Calgary-based Fresh Cut Entertainment is currently in production on Little Italys, a six-episode, half-hour travel and lifestyle series for Corus Entertainment-owned Telelatino Network. Hosted by Peter Ciuffa, Little Italys offers a look at Italian life in cities not associated with having large Italian populations.

Produced by Fresh Cut partners Jeff Hohn and Doug Hodgson, the series introduces viewers to the Italian communities in Calgary, Boston, Montreal, Seattle and Kelowna. The first set of episodes wraps with the yet-to-be-shot program on the Italians of Honolulu, Hawaii.

The producers say they tried to steer clear of places like Toronto, Las Vegas and New York, which are known for their Italian populations. The other reason for bypassing Toronto, says Hodgson, is that a significant portion of TLN’s viewers live in the city. He and Hohn hope to expand outside of North America in subsequent seasons.

TLN and Fresh Cut provide all of the funding for the series, slated to debut in the spring.

Another First Cut project is the ambitious series Masters of the Planet. Currently in development, the five-part series is about how humans have developed techniques to supply themselves with the daily comforts they take for granted. Hohn and Hodgson plan to start with programs on mining, forestry, and oil and gas. Future episodes could explore technology, construction and telecommunications.

With a per-episode budget of $50,000 (completely funded by Fresh Cut), a pilot has already been shot. Production on the next four is likely to begin in the spring. In the meantime, Hohn and Hodgson are shopping the pilot to broadcasters.

Set ’em up, Joe

Calgary’s Grasslands Entertainment Group is in production on a new series for Food Network (Canada and U.S.) called Thirsty Traveler.

The 12-part travel show is perhaps best described by its producer, Bryan Smith (Born Hutterite): ‘It’s basically Lonely Planet with liquor.’ Smith and his crew have been to France to sip champagne, stopped off in Belgium to explore beer, and still plan to sample the potables of the Caribbean, Portugal, Africa, Newfoundland, Mexico, the U.K., and other spots.

Thirsty Traveler is the brainchild of Susan Cardinal (God’s Explorers), a friend of Smith’s who writes and directs on the series. Smith also participates in the writing and direction of the program, as does Jim Ripley (Complete Rider).

The series is budgeted at approximately $900,000, with funding from CFCN, Alberta Film Development Corporation and private equity. Production continues until mid-2002.

Hosted by Kevin Brauch, Thirsty Traveler will premier in late spring, and has yet to cement a distributor. Smith says there has been serious interest from a number of parties on the distribution front and he will begin to consider his options in the new year.

Think Pink

Ladies, start your engines; guys beware. The Pink Card Club, a 30-minute television pilot from Edmonton’s Pink Card Productions and producers Conni Massing (Gravel Run) and Heather D. Swain (creator and star of the one-woman show One Day I Woke Up and I Was Licking the Kitchen Floor: A Comic Look at Depression), is dangerously close to completion.

The Pink Card Club is about three women who, unsatisfied with their love lives, devise a plan to get dates and be happy. They create the PCC and establish the guidelines a single girl needs to find a bunkmate. It is shot as a mockumentary, and perhaps rightly so, because the PCC really exists and two of its members are producing this loose version of their story.

Massing and Swain cowrote the pilot, with Glynis Whiting directing. Swain, Linda Kerenko and Cathy Derkach star. All three have backgrounds in comedy performance and improvisation, which served them well as much of the dialogue was improvised, based on story parameters outlined by Massing and Swain.

Massing and Swain, who believe the mockumentary will be a blooming genre going forward, liken their program to a mix of a reality dating TV show and HBO’s Sex in the City.

The Pink Card Club was shot on video on a budget of roughly $50,000, with funding from private investors and the National Film Board’s Filmmakers Assistance Program.

The producers hope to find interest from a broadcaster soon to realize their 13-episode goal. They are also looking to develop an interactive component whereby women from around the world could share dating tips via www.pinkcardclub.com.