Montreal: Filming gets underway in Toronto in early May on the first 22 hours of Gene Roddenberry’s Battleground Earth, a new science-fiction action series from the creator the hugely successful Star Trek franchise.

The series heralds new heights for Atlantis Communications, the show’s producer. The company is projecting delivery of an unprecedented 100 hours of filmed drama in 1997.

Battleground Earth will be produced in association with Tribune Entertainment of l.a., with reports Tribune has closed first-run, pre-natpe syndication sales to over 50% of the u.s. market.

The series chronicles the conquest of the planet by an alien invading force.

Exceptionally, for a Roddenberry series, Battleground is set on Earth, in the very near future.

‘The idea behind it is that the aliens have come to Earth three years before and have been a compassionate, benign group that have provided us with a lot of solutions to the planet’s problems – cancer, overpopulation. However, there are still many who suspect another hidden agenda, and you know what, they’re right,’ says Seaton McLean, president of Atlantis Films.

Design for the aliens is in the earliest stages, ‘but they won’t have two heads and nine eyes. They’re going to be sexy,’ suggests McLean. Rick Okie (Renegade, Major Dad, Quantum Leap) is series’ head writer.

Battleground will shoot for nine or 10 months through to mid-December ’97 and will feature extensive cgi and blue-screen cinematography. A cgi supplier has not been determined, says McLean.

Tribune has first-run syndication rights in the u.s. while Atlantis Releasing holds world rights including Canada.

Atlantis also holds merchandising rights outside the u.s.

Atlantis Releasing president Ted Riley predicts a ‘merchandising bonanza’ for the new series.

The ‘other’ Roddenberry property, Star Trek, has generated literally billions of dollars in franchise revenue in the past two decades. And while Riley says that may not be the goal, Battleground Earth is definitely on a serious money mission.

‘We think there’s as much money involved in the merchandising as there is in the televising of this.’

Riley is in daily contact with Tribune developing a merchandising game plan. Toys, publications, collectibles, games and home video are the key categories.

‘We can devise these wonderful Machiavellian schemes to get money out of the marketplace for merchandising, but if the show d’esn’t work it d’esn’t matter a pinch.ŠThe show has to work. That is the bottom line,’ says Riley.

Atlantis hopes to announce a major merchandising program at natpe (New Orleans, Jan. 13-16), as well as bring the series into a full cost-coverage position (via a couple of major foreign presales).

Unprecedented volume for ’97

Atlantis will deliver 88 hours in ’96, up from 86.5 last year. In ’97, the company is projecting the delivery of 100 hours of filmed drama, unprecedented in Canadian production history.

This fall, Atlantis delivered new episodes of:

– Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (total, 22 hours): hosted by Dan Aykroyd, the program is seen on the CanWest Global System in Canada and is distributed by syndicator Eyemark (a unit of cbs) in the u.s. cgi is being handled by CORE Digital Pictures in Toronto and the show has just been sold to Radio-Canada.

– The Adventures of Sinbad (22 hours): the top-rated new one-hour action show in u.s. syndication, Sinbad is being filmed in Capetown, South Africa, and in Toronto (models, inserts and cgi at Toronto’s Calibre Digital Design). Global is the Canadian broadcaster. The u.s. syndicator is All-American Television.

– Traders (26 hours): broadcast on Lifetime in the u.s. and Global in Canada, Traders recently wrapped its second season.

– The Outer Limits: produced in association with Trilogy Entertainment and shot in Vancouver, 44 new one-hour episodes are being filmed, bringing the total to 88 hours (86 one-hours and a two-hour premiere episode). TMN-The Movie Network and Superchannel have first window, followed by Global and Montreal’s cfcf-tv. mgm is the u.s. distributor. Showtime had first u.s. window.

– Flash Forward (26 half-hours): 22 half-hours of this new ‘tween, live-action, comedy series are shooting in Toronto; four were shot late last fall. The series premiered on abc this fall and is Atlantis’ first presale to The Disney Channel (abc’s owner). It premiers in Canada in January on Family Channel, with a second window on Global.

