Indigenous Producer Who Fought Cannes Dress Code With Moccasins Launches Production Outfit IndigiFilm (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAlbert Serra’s “Pacifiction” has lured major distributors around the world following its critically acclaimed world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Berlin-based Films Boutique (“Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” “Charlatan”) is representing the film in international markets.“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian producer Antica Productions has partnered with media organization Postmedia Network to create podcasts and TV shows from journalism, setting debut project True Crime Byline.

The existing system for training showrunners cannot keep up with the demand, and John Wells has stepped in to help. The seasoned showrunner of shows such as ER, The West Wing and Shameless and former two-time WGAW President has launched The Showrunner’s Corner, a section of his company John Wells Productions’ web site dedicated to giving up-and-coming writers the basics they need in order to successfully make the transition to showrunners.

Kid Cudi has announced and shared dates for his To the Moon tour, a late-summer U.S. and Canada run followed by an October performance in Tokyo and six November European shows.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWhite Pine Pictures executive Andrew Munger has re-launched his outfit Ultramagnetic Productions with a slate of drama and documentary projects.Munger first operated Ultramagnetic Productions from 1997 to 2004, producing non-fiction projects including “Walmart Nation,” “Campaign: The Making of a Candidate,” “Xanadu: In Search of Domestic Perfection” and “Make Some Noise!” for networks such as the CBC, Discovery, History and Life/Slice. He shuttered the company in 2005 to run television production at World Vision, Canada’s largest non-profit organization, before moving to Toronto’s White Pine Pictures in 2014.After eight years, Munger is stepping down from his role as director of unscripted development at White Pine in order to restart Ultramagnetic.

Kid Cudi has announced that he’ll be coming to the UK later this year for his first gig in the country in 13 years – get tickets here.The show forms part of the rapper and actor’s ‘To The Moon’ world tour, which will kick off in Vancouver, Canada, on August 16.The North American leg of the tour will see Cudi will make stops in Oakland, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and more, before wrapping up in his home city of Cleveland on September 16.Cudi will then head across the pond for dates in Tokyo, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Milan. His single UK date will take place in London on November 15, marking the first time he’s performed in the country since his iTunes Festival show at London’s Roundhouse in 2009.Support on the tour will include Don Toliver, Denzel Curry, 070 Shake and Stick, who will each perform on different dates.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Claudia Sainte-Luce’s “El reino de Dios” (“The Realm of God”) and “Carajita” by Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra took home the bulk of the prizes in their respective categories, the Mayahuel for best Mexican film and best Ibero-American film at the 37th Guadalajara Int’l Film Fest (FICG), which wrapped June 18.Festival highlights included a conversation, albeit by remote, between festival director Estrella Araiza and Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro who talked about the making of his upcoming stop-motion animation feature, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” The film, set to bow on Netflix in December, was filmed with 20 animators in more than 60 sets in Canada and Guadalajara, Del Toro revealed. Sainte-Luce’s coming-of-age drama about a young boy’s struggle with his faith as he’s about to take his first communion, which world premiered at the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar, also won FICG’s Mezcal awards for best cinematography, actor and director as well as the Mezcal Youth Jury award for best film.In her acceptance speech, Sainte-Luce dedicated her multiple recognitions to her grandmother who had recently died.Dominican Republic drama “Carajita,” by Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra, adds another clutch of prizes which includes the HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Award it won at the 39th Miami film fest in March.Co-produced by Wooden Boat Productions (Dominican Republic) and Pucará Cine (Argentina), the drama turns on the relationship between a young girl and her nanny that transcends race and class.

Manori Ravindran International EditorThe moody mountainscape surrounding the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel may have been tailor-made for the British Columbia-shot thriller “Yellowjackets,” which was honored at this week’s Banff World Media Festival, but the real survival drama was raging between Canadian broadcasters and the streaming giants.The tension was palpable among the country’s legacy broadcasters and the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, both of which were prominent at the 43rd edition of the festival. While this fraught dynamic — which has ramped up as the digital platforms launch originals divisions in Canada — is nothing new, relations are coming to a head as the much-ballyhooed Bill C-11, the proposed update to Canada’s dated Broadcasting Act, is fiercely debated in Parliament.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Banff World Media Festival revealed the winners of the 2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition on Monday, with big winners including the “Friends” Reunion, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “We Are Lady Parts” and more.The event, held in Banff and hosted by comedian Rakhee Morzaria (“Run the Burbs”) featured winners chosen by a panel of 150 international industry professionals. The Rockie Awards International Program Competition presented awards in 28 categories spanning Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted, and Podcast.The competition featured 148 nominations from 45 countries including the UK, United, Canada, Australia, France, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.

EXCLUSIVE: Management-production company 3 Arts Entertainment is expanding its footprint with the launch of an office north of the border, focusing on Canadian talent, development and production.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCharades has closed a raft of deals on “Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be,” an animated feature which world premiered at Cannes in the Special Screenings section and will go on to compete at Annecy festival. Directed by Benjamin Massoubre and Amandine Fredon, “Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be” is based on author René Goscinny and New Yorker cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé’s popular children books from the 1960’s which have been translated into than 30 languages.

EXCLUSIVE: Cameras are rolling in Winnipeg on supernatural horror feature Elevator Game, with a new director onboard. Production began this month with Rebekah McKendry (Glorious) replaced Michael Goi on the film, which is based on the online phenomenon of the same name.

The Directors Guild of Canada BC has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract covering films and TV shows shot in British Columbia.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe Vancouver branch of the Directors Guild of Canada has reached an agreement with the studios, averting a strike that threatened to shut down film and TV production in British Columbia.The union issued a strike notice on April 26, after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Canadian Media Producers Association reached an impasse. That followed the union’s first-ever strike authorization vote earlier in the month, which passed with 92.2% support.In a statement on Wednesday, the union said it had reached a tentative agreement.“As of this afternoon, the DGC BC has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP and the CMPA,” the union said.

Selome Hailu IFC has greenlit “Sisters,” a half-hour dark comedy from Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley.The six-episode series follows two women (Goldberg and Stanley), one born in Canada and the other in Ireland, who discover they are half-sisters and embark on a road trip to find their alcoholic father. Goldberg and Stanley, real-life best friends, co-created the series.“Sisters” was developed by Peer Pressure, Shaftesbury, RTÉ and Declan Lowney, who is set to direct the first three episodes.

EXCLUSIVE: The Directors Guild of Canada BC has returned to the virtual bargaining table with the AMPTP and the Canadian Media Producers Association in an attempt to reach an agreement on a new film and TV contract. “The DGC BC and the negotiating producers continue to bargain this week, meeting virtually,” the guild said in a statement.

To mark World Oceans Day on Wednesday, ET Canada is sharing an exclusive look at the Love Nature documentary “The Ocean’s Greatest Feast”.

Roku is launching Espacio Latino, a free streaming hub for Hispanic programming, on the Roku Channel.

EXCLUSIVE: It looks like a homecoming parade may be in order for Conrad Green: Deadline hears the veteran reality show producer is in advanced talks to return to Dancing with the Stars as its executive producer.