Sarah Polley protests Bill C-10
OTTAWA - Oscar nominee Sarah Polley appears before a Senate committee Thursday to fight a rule change she says "attacks the very heart of Canadian programming."
Bill C-10 would allow Heritage Minister Josee Verner or a government committee to refuse tax credits to film or television productions considered offensive and "contrary to public policy."
"It is against freedom of speech and everything we stand for," said Polley, an actor and director representing the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA).
"Canadians won't be able to see the Canadian programs they love," she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Polley will be joined by a company of influential players in Canada's film industry including Brian Anthony, CEO of the Directors Guild of Canada.
Edgy shows such as Little Mosque on the Prairie and the Trailer Park Boys are most at risk, Anthony said.
"It's a homogenization of the nature of productions - you will see more productions about kittens, puppies, bunnies and cute little kids."
Anthony added the move will damage an already ailing industry. The soaring loonie has kept many American productions down south, and the recent writers' strike had a profound effect in B.C., where many American programs are filmed.
The existing tax credit enables producers to apply for a bank loan for the production of a film or television piece, if they meet Canadian content rules. They receive the credit only after the production is completed.
The power to make a ruling on acceptable content after a program has been filmed has many in the artistic community upset.
In addition, the amendment is only applicable to Canadian productions and does not affect American programs applying for funding.
Maureen Parker, representing the Writers Guild of Canada, says the government bill unjustly punishes Canadian actors, directors and script writers, while leaving their American counterparts off the hook.
A one-hour drama developed in Canada costs roughly $1.4 million, or about a quarter of the cost of an American drama of the same length, she said from Toronto.
"It is totally unfair. In order to meet these needs, Canadian producers have to bank the tax credit, they have to borrow against the tax credit and use that money to interim finance the production."
Randy Bachman, Colin James join tribute to Jeff Healey
Details have been released about a pair of Toronto tribute concerts to honour Canadian guitar great Jeff Healey, who died March 2 of cancer.
Guitarists Randy Bachman and Colin James and singers David Wilcox and Alannah Myles are among the artists who will participate, Healey's wife, Cristie, announced Wednesday.
Jeff Healey's backup band Jazz Wizards will open the first tribute concert May 3.
Cream vocalist and bass player Jack Bruce and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan also will appear during an evening that will focus on Healey's contribution to rock.
The second event, to be held May 4, will be for lovers of Healey's jazz career and include artists such as Marty Grosz, Brad Kay and Vince Giordano.
Proceeds from the shows will go to the Healey Family Trust and to Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund, a charity that assists the families of children with retinoblastoma, the rare cancer that claimed Healey's sight when he was one year old.
"The shows will provide a great way for his friends and fans to pay tribute to his memory, and support a cause that was so very important to Jeff," Cristie Healey said in a statement.
"This has been a great reminder for Jeff's family and close circle of friends of how many people were touched by Jeff and his music," she added. "I think we have assembled an incredible collection of talent, and created two shows that Jeff would love."
Healey played guitar, trombone, trumpet and keyboard. He began his career as a blues-rock artist and later returned to his early love, jazz. He was 41 when he died.
Tickets for both events go on sale Friday in Toronto.
Mike Myers tapped to host upcoming MTV Movie Awards
The upcoming edition of MTV's irreverent movie awards show will have Canadian film star Mike Myers take the stage as host, organizers announced Wednesday.
The awards gala, which presents trophies in unconventional categories such as best kiss and best villain, will be broadcast live on June 1.
The Toronto-born Myers, who previously hosted the show in 1997, "blew us away last time he hosted the MTV Movie Awards with his Lord of the Dance [routine] and over-the-top musical productions," Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music, Logo and Films Group, said in a statement Wednesday.
Toffler also praised the former Second City and Saturday Night Live star for "creating iconic film characters that have been etched in the minds of MTV's audiences forever."
