World Screen

CANNES: Best Boy Entertainment has firmed up deals from its documentary and children’s slates, including shows such as Pet ER and Mickey’s Farm.  Animal Planet Canada took the second window for the docudrama Pet ER, which features families dealing with life-threatening pet medical emergencies. The Smile of a Child 24-hour …

VANCOUVER: On the heels of scoring a second-season renewal for Million Dollar Neighbourhood from OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in Canada, Canadian outfit Force Four Entertainment has promoted to key executives. Dana Johl has been named the head of production at Force Four Entertainment, while Deborah Wainwright has been appointed to …

MONTREAL: Tasked with reducing its expenses by C$10.6 million over the next three years, Telefilm Canada has announced cuts to its development and production financing funds. The organization is working towards saving C$2.7 million this year by focusing on its core activities and using "a balanced approach in terms of where …

SARATOGA: The streaming platform Roku, which uses set-top boxes to deliver Internet to the TV, is now offering its products in Canada. Two streaming player models, the Roku 2 XD and Roku 2 XS, are available for purchase in Canada starting today. At launch, Roku features more than 100 entertainment …

TORONTO: The daytime lineup of Global in Canada will feature the additions of The Jeff Probst Show and The Ricki Lake Show starting this fall. The Jeff Probst show is a one-hour talk show led by Survivor‘s multiple Emmy Award winner. Topics will range from relationships and family dynamics to …

TORONTO: Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are to make their Canadian debuts on July 4. Starting May 5, TELETOON will run a Cartoon Network programming block. On June 1, a weekly block of Adult Swim shows will launch on TELETOON at Night. TELETOON Retro will broadcast a block of classic …

GATINEAU: Tom Perlmutter has been reappointed as the government film commissioner and chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for a term of five years. Prior to his appointment as the head of the NFB, Perlmutter was the director general of the organization’s English program. He also worked …

TORONTO: ABC Spark has unveiled its prime-time summer lineup, which includes three new series premiering day-and-date with ABC Family in the U.S. Bunheads is premiering on June 11. The show follows a former prima ballerina turned Las Vegas showgirl who marries a man and moves to a sleepy coastal town, …

TORONTO/CANNES: Shaftesbury and its digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment, have a new project to present, State of Syn, a 3D-enabled digital motion novel for online. The sci-fi digital project stars Jewel Staite (Firefly, LA Complex), David Hewlett (Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis) and Rainbow Sun Francks (The Listener, Stargate: Atlantis). The …

TORONTO: The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! has been sold to new broadcasters, marking just one of a number of titles sold by Portfolio International ahead of MIPTV.   The 60×30-minute kids’ series scored new broadcast slots on, among others, KI.KA in Germany, Disney Junior in …