Hi Folks, seems like I'm catching up for lost time this last week so here we go. As always, my editor is my friend/confidant/snooze button, Lunchmeat Harold. (ed. Howdy!)
Friends it seems like this whole FilmNS fiasco of Ann macKenzie leaving for greener pastures/bluer skies/yellow submarines is for reals. (ed. "Reals"? um, you're far from a teen-ager.)
There's a going away party for Ann on Thursday at the FilmNS office. If I could leave my apartment i surely would go to this soirie as I have a feeling drinks will be flowing and talk will be glowing, know what I'm saying? (ed. no, I -)
Perhaps there'll be lobster like the FilmNS film festival party which is open to all filmmakers and stakeholders, except for most of them.
Still no idea what happened here but it has happened quickly. Just last week the announcement was made that Ann was leaving, then she went on vacation, and now the goodbye party. I think it took longer for the Titanic to go down. (ed. See, just mentioning Titanic implies there some "disaster" happening.)
So that question remains as to why. And then who is going to replace her? Does the board have someone in mind? Or are they starting with a blank slate? They met yesterday so maybe we'll see some developments on this soon. (ed. And what about the staff? Is this another clean slate?)
In other news, CBC went all out to wish Little Mosque on the Prarie (ed. aka "I Married a Muslim!") a bon voyage. (ed. speaking of the Titanic.) I must confess, the one episode I did watch reminded me of a slightly hipper King of Kensington.
Mr. D seems to being doing well for the CEEB. Someone up there (ed. CBC Toronto) must have really wanted it to work, what with all the publicity and shooting a second pilot and all. 2nd Season? Insecurity got one and well, not exactly a stellar first season. Even the second season after they brought in new writers, story editors, consultants, a shaman and a goat sacrifice didn't seem to help. Plus the producer now says that if Saskatchewan does away with the tax credit, she'll have to move production of a possible third season somewhere else. (ed. Aha! the saskatchewan government is more diabolical than we gave them credit for.)
Anyway that's all for today. as always comments/suggestions/muffins are always welcome.
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2 comments:
She had a good run, but like all blockbusters now it's over. Life will go on. The staff will keep the ship running until a new CEO is in place. Given how much travel AM did in the past few years, it seems like the staff has been running the place most of the time for a while now anyway. The real hand-wringing taking place at the moment isn't about the future of the industry as much as it is the future of certain producers who have built up a "most-favoured nation" relationship with Ann. Now they have to start all over again with someone else!
I was at the going away soiree for Ann yesterday and a couple of things struck me.
First, how little interaction "interim" CEO Carolyn Horton had with we, the poor unwashed producer types. She's not exactly a people person. I felt sorry for her because she looked like the weight of the world had suddenly been dropped on her shoulders.
Second, while Gregor Ash seems to be the sexy choice amongst the Coast-set and in his own mind, a number of producers seemed to be spending a fair bit of time with Linda Wood, the current programs and legal honcho at Film NS. One mentioned to me in passing that she though LW would make a great CEO. She's been there for a decade, meaning she knows the system and the players (both here and across the country), and she managed to survive working for Ann, which is more than can be said for well over a dozen other people during that time - Does anyone remember exactly how many directors of finance there were under Ann's regime, or Program chiefs before LW? Plus, by all accounts, she's genuinely nice, gets along with most everyone, works hard, and has no desire to ever enter the private sector - unlike most of her predecessors, who quickly parlayed their programming jobs at Film NS into private sector careers (Chisholm, MacKeigan, Kimball, Fielding...).
It makes perfect sense which is why it almost certainly will never happen. I doubt LW has even thought of the job (memo to the Board: take her into a back room and twist her arm). But it's worth remembering that Ann, who had a long and generally successful tenure, was an internal hire way back when.
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