The British Columbia Motion Picture Association’s Brenda Collins deemed this year’s natpe a very vibrant market overall, with the three private screening rooms in its booth seeing a lot of action: ‘I literally saw people inking deals before my eyes.’ bcmpa went with 30 delegates from 14 companies, and also touted b.c. via a cd-rom full of shoot info. They are planning to head to New Orleans next Jan. 13-16 for natpe, the sequel.

Here’s a roundup of their delegates’ action:

Mickey Rogers called it a good market for Forefront, where Madison was sold into Korea. Some u.s. broadcasters saw the youth show for the first time, and based on the reaction, Rogers is confidant it will sell into the States this year.

Fishing & Boating Television News executive producer Robert Spicer sold his 13-episode one-hour series to the Outdoor Channel. The series from Vancouver-based Marine Video Distributions is piloting now and will air March 3.

M.S.I. Entertainment, another Spicer company, sold its Real Action Pictures product – nine movies to Korea, and two movies and six tv episodes to Japan – and is in negotiation with six other territories.

Also doing Canadian deals at natpe, Soma Productions sold Life Network 26 more half-hours of Nature Walk, and heads into production April 1 for season two. Soma head Deepak Sahasrabudhe has a another series on the verge, ‘with very strong interest’ from a u.s. cable channel.

Starlight Films president Jonathon Kay signed a deal with l.a.-based Trident Releasing for foreign theatrical, home video and tv rights to Starlight, a feature written and directed by Kay starring Willie Nelson. Astral will be releasing the sci-fi adventure pic theatrically in Canada this spring/summer. After intensive f/x work (150 of ’em) the final release print was ready Feb. 7.

At natpe, Kay procured a Starlight German tv sale, to be determined by the bids of the vying nets – Betafilm, Euro Arts, and RTL Plus are also after Kay’s series Walking After Midnight.

Kay formed an alliance with a German production company to provide a German host for the 13-episode half-hour series, which features the supernatural experiences of stars such as Martin Sheen and Ringo Starr.

The series, currently in post, has offers from Discovery u.k. as well as Channel 4 interest, with confirmed acquisition intent also from: TV2/Danmark, Finland’s YLE-TV2, France’s TF1, Australia’s Channel Nine, and Rome’s Orbit Communications wants Middle Eastern rights. And in the u.s., cbs is among the networks interested. Unsurprisingly, another 13 episodes of the privately financed series are on the drawing board.

Eva Wunderman of Dusmar Productions – who decided to make her first natpe trek at the last minute when Discovery u.s. called her for a meeting – found it ‘totally worthwhile.’ Wunderman is working on Ancient Voices, a six-part doc series that brings forward wisdom of the past, which Discovery is ‘very interested in’ developing further, and which also gleaned nhk attention.

Radical Entertainment, an independent game developer in Vancouver, pitched a series in conjunction with animation company Natterjack. The series, based on Eurit, a game destined to hit the shelves for Christmas ’96, published and distributed by Virgin Interactive, received favor from distribution and merchandising entities, as well as North American broadcaster interest.