More than 600 women applied for only nine spots in Anne Wheeler’s 10-day Banff Centre workshop for women auteurs – called In the Director’s Chair – which ended Jan. 28.

The filmmaker was surprised by the deluge of interest, but modest enough to deflect presumptions that her name is a big draw.

‘My reputation is kind of obvious,’ says Wheeler, who has been nominated for three Gemini Awards this year. ‘Perhaps this indicates how many women there are out there with stories to tell.’

Since 1971, the former high school teacher has forged a career in filmmaking by telling a good tale. Two of her own which stand out as highlights include the feature Bye Bye Blues, a retelling of her mother’s life, and the mow A War Story, the tale of her father’s experience in wwii. She jokes that she is running out of family members and that her brother is ‘kinda worried.’

Wheeler is currently being lauded for her writing and producing credits for the televised biography Diana Kilmury: Teamster (produced with Barna-Alper Productions and Alliance Communications) and her direction credit in the Japanese internment mow The War Between Us (produced by Atlantis/Troika).

That three of the five Gemini nominees for Best TV Movie hail from b.c. indicates to Wheeler that there is some homegrown momentum developing on the West Coast in spite of the funding crisis and u.s. service distractions.

While she has dabbled in u.s. service production, she’s been able to carve out a tidy business in Canada. Also, her community is north of the border and her stories are set in Canada. ‘I could make a go of it in the u.s., but my soul would die if I moved down,’ says Wheeler. ‘I’m glad to be a part of the growth of indigenous work in b.c.’

She is currently directing The Sleep Room, which shoots for three months starting in February in Montreal. The miniseries – which tells the true story of cia-sponsored brainwashing experiments in Montreal – will air on cbc and is produced by Bernie Zukerman (Conspiracy of Silence, Dieppe) and Montreal-based Cinar.

In development, meanwhile, are Wheeler’s personal story about life in the 1960s and a feature – inspired by the book To All Appearances a Lady – about the opium industry in Victoria at the turn of the century. Shooting for the feature – renamed My Father’s Daughter – is scheduled for this fall.

Wheeler is also collaborating with Sharon McGowan and Peg Campbell on the feature Sex & Chocolate, with Ogden Gavanski on Oh Boy and with some u.s. partners ready to bring their capital north to shoot Mrs. Mike, a period romance set against the backdrop of the rcmp.

‘The world is getting smaller,’ says Wheeler, about making a go of the film business in Canada. ‘The thing I keep holding on to is the story.’