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Paramount to farm out home ent. ops?

Paramount Pictures is in talks to farm out some of its home entertainment operations to another studio, which would likely result in considerable cost savings to the Viacom unit. Paramount is in negotiations with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and possibly others, to take over physical fulfillment of its product to retail and back-office functions such as billing and collections.

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CanWest sells two TV stations

Cash-strapped CanWest Global Communications is selling two money-losing TV stations as it continues its attempts to stave off bankruptcy. The Winnipeg-based broadcaster said Wednesday that it has been given yet another extension in its discussions with a committee of noteholders that hold C$761 million ($671 million) in outstanding debts. It now has until July 31 to reach a recapitalization agreement. CanWest has sold CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario, and CJNT in Montreal to Toronto-based cable company Channel Zero.

Ontario sweetens tax breaks for Hollywood

Los Angeles producers shooting in Ontario can now write off 25% of total production expenses beyond labour costs, including equipment and studio rentals. The province of Ontario on Tuesday said it will amend the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit for foreign producers to keep pace with neighboring Quebec, which announced similar changes to its tax credit system on June 12. Effective Tuesday (June 30), foreign producers will be able to claim a refundable tax credit equal to 25% of production costs incurred in the province, including labor expenditures.

ACTRA seals deal with producers

In sharp contrast to its SAG counterpart, Canuck actors union ACTRA has ratified its contract agreement with producers’ orgs six months before its existing deal expires Dec. 31. “We want to send a positive message to the U.S. and to the Canadian industry that there’s labor peace and let’s get to work,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director. Some 98.3% of thesps voters voted in favor of the deal, which gives actors a rate increase of 2% each year for three years.

Vfx whiz Farrar still loves cameras

He’s just finished overseeing the digital visual effects on one of the largest and most complex vfx pictures ever, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” He’s an unquestioned expert in CGI. But Scott Farrar is a cameraman at heart. “When I got into the business, the gods — the people who meant the most to me — were the directors of photography,” Farrar says. The Escondido, Calif., native and UCLA grad joined ILM as a camera operator on 1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” Just three years later, he was an Oscar winner as vfx supervisor of “Cocoon.”