Last October when I was at MIPCOM in Cannes you couldn’t help but notice all the signage for Just For Laughs Gags. Scenes from the very visual Quebec comedy were everywhere, on giant electronic billboards as well as on the sides and roofs of the many overpriced taxis. The message: visual gag comedy sells internationally.
In Canada, the annual television network “Upfronts” are a few weeks later than they are in the States. Our Upfronts are really “Uplaters.” They also don’t draw anywhere near the same amount of advertising revenues. Canadian advertisers tend to commit less of their budgets in the spring, playing more of a wait and see game. Since