Not to be outdone by the mythical reference in its name or the space age worlds of some of its high-profile projects, Atlantis Communications ‘arranged for an eclipse of the sun’ to follow its first annual meeting as a public company.

So said company ceo Michael MacMillan as he cheerfully delivered the script in the formal section of the production house’s presentation for shareholders and guests earlier this month. The meeting, in east Toronto, was held in one of the Cinevillage studios adjacent to the set for the TekWar series.

Back on earth, meantime, businesses become mythic based on bottom-line performance and space age thinking is most profitably put to use to drive up that bottom line. Atlantis seems to be faring very well on earth and predicts many bright tomorrows with plans for an additional $45 million in new production in 1994, bringing its slate to the $110 million mark (and the 110-hour mark) for this year.

Figures released at press time show the optimism well-founded so far: unaudited financial results for first-quarter 1994 show net earnings up 70% and revenues up 69% over the same period in 1993. Earnings per share for the quarter ending March 31, 1994 were 18 cents compared with 15 cents for the same period last year.

20% increases

Company president Kevin Shea also reaffirmed Atlantis’ plans to increase production by 20% in each of the next five years. Shea told the meeting the new productions include two series and a tv movie. The first series is Mysterious Island, a 26 half-hour family adventure series ‘based on Jules Verne’s classic novel’ and carrying a $10 million budget. Scheduled to shoot in July, the project involves Atlantis, The Fremantle Corporation, Cypress Releasing and Moxie Movie.

The connection with Fremantle is interesting in terms of future business ventures. Fremantle is wholly owned by Paul Talbot who has a business relationship with the Interpublic Group of Companies, which holds close to a 20% stake in Atlantis. The business relationship involves Fremantle International; Talbot says he owns 20% of Fremantle International while ipg – which owns major worldwide advertising agencies MacLaren:Lintas and McCann-Erickson, among other holdings – owns 80%.

Fremantle International is involved in producing local versions of some 80 game shows – such as The Price is Right and Family Feud – in markets around the world. It also adapts such sitcoms as The Honeymooners for foreign markets.

Sponsored programs

In certain cases, says Talbot, the development of a program in a particular territory fits nicely with clients on the roster of one of the ipg companies and so ipg can package sponsored programs rather than asking the broadcaster to sell ad time from the rate card. For instance, Talbot says, several years ago, one of ipg’s ad agencies bought Wheel of Fortune for Unilever (Lever Brothers, in Canada) in a European market.

It doesn’t work in all markets because ‘some networks are not in favor of this… and in a practical sense it doesn’t work in Britain,’ says Talbot, adding that it does occur a lot in Greece, Turkey, Spain and Belgium and less often in France, Germany, Hungary, Estonia and Poland.

Although Talbot says Atlantis has not ‘bartered’ any of its programs yet, it’s a scenario the company is investigating. ‘(Barter is) good for an advertiser if they have a lot of brands,’ says Talbot, explaining that game shows typically run five nights a week. ‘ibm or General Motors (ipg clients) might be better (suited) to (bartering) Atlantis programs,’ he adds.

The second series is called Outer Limits. It’s a 22×1-hour science-fiction drama series to be produced by Atlantis and mgm with a budget in excess of $30 million. Shooting in Vancouver is set to start in August.

The third new addition to the ’94 slate is Man In The Attic, a tv movie set to go before the cameras in July in Toronto. Atlantis will produce this drama with CBS Productions for airing on cbs and Showtime.

On the down side in production, Atlantis has nixed production on a second season of WildSide, a $2 million ‘docu-venture’ series shown last year on Family Channel in Canada and on Nickelodeon in the u.s.

In other company news, Shea told the annual meeting Atlantis plans to ‘significantly expand program buying’ to enhance its ability to sell program packages. He also says the company will extend its vertical integration into the studio business, adding that the two studios hosting the annual meeting and luncheon are half-owned by Atlantis and half by Doug Dales of P.S. Productions.

New vice-president

Shea also told the meeting Atlantis has a new vice-president of international coproductions, Don Reynolds, based in the London office. Meantime, there have also been additions in Atlantis’ l.a. office. Working under the direction of executive vice-president Peter Sussman are four new producers. They include: the team of Ed Gernon and Graham Flashner who wrote Atlantis’ tv movie Adrift; Roni Weisberg, who has authored several tv movies in the u.s. with Reeve Entertainment; and Barbara Title, whom Sussman says was ‘a senior movie executive’ with Showtime. Title works on a joint contract with Showtime and Atlantis.

While Sussman says the percentage of productions generated out of the l.a. office is a ‘moving target’, he estimates it accounts for one-third of Atlantis’ total, a figure which continues to grow.