600-1,200 CBC job cuts expected
The CBC needs to "stop chasing revenues and eyeballs," says the minister responsible for the public broadcaster.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sun Media, Heritage Minister James Moore also said CBC layoffs were nearly certain and expected 600 to 1,200 people across the country would lose their jobs.
But the minister said the CBC could trim some fat without sacrificing local programming. He suggested the CBC had many assets to sell that "would not have any impact on the public broadcaster in any way."
The Conservative government is giving the CBC $1.1 billion in funding, but is refusing to help offset the public broadcaster's expected budget shortfall of $65 million.
The CBC had requested help obtaining a line of credit to pay for layoff packages, but the government refused.
"I think the CBC has the capacity to do things within the envelope of the financial capacity that they have," said Moore.
A senior government official suggested the CBC could sell land it owns in Montreal or some of its real estate and lease needed floor-space back.
CBC spokesman Marco Dube said the Crown corporation was worried it would not be allowed to keep money from the sale of its assets. Any assets sold over $4 million must be approved by cabinet.
Moore said the government would only have a problem if the CBC suggested cutting services such as French radio in Vancouver or English services in Quebec City.
The minister said the public broadcaster should return to its mandate of showing Canadian content in a multitude of platforms instead of being a "taxpayer-supported competitor to private broadcasters."
He added that in an ideal world the CBC would be funded similarly to the BBC, which gets a direct yearly subsidy from viewers, but said that would require substantial changes to the Broadcasting Act.
Ian Morrison, the spokesman for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, applauded Moore's comments, but feared the minister wasn't controlling the purse-strings.
"The concern is about the gap between his words and others in the government," said Morrison.
Meanwhile, the CBC announced yesterday Judy Maddren, the voice of its morning news program World Report, will be leaving on March 27.
Passchendaele honoured with Golden Reel Award
Passchendaele, the First World War drama directed by Paul Gross, is the winner of the Golden Reel Award, one of three special prizes to be handed out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT).
The ACCT also announced two other special trophies Monday evening that will be given out at the 29th annual Genie Awards on April 4 in Ottawa.
The Golden Reel is handed to the Canadian film with the highest domestic box office receipts. Passchendaele brought in more than $4.4 million.
Passchendaele recounts an epic battle by Canadian soldiers, who drove back the German army in a brutal 12-day offensive across marshland to take the Belgian village of Passchendaele.
Some 16,000 Canadians were killed or wounded.
Gross, known for his acting role in the TV series Due South as well as the movie Men With Brooms, produced the feature along with Niv Fichman, Frank Siracusa and Francis Damberger.
The other major award announced was the Claude Jutra prize for a directorial debut. The winner of the 16th annual award is Yves-Christian Fournier for Tout Est Parfait (Everything is Fine ).
The prize is named in honour of the renowned late Quebec director Claude Jutra.
Fournier's dark movie delves into the world of a teen living in a suburb whose friends have killed themselves.
The last prize is for outstanding achievement in makeup design.
Bruno Gatien, Marie-France Guy and Adrien Morot will share the accolade for their work in Cruising Bar2, directed by Robert Ménard and Michel Côté.
The trio created prosthetics and tattoo work for Côté, who played four characters in the movie.
'Transformers 3,' 'Thor' get new release dates
The Autobots and Decepticons will battle it out again, this time over Independence Day weekend in 2011.
Paramount has given "Transformers 3" a coveted July 1 release date for that year, despite the lack of director, script or signed stars, sources say. Despite opening the weekend after July 4, the first installment pulled in more than $70 million. "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" won't be waiting for the fireworks: It hits theaters on June 24 this year.
Marvel's "Thor," meanwhile, will move to May 20, 2011. Just last week, the movie was pushed back a year from its original 2010 spot.
Canadian public broadcaster slammed over U.S. fare
TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) – Even as the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s top brass hold two days of strategy meetings in Ottawa, the public broadcaster is continuing to come under fire for scheduling too much American fare in primetime.
Federal Heritage Minister James Moore was asked during a Sunday night TV show appearance in Quebec for his view on the current level of U.S. programing on the CBC schedule.
"Frankly, I can tell you I don't like it when I see the CBC canceling Canadian content, and we see 'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel of Fortune,'" Moore told the CBC/Radio Canada talk show "Tout le Monde en Parle."
Last week, the CBC, which acquired the two U.S. game shows last year, canceled or put on hiatus two lifestyle series, "Fashion File" and "Steve and Chris."
Moore's comments came as the pubcaster attempts to address a growing shortfall in TV advertising revenue during the recession, a gap that Ottawa said it will not help close with new public money.
Among the revenue-raising measures being considered at the two-day senior management meeting is the possible introduction of more U.S. fare onto the schedule as a way of subsidizing Canadian content production.
But Stephen Waddell, national executive director of performers union the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, said the CBC should instead cut back sharply on American fare to distinguish itself from private-sector rivals.
"Clearly, (Moore) has been listening to us. He's saying the CBC cannot sustain itself in terms of being a viable public broadcaster if it continues down this road as a commercial/public broadcaster," Waddell said.
Ian Morrison, a spokesman for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, which represents 50,000 domestic TV viewers, said the CBC's revenue shortfall springs equally from the recession and from the public broadcaster's overpayment for American game shows that did not meet "rosy" sales projections.
"For the minister to say the CBC shouldn't be buying American shows ... that's a shot across the bow," Morrison said.
The CBC senior management meeting wraps Tuesday.
Executives at the CBC were not available for comment.
Reports: Natasha Richardson in critical condition
MONTREAL – British actress Natasha Richardson is in critical condition in a Montreal hospital after being severely injured in a skiing accident in Quebec, according to published reports.
People.com and IrishCentral.com reported that the Tony award-winning actress and wife of Liam Neeson suffered a head injury Monday and is in a Montreal hospital.
People.com said Richardson was initially taken to a hospital near the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, and was later transferred to the Montreal hospital.
A family member confirmed Richardson had had a skiing accident.
"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," said Kika Markham, who is married to Richardson's uncle, Corin Redgrave. "We are very concerned."
Richardson, 45, is the elder daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson, and belongs to a British acting dynasty.
Her maternal grandparents were the actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and her uncle Corin and aunt Lynne Redgrave are also both actors. Sister Joely Richardson is also an actress, best known for starring in TV series "Nip/Tuck."
Richardson's films include "Gothic," "A Month in the Country," "Nell" — in which she appeared with future husband Liam Neeson — "The Parent Trap" and "Maid in Manhattan."
Trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, Richardson has had extensive stage experience in the West End and Broadway. She won a Tony Award in 1998 for playing Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."
In January, Richardson and her mother played the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.
She married Neeson in 1994, and the couple has two sons.