Cinema Canada (Sep 1981)

2 TORONTO ~To no one's sur _ prise, Peter Herrndorf, the vice president of CBC’s English language services, announced that The Journal, an hour-long public affairs program set to follow the National, has been delayed at least until early winter, and possibly as late as January, depending on the resolution of the NABET strike which has crippled the CBC since May. CBC's fall programming will all be delayed by the strike, with such programs as Quar terly Report, The Fifth Estate, Marketplace, Home Fires, The Great Detective and I Married the Klondike in limbo. According to Herrndorf, the fall schedule of every network in North America had been hurt by the writers’ strike in the U.S., but the CBC has been especially hard hit by the Jack of technicians. As replacement programming the CBC has acquired the BBC mini-series, Brideshead revisited, a package of thirteen features from MGM, thirteen episodes from The Paper Chase, a one-hour series of SCTV, and a package of Canadian features that had original ly been scheduled to air in January. The Canadian features are The Silent Partner, Murder by Decree, Klondike Fever, Mr. Patman, Suzanne, Wild Horse Hank, Circle of Two, Title Shot, and Power Play, The series will be hosted by CITYTV's Brian Linehan. One of the reasons for The Journal's delay has been the minimum 12 to 16 weeks of technical pre-production demanded by the international bureaus of the program — satellite hookups and studio shakedowns. The Journal already has thirty-five editorial and support personnel on staff. Industry estimates of money already spent on the showrun as high as two million, although no one at the CBC is willing to release figures, According to Herrndorf, the CBC never reveals program budgets. When asked if he felt rumours of the CBC’s potential demise due to the strike were greatly exaggerated, Herrndorf cited the example of numerous daily newspapers which have survived lengthy strikes, some as longas eight or nine months. ‘Delays continue as NABET holds, Journal et al put off until next year While admitting that the CBC had lost a fair amount of money because of the strike, he felt that the TV arm of the corporation would recover quickly. “All those creative people have been prevented from doing what they love to do best.” Clive Mason of CBC-Radio said that radio would recover more quickly than television, because the shows affected were produced daily, and thus require far less pre-production than television. TORONTO — Simcom’s production of Melanie, starring Burton Cummings and Glynnis O’Connor, has been acquired for American theatrical distribution by Avco Embassy, who handled Simcom’s Prom Night. Although no details on the deal have been made public, the distrib rights did not include Canada. A separate deal is being made for Canadian distribution. The American release of the film is scheduled for October or November. Melanie was produced by Peter Simpson and directed by Rex Bromfield. After Axe preems at Montreal screens then at Toronto fest TORONTO After the Axe, an hourlong .‘documentary fiction’ produced by Steve Lucas and Sturla Gunnarsson for the National Film Board’s Ontario Regional Office and the CBC, will be screened at this year’s World Film Festival of Montreal. The film, which resembles a white-collar version of CBC’s The Winnings of Frankie Walls, tells the story of a forty-yearold marketing vice-president who becomes involved in a company power struggle and loses, with the result that the winner fires him. After getting the axe, he is taken in hand by a relocation counselling service, tested, interviewed, prodded, poked and generally examined for placement in a new position. Aside from the hero, played by James Douglas, and his family, most of the cast of the film were people who held the jobs they portray in the film—a relocation counsellour, a corporate head hunter, a psychologist —and the script, by Lucas, was a blend of scripted dramatic action and the actual interviewing, testing and counselling that a displaced executive would go through. Lucas and director Gunnarsson are pleased with the film, which is the first film on the subject. With a fall screening tentatively slated for CBC, they have had some discussions with the American networks, and hope to make some contacts at the Montreal Festival. Lucas feels that it would be an ideal film for U.S. television, for relocation counselling (known in the U.S. as‘outplacement’) is a multi-million dollar business. Aside from the distribution of After the Axe, Lucas is currently developping a new project, Strictly Business, which will examine the economic and political involvement of Canada in Latin America. When asked if it would be a similar blend of documentary material and fiction, Lucas replied, “It looks more similar all the time.” MONTREAL — Imagine The Sound, the film which premiered at the Jazz City Festival in Edmonton, got a rave review in the Globe and Mail. Calling the film, “not a jazz film but the jazz film... supremeina small field,” reviewer Mark Miller went on to praise the sound recording. FILM LIAISON TORONTO ‘MAKING FILMS IS YOUR JOB. CUTTING RED TAPE IS OURS. \ | Lo——) THE RED TAPE SHORT CUT IN CANADA’S FILMMAKING CAPITAL In the past two years half of all Canadian features were shot on location in Toronto. If you’re planning to shoot here, call us for location permits and assistance, to arrange free parking for your production vehicles, for easy access to City services, for police assistance or for other public agency approvals. Ask us about the world-class production companies, post-production facilities and technical resources we have to offer, as well as our excellent transportation services and first-rate accommodation. FILM LIAISON TORONTO Naish McHugh, City of Toronto Planning and Development Department, 20th Floor, East Tower, City Hall, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2. (416) 367-7570 : aL