If so, you should apply to the NSI’s  Aboriginal Documentary pilot program. You’ll need a partner and to fill out a lengthy application.

There is a $100 submission fee.