Film & TV News In Brief – ACTRA Toronto to honour Jayne Eastwood

ACTRA Toronto will present its 2019 Award of Excellence to Canadian character actor Jayne Eastwood. Eastwood has held roles on screen and stage over five decades with credits on films like Chicago, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Hairspray. Her extensive TV work ranges from recurring roles on SCTV, King of Kensington and Bizarre to more recent series like Little Mosque on the Prairie, Riverdale and Haven. Eastwood will be recognized at the 2019 ACTRA Awards Gala on Feb. 23.

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has released a study detailing Frontier’s impact on the economy. The study indicates the TV drama has driven an impressive $106 million in economic activity and contributed $82.1 million to the national GDP. Production of the series, which stars Jason Momoa as an outlaw trapper, primarily takes place in Newfoundland and Labrador where the positive economic spinoffs have been felt the most. Over all three seasons of the series, the production has created 888 full-time equivalent Canadian jobs, 539 of those based in Newfoundland and Labrador. An interprovincial co-production, Frontier also had a significant economic impact in Ontario and other regions, with $22.2 million in production expenditures outside Newfoundland. Read the full story here.

Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch Program – Funding of First Feature Films and Narrative Web Projects from Emerging Talent will accept new project proposals from designated industry partners from Feb. 18-25. The program, formerly known as the Micro-Budget Production Program, has been expanded. Among changes to the guidelines, partners may now recommend emerging producers and writers who are not recent alumni. Only the director of the project is required to be a recent alumni from one of the partner’s production programs, an active member of the partner’s film cooperative or, in the case of a film festival partner, has participated in an incubator offered by that festival. All partners may recommend Indigenous projects that meet the defined criteria. For full eligibility details, refer to the Program Guidelines.

TSN, RDS, and UFC have reached a multi-year renewal that will see the networks continue to serve as the broadcast partners of UFC in Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, TSN and RDS are the home in Canada for 22 UFC Fight Night main cards and late preliminaries, as well as preliminary fights ahead of UFC’s 12 pay-per-view events. TSN and RDS will also broadcast Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, focused on finding the next generation of UFC talent. TSN and RDS will also distribute UFC content beyond linear broadcasts, including across social channels and via other Bell Media platforms, such as short-form video content hub SnackableTV. The all-new Crave will also feature a UFC collection where fans can stream content on demand. TSN viewers will also have access to original UFC content from ESPN.

DHX Media has struck 10 new distribution deals for its hit CGI-animated family series The Deep, bringing the total number of broadcasters and streaming platforms to 40 globally. The news follows a 2018 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nomination for Best International Animation for Season 2 of the series, co-produced by DHX Media and A Stark Productions. New deals for Season 3, which was commissioned by ABC Australia earlier this year, have been struck with CBBC (UK), Super RTL (Germany), VRT (Belgium), NRK (Norway), KidsZone (Baltics), S4C (UK and Wales), SVT (Sweden), and TVP (Poland), in addition to previously announced deals with Netflix (worldwide) and Family CHRGD (Canada). DHX Media has also signed two new distribution deals for Seasons 1 & 2 with France Televisions (France) and RTP (Portugal).

Global News Toronto’s Toy Drive Live collaboration with Toronto Firefighters raised more than $255,000 in toys and cash donations. The Dec. 6 event featured a live broadcast of Global News at 5:30, in addition to talent from Corus Radio stations 102.1 The Edge, Q107 and Global News Radio 640 Toronto, as well as YTV.

CBC/Radio-Canada’s Open House & Food Bank Day in Vancouver raised a record-breaking $823,191 for Food Banks BC. Held at the CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre on Dec. 7, more than 2,500 attendees had the chance to tour the newsroom and studios, watch live broadcasts, listen to musical performances and meet their favourite hosts and reporters. British Columbians from across the province also joined in on special Radio One broadcasts from CBC Vancouver and other BC stations, and to donate over the phone and online. To-date, Open House & Food Bank Day has raised more than $9 million for Food Banks BC.

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