Costume and fashion designers take note. After nearly two years of delays, word is Toronto will be the locale for a new daily soap opera called Empire, much in the style of Family Passions.

The series, a Canada/u.k. coproduction about the sportswear industry, is 260 half-hours.

Dale Faulkner of CineCapital, who set up the German deal for Family Passions, is packaging the deal. He says he hasn’t got an official green light, but confirms ‘we’re expected to be in production later this summer and have a fall delivery.’

If the series goes ahead, it will mean six or seven months of steady shooting in the city.

New developments for Delmage

Producer John Delmage has two features and two series in development, an order from ytv for 13 episodes of a third series and plans to take one of the features into production in late fall. The line-up covers anything from a cockroach-hosted kids show, the plight of a Canadian steelworker’s family as told from a teenage girl’s point of view to a Norwegian tale of twisted truths, intimidation and identity.

Between Strangers, a project brought to Delmage by writer/ director Sandy Stern (Gridlock, Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story), is based on the book Under the Evening Sky by Finn Carling. It’s about two men – a Canadian and a Brit – who meet in Greece, trade life stories, and play games of truth and deception. The upper hand is held, predictably, by the Brit while the Canadian plays the polite, sheepish fellow.

Delmage says the project has been a labor of love for Stern and the two are in discussion with a couple of Canadian companies about producing the project here. Initially, plans were to make the film as a coproduction with nrk of Norway, but Delmage says the Canadian option is preferable. ‘We can shoot it here, in and around Toronto, if we go with one of the two companies (here).’

The second feature Delmage is working on is Marine Life, a project long in development with partner Stromhaus Productions of Toronto. The film now has u.k. production company The Grueber Brothers attached. Delmage says he is about to sign a Canadian writer to the film for a final rewrite but can’t say who just yet. Grueber partners are director Stefan Schwartz and producer Richard Holmes (The Lake).

Plans are to take it into preproduction this fall in Hamilton, Ont., a location Delmage is keen on for its look. ‘It’s a great place and no one has used it,’ he says.

Also in development is Magick, a series Delmage is producing with creator Maryke McEwen (Street Legal, The Diary of Evelyn Lau) for the cbc. It’s in very early stages of development, but so far it looks like it will be a late-night, one-hour drama about witches and witchcraft.

McEwen says the story revolves around a contemporary coven of witches and warlocks. There’s a cop, a computer nerd, a psychiatrist and an actress who share a love of Wicca.

Delmage is currently looking for a u.k. coproducer to make the series with.

Last but not least on the list is Freaky Stories, the Steve Schnier-created kids series based in part on such classic urban tales as the alligator in the drain. Live-action host is Larry Spinstales and the series – except for Larry – is animation. ytv has ordered 13 episodes for the fall of 1997 and Delmage says they are busy in development on the storyboards with plans to hire ‘a host of writers.’

The road to Mandalay

It’s a tossup between Pittsburgh and Toronto, but if the coin falls in Toronto’s favor, Mandalay Entertainment’s Desperate Measures will be headed here for a summer shoot.

Barbet Schroeder is directing and coproducing, and starring are Michael Keaton and Andy Garcia.

One source says the story is something like Die Hard in a hospital. An outrageously evil convict, harnessed in the tightest security, is needed for a bone marrow transplant. The ailing recipient is a member of a cop’s family so the heat is turned up to get the villain’s marrow, even if it means risking security. The cop gets his way; the kook/criminal escapes and mayhem ensues.

Coproducers are Lee Rich, Garry Foster and Susan Hoffman. The script was written by David Klass and Neal Jimenez.

In prepro

Norstar’s new feature, Word of Honour, is in preproduction with director Sidney Furie, stars Lorenzo Lamas, Roy Scheider and Gary Busey, and has producer Peter Simpson attached. The story is an espionage/murder yarn centered on a renegade fbi agent, his lovely but inexperienced partner and a psychopath who was sexually mutilated in Vietnam.

Reid strikes a chord

Since the last issue of Playback, Lounge! A Hipster’s Guide to Cocktail Music filmmaker Alison Reid has received some bon mots from the industry about her ‘popumentary,’ and best of all is word that Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging; Four Rooms) is interested in acting as executive producer. Then the phone rang and Disney’s Hollywood Records was at the other end, saying they are keen to do the sound track. At this rate, Reid may indeed be able to snag some of the bigger talents like ole Blue-eyes.

Still no quiet on the Westren front

Latest news is that Toronto comedy writer Steve Westren has signed an option with a guaranteed rewrite with Caravan for his feature screenplay Norman Snaps. It’s the story of a guy who discovers he’s got three days to live and tries to cram everything he has ever wanted to do into his last days of living.

‘It was my booby prize at the Canadian Film Centre,’ says Westren of his 1993 residency. ‘When I didn’t get a short film, they gave me some money.’

If Caravan likes the rewrite, there’s ‘a big whacking purchase fee’ at the end of the rainbow.

Westren’s also got a deal with Gerald Ciccoritti (Straight Talk; Paris, France) on the go. Formaldehyde is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about a 20-year-old who works in the funeral business.

Westren had the honor of working in a funeral home when he ‘bottomed out’ of art college. It was the funniest job he has ever held, he says. ‘There’s so much ritual and so much that can go wrong, and everyone is so solemn and somber. The tension and stress gets to the breaking point, and backstage with the boys becomes hysterically funny.’

Westren wrote the first draft; he and Ciccoritti will cowrite the second and they are currently looking for a producer.