CCR People

Gail Martiri has been hired as director of policy at the Writers Guild of Canada. She will lead the guild’s extensive policy and lobbying initiatives on behalf of Canadian screenwriters. She has over ten years of experience in government relations and policy development. Broadcast veteran Trina McQueen has been named president of the seven-member Banff Television Festival international jury. The other members are Caroline Behar, who is responsible for acquisitions and international co-productions at France 5; Graham Benson, chair of Blue Heaven Productions, United Kingdom; David Bianculli, a television critic for the New York Daily News; Glenda Hambly, an Australian writer, director and producer with Rogue Production Pty. Ltd.; Masaru Ikeo, executive producer of a science and environment program at the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK); and Gudrun Kjellberg, who has worked in a number of capacities at Sweden’s public broadcaster. Trina McQueen also has been appointed as a member of the board of directors of Telefilm Canada by Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps. Jean-Pierre Valentin of Montreal and Fela Grunwald of Toronto have been appointed to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. Valentin is the owner and director of Galerie Jean-Pierre Valentin (formerly named L’Art Français). Grunwald is a fine art appraiser. Ed Gernon, who headed Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.’s longform division, was let go over remarks he made to TV Guide about the company’s upcoming CBS mini-series about Adolf Hitler. Gernon, who executive produced the mini-series, compared fear among Americans about what would happen if the Bush administration didn’t strike Iraq to the fearful mood in post-World War I Germany that allowed Hitler to rise to power. Former CRTC chair Françoise Bertrand is one of the non-related directors scheduled for election to the board at Quebecor Inc. on May 8. Laura Grieco joins B.C.’s educational channel, Knowledge Network, as a unit manager in the programming department. Paul Lamontagne will step down as president and CEO of Look Communications Inc. at the company’s annual meeting on May 14. Look chair Michael Cytrynbaum will act as interim CEO as of that date. Lamontagne told Canadian Communications Reports that he had been hired to lead the company’s strategic refocusing, and that the company’s annual meeting was the perfect time to pursue other challenges. He said he had no firm offers, but is talking with several parties. Industry Canada deputy minister Peter Harder moves to the same position at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, effective June 16. He will be replaced by Jean-Claude Villiard, who is currently the president of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Pierre Curzi has been re-elected as president of the Union des artistes. He is joined on the executive council by first VP Raymond Legault, second VP Vincent Champoux, secretary general Parise Mongrain, and treasurer Katerine Mousseau. Mario Clement, formerly programming director at Télé-Québec, has joined Radio-Canada as director-general of programming. He fills a position held on an interim basis by Suzanne Laverdiere. She is director-general of acquisitions and independent production. Stephen Fraser, formerly with Stohn Abrahmovitch, has started Fraser-Entertainment Law, a legal firm specializing in the film, television, music, Internet and multimedia industry. Stohn Abrahmovitch no longer exists. Stephen Stohn and Ron Hay have since established Stohn Hay, LLP, an entertainment and media legal firm. David Peterson, the former Ontario premier, has resigned from his position as chair of the board of directors of Cabletel Communications Corp. No successor has yet been named to fill the vacancy. Moses Znaimer will be stepping down as VP of corporate development at CHUM Ltd., and president and executive producer of 17 of the company’s TV stations. He has entered a services agreement with CHUM to concentrate on distance education and lifelong learning.

CCR People

Broadcast | April 25, 2003

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