Vancouver: The city’s newest production company opened its doors recently with a couple of projects on the go, and an open-minded approach to the kind of work it will do.

Milestone Production, headquartered at North Shore Studios, is owned by production manager Brent O’Connor (Jumanji), producer Ogden Gavanski (The War Between Us, Whale Music) and commercial producer Eleanor O’Connor. A fourth partner is chartered accountant Gerry Humphries, who will oversee financial affairs.

Milestone’s business plan calls for an initial focus on mows and features, but the company will consider commercials with budgets greater than $1 million, says Milestone president El O’Connor.

Milestone will rely on production service contracts to pay the bills but leaving no stone unturned, the company plans to explore indigenous Canadian and international coproductions.

First off the block is a feature called Warriors of Virtue, which is shooting in Vancouver after working in Beijing. The self-financed, $35-million film is coproduced with Law Brothers Entertainment International of Denver, a company formed by four Hong Kong-born brothers who work in Denver as physicians. The Canadian portion of the shoot is under $1 million.

The story revolves around a teenage boy from Earth who enters a parallel world to do battle with evil. The film will feature the use of animatronics and will be distributed by mgm/ua throughout North America in the summer of 1997.

Post-production for Warriors will be done in Vancouver.

Next up for Milestone should be director Anne Wheeler’s project Oh Boy, which is scheduled to go before the cameras within a year. The story explores the dream and subsequent crisis of a retired couple.

Also in development is a script called White Castles and Cannibals, by Gavanski and Catherine Forbes.

The O’Connor film dynasty also includes cousin Matthew O’Connor who is president of Vancouver’s Pacific Motion Pictures. Milestone employs six.