You could not cover television in Canada for the past 40 years without encountering the great Gordon Pinsent. Thank God. Pinsent, who died in his sleep Feb. 25 at 92, was a towering figure in film and television. In his native Newfoundland, he was much more than that. I was out in St. John’s, Nfld.,
I’ve always found it a great privilege to attend an annual Canadian Film Centre homecoming event during the Toronto International Film Festival. Once a simple Barbecue for film industry insiders, it has grown into an annual fundraiser celebrating a new generation of Canadian storytellers, many of them graduates of the CFC film and television programs.
Some of the best podcast conversations I’ve had in 2021 were with authors. The six listed below seized this pandemic predicament by hunkering down and writing great books either about their own life experiences or, in one case, a biography about one of Canada’s best storytellers. I thank them all for helping me to read
I first met Gino Matteo in 1976 on the day I checked in for orientation at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. On that busy day, the campus centre known as the “Coop” was jammed with other disoriented rookies. I found my way to the “B”’s. This hip dude behind the table who
Norman Jewison turns 95 in July. His 24 feature films — 15 more than Quentin Tarantino — garnered 48 Academy Award nominations, winning two Best Picture Oscars (for “In the Heat of the Night” in 1967 and “Moonstruck” in 1987). The Thalberg Award winner helped create the Canadian Film Centre, nurturing and developing the next
This Friday, production wraps on Season Three of The Great Canadian Baking Show. The competition series will now simmer in post production until it returns as part of CBC’s fall lineup. Earlier this week, I visited the big Baking tent on the lush grounds of The Canadian Film Centre in Toronto and spoke with new
Alan Arkin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., a fact that will surprise almost no one who has heard his voice. Here’s a surprise though: he spends almost half the year in Canada. That was the fun fact I learned after speaking with the Oscar-winning actor on the set of the terrific Netflix comedy The Kominsky
It was a pretty dramatic day Sunday at the Canadian Film Centre’s annual TIFF BBQ. As storm clouds gathered overhead, CFC CEO Slawko Klymkiw stood at the podium on the wide, flagstone covered back patio at what was once the Winfield Farms Estates and announced a major money deal making Netflix the centre’s chief patron.