– Two tv movies: Keeping the Promise, a pioneering-era story sold to cbs and ctv, and We The Jury, produced in association with All-American for u.s. cable net USA Network. It aired on ctv in October.

Turning it around

Tight margins on TekWars and The Outer Limits and a write-down on its library were the source of big financial headaches last year, but those commitments set the stage for Battleground Earth, says McLean. ‘We wouldn’t be a contender for Battleground Earth if we hadn’t done TekWars and The Outer Limits.’

McLean says Atlantis is the natural producer for the series based on its reputation in science-fiction and the fact it has successfully broken into u.s. syndication with three shows on air.

Per Riley, Atlantis has emerged from a two-year ‘struggle’ with ‘better people and better time-management.’

The company expects the new production lineup to generate better margins.

Better penetration

The new slate including Battleground Earth points to ‘better market penetration, better unit price(s), but more significantly, better ancillary revenue,’ says Riley.

Atlantis is reporting top-line revenues for the first nine months of ’96 of $91.6 million, with net earnings of $5.3 million or an eps of $0.56.

Louis Rose, Atlantis’ executive vp and cfo, says the turnaround in operating earnings reflects the new delivery slate and a one-time gain on the sale of ytv ($3.5 million).

Life Network, 80% owned by Atlantis and one of a select group of specialty channels with gains this fall, reported third-quarter revenues of $5.2 million, up from $2.9 million last year.

Rose says there should be a ‘marginal’ increase in top-line revenues in ’96 (above the $136.6 million in ’95). The company’s stock price has risen in recent weeks to the $7.10 level. Atlantis’ market cap is between $70 million and $75 million, with management holding about 45% of the stock.

Per Rose, Atlantis’ current yearly library revenues are ‘in the double-digit million dollar’ range.

As of October, Sinbad is the season’s top-rated new one-hour action series in u.s. syndication with a 3.3 rating.

Commenting on the American syndication market, McLean says players simply can’t afford to pay out at the same level as the networks, which makes Canada an especially attractive production partner.

Licence fees for network shows tend to be in the us$1.4 million to us$1.5 million range, 15% to 20% higher for shows like er and NYPD Blue. Syndie shows average between us$900,000 and us$1 million.

‘In the case of the networks, you are at (their) beck and call because they are paying practically the whole shot and the stakes are so large,’ says McLean. ‘There are so many executives working at each of the big networks justifying their jobs they each have to have their two-cents’ worth, whereas the syndicators are typically lean companies that don’t have a lot of excess baggage or executives hanging around.’

Riley says Atlantis’ advantage is that it can produce shows under Canadian content rules and leverage its position with an aggressive international push resulting in a lower risk for the u.s. partner, ‘to the point where they can make money with a show with a 3 or 3.5 rating where it used to be a 4 or a 5. And that quite simply is the game.’

If a syndie-financed show can stretch to three or four seasons, cable and other revenue potential opens. ‘It’s a good game for everybody if American syndicators partner up with Canadian companies. I know Eyemark and All-American have found that out.’

Road to NATPE

Atlantis’ primary push for renewals at NATPE ’97 will be on Psi Factor, which has a 3 rating in syndication, and Sinbad. ‘We think Battleground will be pretty much sold by the time we get to natpe,’ says Riley.

Riley says a ‘flood’ of new one-hour action shows has been introduced in the past two years.

‘It’s the only (category) at natpe that seems to be buoyant (outside the distinct children’s market). There is a continuing appetite for these shows, the thing is, are they affordable?’

Many of the new action shows are being filmed in Canada – f/x is shot in Toronto; Viper, Two, Poltergeist and Outer Limits are all shot in Vancouver. The only new top-10 action syndication series shot in the u.s. this year is Cape.

Tribune is the second largest tv station group owner in the u.s.

It is selling Battleground Earth on a bartered, double-run basis. The program is made available in exchange for commercial time, typically on a 50/50 split, with the ratings factored as the combination of two broadcasts within a limited time period.