Whaddya Gonna Do?

UM. I just realized something.

Thanks to the Memorial Day Holiday in the USA, the absolute, last-ever episode of the Sopranos ever, ever ever... is not going to be June 3.

It's going to be June 10th.

On June 10th I'm not going to be in front of my widescreen HD TV. On June 10th, I'm going to be with a lot of other people ... at the Banff TV Festival.

Um.

No.

No. No. No. No. No.

This is not good. It's the TV FESTIVAL. I am, to quote the man, "prostate with grief." How am I supposed to avoid spoilers with a thousand people who work in TELEVISION?

Pssst. Hey there, TMN and Movie Central. How you doin'? That's a very nice dress you're wearing. It really brings out your exclusive output deal with HBO. Listen, do you mind if I lean in and whisper a few sweet nothings in your year?

Cough. Screening Party. Cough.

NextMedia gets more Interesting, BBC-style

An announcement in my inbox this morning says that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, will be accepting an award of excellence for BBC at the Banff World TV Festival.

The more interesting part is that he'll be taking part in a Q&A at the close of NextMedia, the sister festival of Banff TV, which closes the same day the TV fest opens.

“The BBC continues to successfully push its boundaries, championing TV on the PC, radio and video podcasting, video streaming, and producing content for mobile and other wireless handheld devices,” says Mark Greenspan, Executive Producer, nextMEDIA – The Future of Digital Content. “Mark Thompson is the perfect choice to close nextMEDIA 2007. His insights on the BBC will resonate with our delegates.”
Mark Thompson was appointed Director-General of the BBC on 21 May 2004, after being Chief Executive of Channel 4 since December 2001. He took up his appointment on 22 June 2004. Thompson had previously worked at the BBC for more than 20 years, becoming Director of Television in April 2000, responsible for the management and running of all BBC network television channels.

Scheduled for June 8-10, 2007, at the Fairmont Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies, nextMEDIA is an intimate three-day event that will present the brightest and most promising industry leaders in the digital sector. nextMEDIA is scheduled just prior to the Banff World Television Festival. The two events are dedicated to the innovation and development of television content creation and will feature synergized programs and linked schedules to capitalize on the harmonies between the traditional and advanced media sectors.

There's no question that the BBC has been generally more forward-thinking with their vision of digital content and especially, user-content sharing. Canadian and American nets both have much to learn from the BBC's approach. Should be an interesting session.

As for plain old vanilla Banff...I see they've added Paul Abbot to the roster. I have an absurd talent crush on Abbot just from the excellent miniseries State of Play. Banff's also added Chuck Lorre -- who as the creator of Two and a Half Men has the dubious distinction of being the last guy to create a viable sitcom for the major networks. Now there's a guy I want to hear from on the whole "death o' the sitcom" front.

Details of the Banff Festival at their site.

Emerging Writer Opportunities (In Canada, you Say?)

The Banff World Television Festival (which I hope to write a little more about later this week or next) has just updated their site with a number opportunities for emerging Canadian creatives.

First, there's the very worthwhile Global Television Writers' Apprentice Award.

The Writers Apprentice offers an emerging Canadian writer with the unprecedented opportunity to gain significant experience by completing a four-week internship in the story department of a prime-time series.

The winner will be selected by a Jury consisting of three jurors (one representative from Global Television, one representative from the Banff Television Festival Foundation and one representative from the broadcasting/production community).

The winner of the Global Television Writers Apprentice will be contacted by May 4th, 2007. Winning the award is not contingent upon the winner being in attendance at BWTVF 2007. However, the winner will be eligible for the BWTVF discounted “Rookie Rate” and must cover his/her own expenses to attend the 2007 Banff World Television Festival, June 10-13, 2007.

Deadline is April 20. If I was starting out I'd be all over that application like a manatee on some turtle grass.

Next, there's the CTV Western Canada Fellowship.

CTV Western Canada Fellowships are intended to encourage professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging creative talent including producers, writers and directors - i.e., program makers - to attend the Banff World Television Festival. Fellowships are not intended for established professionals, nor are they intended for entry-level candidates. Applicants must have a minimum of one significant production credit.
CTV Western Canada Fellowships cover the following: full festival registration, including admission to all seminars, workshops, and on-demand screenings; all official social events; and air transportation (transportation allowance based on lowest airfare available).

The "Western Canada" part is new to me -- so far as I remember this used to just be the CTV Fellowship, but at the top of the page it now says British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. It's not clearly spelled out on the page that you have to be a resident of those provinces, so you might want to check into that.

Deadline is April 16th, notification by April 27th to recipients.

The Banff World Television Festival runs June 10-13. There's an early bird rate til March 31. Details about the fest, and guests (including Mike Clattenburg (Trailer Park Boys), Greg Daniels (The Office, King of the Hill), and Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) to name a few) can be had by going here.