Top cat Disney ponders B.C. move while ‘Billy’ copes with life as a cat

Vancouver: First it was Cannell Films, then it was Spelling Television, and now it’s Disney. The names of companies settling in Vancouver recently just keep getting bigger. Although representatives from Disney have declined to talk to me about plans to open an animation studio in the city, word from the B.C. Film Commission is that the cartoon king has scheduled a press conference here for March 1 to make the big announcement. Stay Tooned.

Making headway

Speaking of animation, local Vancouver producer Herve Bedard of NOA Network Of Animation is progressing in his plans to make his animated series Billy The Cat as an official France/Canada coproduction. French partners are Patrick Moine of La Film De Triangle and Jean Francois Laguionie of La Fabrique.

The series is based on a Belgian comic book about a young boy, who, after years of tormenting animals, is transformed by magic into a poor little puny cat. The action concerns his attempts to cope in his new life.

If all goes well, Canada will take a minority position in the deal, with 25% of production and all the posting earmarked for Vancouver. The balance of production take place in France.

Apparently WIC Western International Communications, which has been involved in the development of the series, is also taking a good look at participating in the production of 26 half-hours. Canal Famille of France is already on board for development funding, as is British Columbia Film.

Mo money?

At press time, the b.c. government was still debating the nature and extent of continued funding for the province’s film industry as it fiddles with next year’s budget.

‘What’s at stake here is the core funding for British Columbia Film, whether or not a private investment incentive program is established, and the B.C. Loan Guarantee Program,’ says Wayne Sterloff, ceo of British Columbia Film.

He says under the previous Social Credit government, the provincial film funding agency enjoyed a multi-year contract of $5 million per annum. Last year, the ndp government reduced that amount to $4.6 million and eliminated the multi-year contract, which means the agency has to fight each year to hold on to its allocation.

Sterloff says it’s pushing for a return to the $5 million commitment, but are bracing for even further cuts.

Meanwhile, the provincial government’s infatuation with Hollywood continues. Word has it Allan Krasnick, the local industry’s man with the ndp’s ear, has been hired on contract to squire new b.c. Minister of Culture Bill Barlee around not-so-angelic l.a. and environs during the next American Film Market, coming up later this month in Santa Monica.

Barlee’s predecessor, Darlene Marzari, was equally infatuated with the power brokers of Tinsel Town, and always made an appearance during market time to show her support for the industry. But she didn’t ever really do anything for it. Here’s hoping Barlee can talk the talk and walk the walk.

Bowling them over

Somehow I’ve never thought of bowling as too hip a sport (maybe it’s just my aversion to rental shoes) and not exactly one that Angelenos would flock to. But come American Film Market time, North American Pictures’ annual bowling party, held across from Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, is the hot ticket in town.

This year, na president and ceo Lloyd Simandl says maybe they’ll throw in a cake along with the hot dogs and chips to celebrate the Vancouver-based company’s 10th anniversary. Heck, that might not seem a long time to anyone in Toronto, but in Vancouver terms, an active production company that’s actually been doing business for a whole decade is big news.

Along with the grub, Simandl says he’ll have four new pictures ready to pitch to the hungry hordes.:

– Heaven’s Tears, a romantic love story set in Prague during 1939. Written by Vancouver-based author Christopher Hyde, it’s a love story between a young Czechoslovakian woman and the son of a Nazi army official.

– Invasion of Privacy, a thriller also written by Hyde.

– The Hunted, an action adventure flick in The Fugitive vein.

– Bodily Harm, another thriller written by Jonas Quastel and Michael Basaro, who also wrote na’s latest feature, Crackerjack, which has its premiere screening at the market this year as well.

New starts

George Chapman, who was ousted as president of IATSE Local 891 late last year after dedicating more than a decade to the technician’s union, has already found himself a new career. This time around he’ll use his well-honed negotiating skills on the other side of the table. He is now apprenticing as a production manager with CineVu Productions’ Fast Lane under longtime pm buddy Les Kimber.

No word yet on a replacement for IATSE Local 669 business agent Pete Mitchell, who left at the end of last year to take a well-earned break from union business and travel in Africa for a few months. Ross Kelsay, who sits on the Local 669 board, has taken on the duties of acting business agent until the position is filled in early March.

Orchard flying high

Nick Orchard has been a busy boy of late. This month he finalized the purchase of Primedia Pictures’ shares in Soapbox Productions, the company which produces the hit teen dramatic series Northwood (see story p. 2). At press time, he was still awaiting from cbc on a renewal order for next season.

Orchard’s also been chalking up his 1994 air miles. He’s been in l.a. talking with the networks and in London, Eng. discussing a possible coproduction deal for his latest project, Drawn Together.

The live-action/character comedy, set in an animation house and written by cartoonist Lynn Johnston of For Better or For Worse fame, is in development with pay-tv net Superchannel, owned by WIC Western International Communications.

The scripts for the new series hopeful have been written by Rick Drew along with Chuck and Jamie Tatham, executive story editors from the ABC series Full House.

Just looking?

It’s been a brisk winter for scouting in Vancouver. Producers Tony To and Fred Gerber of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment were in town recently hunting for just the right ‘moonscapes’ on which to film the pilot for a new tv series entitled Earth II. The big-budget pilot episode, described as a cross between Wagon Train and Star Trek, will be low on stars and high on special effects.

– After spending the better part of three months scouting New Zealand, Iceland and Hawaii to film Disney’s epic feature Journey to the Center of the Earth, local producer/pm Justis Greene is back in town and trying to make the film work to shoot only in Vancouver. Needless to say, The Bridge Studios, crews and all the service companies have their fingers crossed, or is it their eyes from all the dollar signs flashing by.

– Word around town this week is that the elusive Spelling Television Canada is about to get busy again even though its Arbutus St. studio facilities have been leased out to other productions. Now Spelling’s scouting around for alternative space in which to shoot pilots for two potential series, Robin’s Hoods and Heaven Help Us.

A spokesperson from Spelling Television in l.a. says no exact dates have been set and won’t be until licence fees are negotiated and locked with the networks. But Spelling hopes to start filming in Vancouver later this spring.

– And good-news comedian Chevy Chase evidently does have a life after being dumped from his tres embarrassing run as a talk show host on the Fox Network. He’ll be in town next month to begin work on a new Disney feature entitled Pals Forever.

Oops!

Oh yes, and my apologies to Ross Weber. Apparently in a previous column I gave his writing credit on The Michelle Apartments to producer Stephen Hegyes. Ah, but think of it this way, Ross, your film gets mentioned twice.