Toronto’s Cinespace is developing a 30-acre complex in the western part of the city, with 50,000 square feet of production offices available now and studio space in early 2010.

The new acquisition will make the company Canada’s largest provider of film studio space, according to Cinespace prexy Steve Mirkopoulous.

Cinespace operates its flagship studio in Toronto’s east end, where “Resident Evil: Afterlife” and “Saw 7″ are in production.

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Cinespace, soundstage

The Canadian Film Centre has launched the North-South Marketplace to promote US ties.

The Copyright Collective Of Canada is supporting the venture, which will use Canadian Film Centre community of filmmakers and industry professionals to broker creative, business exchanges and development assistance between Canadian talent and industry professionals in the United States.

An advisory board of Canadian and US production and studio executives will be on hand to offer guidance. As part of the CFC North-South Marketplace, online contest The Reel Challenge: Make Your Own Movie will launch in early December.

Canadian filmmakers will be encouraged to submit a film spot that addresses the importance of content protection in a compelling way. The winner will receive a $10,000 prize and second and third placed entries will each collect $2,500.

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Canadain Film, Canadain showbusiness, Canadain TV, Canadian Film Centre

The three Quebec pics that repped Canada at this year’s Cannes Film Festival are among the films selected by the Toronto Intl. … They are Denis Cote’s experimental docudrama “Carcasses,” 20-year-old writer-director Xavier Dolan’s gay-themed dramedy “I Killed My Mother” and seasoned helmer Denis Villeneuve’s “Polytechnique,” based on the true story of a Montreal university shooting spree in December 1989.

…There will be public screenings of the pics and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers between Jan. 14 and Jan. 21 at the Toronto Intl.

…”By screening the top 10 selections at (the) Cinematheque and in cities around the country, we provide a unique opportunity for the public to see the best films of the year.

…The list includes Montreal director Jacob Tierney’s Montreal-shot “The Trotsky,” which toplines Jay Baruchel in a high school comedy; Matthew Bissonnette’s L.A.-set road movie “Passenger Side”; and Alexandre Franchi’s “The Wild Hunt.”

…The Toronto Film Festival’s Top Ten was chosen by a panel of 10 filmmakers, journalists, programmers and industryites, including helmer Jerry Ciccoritti, author Tom McSorley and producer Nicole Robert.

See the complete article in Variety

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Canadian actors, Toronto Film Festival, Variety Newspaper, Canadian Films

DID YOU KNOW
Vancouver is the core of the third-largest foreign film and production center in North America, known worldwide as “Hollywood North”.

In addition to excellent sound stage facilities, Vancouver has strong capabilities in post-production. It is home to a number of companies that have created state-of-the-art, award winning visual effects. Vancouver’s strong digital media sector is a major asset that will be increasingly important as film/TV and digital media continue to blend.

Toronto Film Festival starts today, the 10th of September.

The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is considered one of the most influential film festivals in the world today. Running from September 10th to 19th, this annual celebration of cinema and culture attracts some of the most recognized actors, directors, executives and critics from around the globe.

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acting, filmmakers, Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival

…The CBFF created the club specifically to showcase Canadian and international filmmakers who produce works with Black world cinema content.

The first film to be screened is the feature Saving God, from director Duane Crichton, featuring Ving Rhames, Canadian actor Dean McDermott, Ricardo Chavira, Dwain Murphy and 2008 Juno Award Nominee, Canadian actress, Jully Black.

…Special guest Tabby Johnson of the ACTRA Diversity Committee will give a talk and overview session to all potential actors and producers in the Toronto Arts community.

For the complete press release please click here: northernstars

The film has won 19 international awards and has screened at festivals worldwide.

Parfit and the film’s producer, Suzanne Chisholm are currently in talks with a Hollywood studio about a possible U.S. theatrical release.

…Parfit spoke to the National Post about why he and audiences around the world fell in love with Luna, the challenges of making a movie when you’re the “opposite of big studio filmmakers,” and what it was about Luna that changed their lives.

For the complete interview please visit the website at: network.nationalpost.com

…McKellar was taking part in Reel Canada, a program that shows Canadian movies in high schools and has the filmmakers then talk to the students about the films.

…Along with McKellar’s film, young Canadian actor Dwain Murphy (Degrassi: The Next Generation) was there to talk about his role in the feature How She Move – a made-in-Toronto urban dance drama.

…“Internationally people know Canadian films almost more then Canadians do.” McKellar said to HoundsTV.

To read the complete interview please visit the website at: www.houndstv.ca

David Cronenberg

…”Thank you all for your indulgence,” he said, receiving the Legion of Honour at a ceremony in Toronto”.

…The controversial director, 66, lived in France in the 1970s.

…”I feel that France is also my country, another parent who has been proudly indulgent… and sternly critical when that was best,” said Cronenberg.

…Cronenberg has been celebrated for the dark undertones that populate his work in films including Scanners, Dead Ringers and Crash – which won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 1996.

…More recent work includes the Oscar-nominated A History of Violence, and Eastern Promises, both starring Viggo Mortensen.

For the complete article click here: www.bbc.co

The grant is aimed at young video and filmmakers born and living in Africa, Asia or Latin America who want to direct a film in the language of their choice that respects the aims of the Foundation, as explained above.

To apply, the video/filmmaker must:

1. complete the Application Form in French, English or Spanish;

2. include a synopsis in French, English, or Spanish (max. 5 pages) that describes the content, characters, situations, theme as well as the treatment and style of the project;

3. send a VHS cassette or a DVD of a completed documentary work. If possible the cassette should be sub-titled or versioned in French, English or Spanish. If the work does not exist in any of these three languages, please send a written transcript of the dialogue and narration in one of the three languages.

4. include a production budget for the documentary, as well as a financing plan which includes the Foundation grant and other sources of proposed or assured financing;

5. present two support letters from partners, NGOs, groups or associations supporting the project.

Applications must be sent post paid to the Alter-Ciné Foundation. Only applications received before August 15 of each year will be accepted. Candidates will be advised of the decisions of the Selection Committee before December 31 of each year.

For more information and to download the application form: www.altercine.org