Organizers of the MTV Movie Awards have typically enlisted popular, "of-the-moment" celebrity hosts, including comedian Sarah Silverman and actors Jessica Alba, Jimmy Fallon and Lindsay Lohan in recent years.
Myers, 44, is set to release his latest film, a comedy titled The Love Guru, across North America on June 20.
From early trailers and other promotional material, the film appears to continue Myers' tradition of playing randy-but-loveably-goofy characters in the vein of his Wayne's World and Austin Powers films.
Nominees for the 17th MTV Movie Awards will be announced in May.
Battle over 'Star Wars' costumes
LONDON - It's a storm in a Stormtrooper's helmet.
Lawyers for George Lucas' Lucasfilm Ltd. and a British prop designer faced off in London's High Court on Tuesday over rights to the moulded white Stormtrooper uniforms from the "Star Wars" films.
Standing alongside the bewigged, black-robed lawyers in court was the object of their dispute - a six-foot tall, helmeted warrior of the evil Galactic Empire. Lucasfilm lawyer Michael Bloch called the menacing figure "one of the most iconic images in modern culture."
Lucasfilm claims violation of copyright and trademarks by prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, who sculpted the Stormtrooper helmets for the first "Star Wars" movie in 1977. London-based Ainsworth sells replicas of the helmets and armour, which he says are made from the original moulds, on his Web site.
Lucasfilm won a US$20-million judgment against Ainsworth in a California court in 2006, and is seeking to have it enforced in Britain.
Ainsworth is countersuing, claiming the copyright rests with him and seeking a share of merchandising revenue from the six "Star Wars" films, which his lawyers estimate at $24 billion.
Lucasfilm and its lawyers claim the design of the Stormtroopers was created by Lucas and his artistic team, and was already in place by the time Ainsworth was hired to create the helmets.
"The look to be created had been worked on by a large team of people for perhaps more than a year," Bloch said at the start of the 10-day hearing.
Any extra security the Stormtroopers might provide wasn't sitting well with Judge Anthony Mann, who cast a glance at the silent props standing beside him.
"Are they going to stay there for the entire trial?" he asked.
Jason Reitman, Kevin Smith blog for NHL
LOS ANGELES - Jason Reitman, Lauren Conrad, Dierks Bentley and Kevin Smith are among the celebrities who will blog about their love of hockey on the National Hockey League's Web site.
Beginning Wednesday, more than a dozen celebs will follow their favorite teams through the Stanley Cup playoffs, said NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur.
"As NHL.com bloggers, they can be irreverent and candid about their love for the NHL," she said.
A native Canadian who grew up in Los Angeles, Reitman, 30, became a hockey fan seven years ago. Since then, the Oscar-nominated director ("Juno") has dedicated himself to the cause, directing commercials for the NHL and serving on its entertainment advisory board.
"I'd come to really love the game and I was just a little upset because I felt there was more of an opportunity for particularly Americans to know about the game and follow the game," he told The Associated Press.
Reitman told the league to call him if he could be of any help and they asked him to blog.
"This year is a little depressing because my two teams, the (Vancouver) Canucks and the (Los Angeles) Kings, neither of them are in the playoffs," he said, adding that the invitation came "when the Canucks still had a chance."
"Now the Canucks aren't in it. So what I decided is that I'm going to write a kind of mythical blog about what the Canucks and Kings would be doing had they still been in," he said. "In my version, for the first time in NHL history, the Canucks and the Kings will be the first two Western Conference teams to actually meet in the Stanley Cup finals."
Conrad described herself as "a casual hockey fan" who has followed the Kings for the past two seasons.
"I'm blogging about the NHL playoffs because I love live hockey and I thought this would be a fun way to get more involved with the postseason," the reality-TV star said in a statement.
This is the second year that stars from movies, music and television have brought their hockey fan-dom to the blogosphere. Celebrities blogging about the 2008 quest for the Stanley Cup include David Boreanaz, A.J. Buckley, Tom Cavanagh, William Fichtner and Geoff Stults.