Alberta Film and TV 3-Year Production Plan

Alberta's Film and Television production industry has finalized a proposed a 3-year plan to increase film and television production in Alberta.

AMPIA has the details and downloadable PDF and Power Point documents of the plan at this link.

Edmonton's Fillion to Get Lost

Moviehole.net (from Scifi.com) is reporting that Edmonton-born Nathan Fillion will guest star on the the hit ABC show Lost:

In "I Do," Jack makes a decision regarding Ben's (Michael Emerson) offer, Kate feels helpless when it looks like an angry Pickett (Michael Bowen) is going to make good on his threat to kill Sawyer, and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) discovers a hidden message that may guide him through the next steps on his journey to unlocking the secrets of the island.

Fillion’s episode airs on November 8.

Also: Sci Fi Wire reports that Fillion will also develop and/or star in a project for Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox TV:

Serenity and Slither star Nathan Fillion has signed a talent-holding deal with Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox TV, under which the studio and the network will develop a comedy or drama script for the actor or cast him in an existing project if the new one doesn't go to pilot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fillion recently completed White Noise 2: The Light and can be seen in Slither, now on DVD. He is perhaps best known for his role as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the science fiction series Firefly and subsequent film, Serenity, both which I highly recommend.

Canada Discussed in New York Film Industry Article

Variety discusses New York's successful attempts to revitalize it's film and television production industry. While Alberta isn't mentioned directly, Canada is:

While indelible images of Gotham [New York] have been an integral part of some of the most iconic films ever made, by the late '90s the all-important Manhattan backdrop that played a supporting role in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Annie Hall and Taxi Driver had been upstaged by simple economics.

"Canada got very aggressive with tax credits in 1999, and that's when the city started feeling it," says commissioner Katherine Oliver, who was appointed in August 2002 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"One of the first things I had to deal with was a movie about Rudy Giuliani starring James Woods that was being made in Montreal," Oliver says. "The producers told me they hadn't even budgeted for New York. There was the perception that New York wasn't film-friendly. The 'hassle factor' kept people away."

Under Oliver's leadership, an office that had until that point been using typewriters and processing permits by hand became an advocacy center for film and filmmakers.

In short order, everything was computerized, and a major outreach campaign was launched to studios to trumpet the city's free permits, locations, parking and police details.

You can read the full article at the link above.

King Kong ™ & © Warner Bros Pictures.

Tommy Chong Discusses New Book

Edmonton-born Tommy Chong discusses his new book, The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint with Lee-Anne Goodman of the Canadian Press:

In last year’s documentary A/k/a Tommy Chong, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, comedian and social commentator Bill Maher, among many others, accused the U.S. government of making an example out of Chong for petty political reasons.

But thanks in part to his spirituality and, undoubtedly, his unabashed appreciation of the calming effects of marijuana, Chong approached his sentence with good humour. He says he didn’t mind his nine months in prison because it allowed him to focus primarily on writing the book.

"If you’re a guy like me, it’s not so bad . . . I’m an old man, I’m a writer and I’m writing my book, I’m Tommy Chong, and I’m doing time with my fans," he says.

Being Canadian, Chong says, also helped.

"When you grow up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and spend 20 years with Alberta winters, everything else is so easy. Nine months in a California jail is nothing compared to nine months of a Canadian winter," he says with a laugh.

"Canadians, we appreciate sunshine and the things that really matter in life. People say to me: ‘Don’t you get tired of signing autographs?’ No! Being famous, that’s pretty easy."

You can read the full article at this link.

Photo: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press.

Edmonton International Film Festival Coverage

Check out the Edmonton Journal's coverage of the 2006 Edmonton International Film Festival (which runs until October 7) at this link.

An article about Daniel Baldwin appearing at Edmonton's City Centre cinemas on Tuesday, October 3, can be found at the Edmonton Sun Showbiz section.

Brocket 99: Rockin' the Country, a documenatary on a controversial and racist audio tape purported to be from a southern Alberta radio station, is discussed at this Canada.com article.

Check out the festival's webiste at: www.edmontonfilmfest.com.