Susan Cavan, head of Toronto-based Accent Entertainment, has a penchant for good, homegrown comedy, and it’s reflected in her company’s brimming production slate for 1995.

Despite the fact Canadians are not exactly heralded for our comedic output at home (it’s great elsewhere), Cavan sees a slow but sure change. ‘We’re pushing the boundaries of commercial comedy in tv and looking for new formats that are comedy but not conventional sitcom.’

Cavan says Twitch City, a new six-part series for cbc, is a prototype on this new frontier. Created by the original and very funny Don McKellar, the half-hour series is about what happens when life and love interfere with a couch potato’s tv viewing habits. McKellar will star as the mobility-challenged vegetable and feature filmmaker Bruce McDonald will executive produce (via his company, Shadow Shows) with Cavan.

Plans are to start production in August or September in Toronto.

Also in the works with Shadow Shows is Yummy Fur, the passion of McDonald who’s been persevering in development on this feature film project for years.

McKellar and John Frizell are writing the script based on the cult comic book by Chester Brown. The film is described as ‘a wild, dark adventureÉthat pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable.’

A snippet from the film’s collection of scenarios finds lead character Ed the Happy Clown in trouble when the head of a president from another dimension becomes attached to his penis. And just how did that happen? It’s very complicated, says Cavan.

The feature will be a combination of live action and computer animation. The search for an animation company is underway.

Cavan says they are hoping to start production in early ’96, with McDonald at the helm. The Ontario Film Development Corporation and Telefilm Canada are funding development.

Also on the funny front is Work, a first feature written and to be directed by Bruce McCulloch (Kids in the Hall) and coproduced with Broadway Video International and Lorne Michaels.

Production is expected to start this fall in Toronto on the surreal comedy about the four-letter word.

In August, Cavan will gear up on a one-hour family comedy called Borgel. Based on a book by kids writer Daniel Pinkwater and starring Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Cavan says the premise is ‘where everything in the universe will be explained completely.’

It’s a live-action/animation/puppet mix produced with Jim Henson Productions for cbc, hbo and Buena Vista. Writer is Tim Burns and Cavan is currently on the hunt for a director. Plans are to start casting in June in Toronto. Cavan hopes the special will be the pilot for a half-hour series.

On the more serious side, Cavan has at least three other features at the packaging stage. She’s seeking ‘fairly substantial’ casting here (through John Comerford) and in the States.

The Fat Man, a $6 million feature to be directed by Steven Surjik, is about a Jewish con man who talks his way into the Italian Mafia and gets in over his head. Plans are to shoot in Toronto with some exteriors in New York City.

Hugh Graham (Palais Royale) is writing The Fat Man script as well as A Sudden Darkness, a suspense thriller about the destruction brought to bear on a bunch of friends by one bad apple. Theatrical wiz Des McAnuff (Tommy) will direct his first feature. Budget is somewhere in the $3 million range.

Joe’s So Mean to Josephine, written and directed by Peter Wellington (yes, the brother of David), will likely go to camera this fall in Toronto. The $1 million first feature is a dark romance set on the wrong side of the tracks.

Last but not least are two mows for cbc. One, Class Rebellion at Burger High, is the story of Sarah Inglis’ attempt to unionize McDonald’s workers. Cavan optioned the rights to her story and Jackie May (Material World) is writing the screenplay. ‘It’s a teenage movie,’ says Cavan, ‘and the message is to never trust anyone over 20.’

Gail Collins’ The Dead Aviators Club is the second cbc mow. The story is about a young girl who takes it upon herself to free the spirits of two cantankerous French wwii aviators. May is story editor on the project.

For the birds

Father Goose is a Columbia Pictures feature about Bill Lishman, the Canadian who went to such extremes to care for Canada geese, he flew some of them south in the winter. Cast is tba. Carroll Ballard (Never Cry Wolf) is directing, John Veitch is producing and John Eckert is associate producer/production manager. Plans are to shoot in Toronto mid-July through October. Expect some poetic licence.

They’re not Dumb, they’re Stupid

Apparently not in the tradition of the recent anti-intellectual plummet of Hollywood, Savoy Pictures and Imagine Films are producing a feature called The Stupids.

Based on the contemporary illustrated kids books by Harry Allard and James Marshall, the feature follows the adventures of the Stupid family, who are not low on the iq scale but have a ‘quirky take on life,’ according to one crew member.

Cameras roll June 5 to Aug. 15 in town. John Landis is directing, Leslie Belzberg is executive producer and Grace Gilroy is production manager. Casting is underway with Ross Clydesdale handling the job in Canada.

Mo’ Ma

Starting mid-May at Cinevillage, Rhombus Media will be shooting a one-hour dance rendition of the Purcell opera, Dido and Aneas. The Mark Morris dance company and Tafelmusik are the featured stars, with Morris playing the opera’s female leads (Aneas and a witch).

Barbara Willis Sweete is directing, Daniel Iron is producing, art director is Marion Wihak (September Songs), Milan Podsedly is shooting the film on Super 16mm, and Niv Fichman is executive producer. Broadcasters include Bravo!, cbc and Channel Four in the u.k.

Also in production at Rhombus is the third in a six-part series on Yo Yo Ma. Each installment pairs the supreme cellist with an artist from another discipline and is set to one of the six J.S. Bach cello suites, Ma’s signature pieces.

Francois Girard (Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould) directs part three, which links music and architecture through the work of early 19th century Italian architect Piranesi. Rhombus is using computer animation to reconstruct some of the Piranesi buildings since only one – in Rome – is still standing.

Production is underway now in Toronto and in Italy and will continue through the summer.

Fichman is producing, dop is Alain Dostie (Thirty-two Short Films) and Montreal-based Buzz is doing the computer animation.

tvontario is broadcasting in Canada and Sony Classical is handling video distribution.