Vancouver: Scams, Schemes and Scoundrels ­ a catchy title and one that obviously captured the eye of New York-based Arts and Entertainment. The two-hour ‘docutainment’ special, produced by Vancouver’s Ark Films, recounts the most clever and conniving scams that have ever been successfully pulled off.

The two-hour special, developed by Suzanne Chapman, Ark’s head of creative development, and Howard Dancyger, represents the first time Ark has made a direct sale of an in-house-developed project to a u.s. network. a&e has also picked up the option to spin the special into a series.

The show will be hosted by James Randi, former magician, well-known author, speaker and scam debunking authority.

Aerlyn Weissman, who picked up a best short documentary Genie earlier this month for Fiction And Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule, will direct the special.

Production gets underway sometime in April.

In other Ark news, prolific television writer Hart Hanson (North of 60, Road To Avonlea, Poltergeist, etc.), who recently wrote the pilot for the slick new CanWest Global series Traders, is to develop a dramatic one-hour series, The Street, set in the turbulent, life-and-death world of street kids.

Last year, Ark produced the award-winning miniseries Eye Level, an examination of the stark reality of life for street kids.

Producers Alan Morinis and Leonard Terhoch say while the new project is not creatively linked to Eye Level, it was while working on the project that they realized there was market potential to support an ongoing series.

Honeymoon begins

Victoria-based David Gordian of Gordian Films heads into production early next month on his theatrical feature Honeymoon (formerly Land’s End) over on Vancouver Island after a brief delay papering the deal prior to Christmas.

The film, about a man who is driven to despair by the death of his son, has been picked up for u.s. distribution by Dove International (which has an output deal with Paramount) and Twin Dolphin in Canada.

Starring is Stephen Shellen (A River Runs Through It, Casual Sex). Ironically, Shellen was cast before Gordian discovered his lead actor was in fact a Victoria native. Gordian says Shellen’s mom Dotti is positively thrilled.

Joan Carr-Wiggin, who wrote the script, will also direct.

PMP heads into high gear

After scoring two Genies earlier this month for its family feature Magic in the Water, Pacific Motion Pictures has a busy year lined up.

First, a remake of the 1950 James Stewart classic Harvey, about a delightful tippler and his invisible pal, a six-foot rabbit.

Produced for Hallmark Entertainment, pmp’s version will star Harry Anderson of Night Court fame. Lisa Towers will produce. A Canadian director has yet to be selected. Filming gets underway in early April.

While Target Earth, a sci-fi adventure miniseries produced for l.a.-based Davis Entertainment, languishes in ‘rewrite hell,’ pmp is turning its attention to The Spree, an action/ adventure for mgm. The feature, to be directed by Tom McLaughlin (Leave Of Absence), is about a female cat burglar who inadvertently becomes romantically involved with the cop trying to hunt her down.

And come July, Matthew O’Connor will doff his pmp president’s cap to produce the feature film Smart Alec, starring that bald beauty Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation).

Described as a cross between Die Hard and Home Alone, it’s the story of a young boy who uncovers a kidnapping plot at an exclusive boarding school where the children of the city’s elite are taken hostage for ransom. This represents the third time pmp has linked up with l.a.-based Triumph Pictures to produce a feature.

A Canadian cast and director have yet to be chosen.

Bits and bites

The phones have been ringing non-stop at the Disney Vancouver office ever since the toon meisters announced they would be hiring some 200 animators for their new Vancouver and Toronto studios.

Diane Johnson, spokesperson for Disney in town, says the locale choice has been narrowed down to The Landing building in Gastown or the top two floors of the new library. Johnson says Disney is waiting to see how hiring g’es before choosing the site.

‘Interestingly,’ she says, ‘we’ve got lots of animators in Toronto willing to move to Vancouver, but none in Vancouver willing to go the other way.’ Go figure.

– Word has it Universal’s The Green Hornet got a blast of bug spray last month when its star, George Clooney (er), was purchased out of his contract by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks for a feature film they’re shooting.

Apparently, Green Hornet producer Larry Gordon still wants to do the picture with Clooney in Vancouver, so he’s playing the waiting game.

– She Woke Up Pregnant, a new O’Hara Horowitz Productions mow shooting in town takes the most titillating title award of the month. The film, starring Michele Greene (L.A. Law), Theresa Saldana (The Commish) and William Moses (Mystic Pizza), begins three weeks of filming Jan. 31

– New City Films begins production next month in Vancouver on the tv movie Red Alert (formerly Zig Zag) based on a novel by Alistair MacLean.

The film, about an ecoterrorist who threatens to destroy the world with a pandemic deadly virus, is produced by Peter Snell and Chris Courtney, and directed by David Jackson. It stars Russell Crowe (Virtuosity), Alexandra Paul (Baywatch) and William Devane.