Sadly, this tale will lose something in the telling. It would take a master story spinner to properly weave all the elements and subplots, because it involves supermarket tabloids, marathons, trade embargoes and Grandpa Munster. What is certain is that Zubin Hooshangi of Toronto’s Alive Film Company is producing a ‘gangster art film’ called Head, written and directed by Canadian Film Centre alumnus Joseph Pryce.

‘A film of this genre will die if it comes out of Canada,’ says Hooshangi, which is why the investors (who shall remain anonymous) are European and American. Most of the budget (which shall remain anonymous) was raised through ‘attention-getting’ in the u.s., including the writer and producer running a marathon.

The fact they decided to shoot a portion of the film in Cuba also raised some publicity in the home of anti-Castro-ism, and there’s a nebulous story about how a picture of Hooshangi in a tabloid spun off a story in the Miami dailies, which spun off coverage across the country. ‘We’ve learned a lot about dances with media,’ he says.

Anyway, right now Hooshangi says he’s getting regular, persistent calls from the likes of Columbia, and that’s a problem you don’t hear Canadian indies complaining about daily.

The producer and writer are adamant on retaining world rights to the property right now, and there’ll be no outside influence until the film’s in the can. But if a Canadian distrib wants Canada and only Canada, no problem. ‘We’re willing to sell off Canadian rights for a few bucks,’ says Hooshangi.

And about Grandpa Munster. The eternally typecast Al Lewis apparently ‘demanded’ one of the starring roles, and he’ll be joining a cast which also includes Shawn and Hansel Hyndman. The Toronto portion of Head is shooting until April 27.

-High speed to high-tech

It looks like David Cronenberg and Alliance are a happy couple. After weathering critical damnation and praise, distribution lows and highs, morality debates and a sea of ink for their first collaboration Crash, Cronenberg is reteaming with Alliance Pictures for his next project, an equally scary little picture called eXistenZ.

The film is set in the near future, where video game designers are the world’s movers and shakers and eXistenZ is a virtual-reality game that’s really real. Photography begins this fall, and casting is happening right now.

And speaking of Crash, Americans will get a chance to partake of the clamor this month. Fine Line Features has a u.s. release set for March 21.

-Johnny on the cheap

‘Totally on the hustle’ is how Carl Bessai describes his financing technique in the post-grant age. ‘We’re pushing the costs further down the line, shooting on Super 16 to blow it up later.’

Bessai and partner Tim Boyd are Raven Media, and their first feature project is a super-low-budget flick with the working title Johnny (not to be confused with the Pebblehut project Johnny 2.0). The duo worked together before on a short called Virtual, which saw the light of day on cbc and at the Sao Paulo Film Festival. Now they’re moving on to long-form with about $50,000 cash in hand, thanks to private investors.

Bridging the gap between short and long has its hazards, says Bessai. ‘There are so many hoops to jump through if you’re looking for Telefilm help, and we can’t even waste the time to apply for arts grants.’ But shoot they must and the result is Johnny, which Bessai calls ‘not a happy movie.’

Hoping to pull together experienced keys who are proficient in carefully constructing a grungy look – they’re talking to Curtis’s Charm dop Harold Bachman – Bessai is aiming for a ‘high-speed guerrilla’ feel.

The story revolves around a group of squeegee kids and their linchpin Johnny, a wayward middle-class kid with some issues – namely an abusive past that rears its ugly head in his own group dynamic. Happening upon some stolen gear, Johnny starts filming some media comments of his own.

The shoot is skedded for March 24, and the Raven duo will be working with a young and relatively inexperienced non-union cast. Distribution discussions are ongoing, and there’s a spark from at least one Canadian company.

With his head already into the next gig, Bessai says he’d like to work with some of the young people he met while researching for Johnny, helping them produce a doc of their own.

-Sound Venture’s ventures

As the Canadian cable landscape has expanded, so has the production slate at Neil Bregman’s Sound Venture Productions in Ottawa. In 1995 the company did four hours for tv. This year Bregman is expecting to do between 30 and 40 hours, depending on what is or isn’t greenlit by the newest specialties within the next month or so.

Right now, Sound Venture is finishing a performance special for cbc featuring Frank Augustyn, has an order for a third cycle of its dance series Footnotes from Bravo!, and is in preproduction on 26 more episodes of Homes By Design for Life and cycle two of the kids’ program Painting Pictures for CBC Playground.

Though his company had always been strong in terms of arts and cultural programming, Bregman says it was the opportunity Bravo! provided to do series work which opened other doors, particularly at the cbc.

‘There’s no doubt that the first round of specialties changed my business, but Bravo! gave us a jump-start, an opening, and we’ve been able to expand our relationships with other broadcasters from there.’

Bregman is now positioning the company as an arts, docs, lifestyle and – now that he’s a parent himself – children’s producer. He’s hoping there’ll be something of his on The History and Entertainment Network’s sked come fall, but in the meantime he’s developing and pitching two new kids’ properties and a food show for cbc daytime, a seven-part series on youth and job-hunting for Rogers Cable, and a number of projects for Bravo!

‘The Ottawa production sector is really well suited to the needs of the specialties,’ says Bregman. ‘We’re small and flexible, so a niche market works for us.’

-Random notes

No end in sight to Nelvana’s long-form production. With Pippi Longstocking ready to go in the fall and a second Babar feature being drawn right now, word has it that another feature-length project, Dr. DVS, is in the works as well.

The legions of producers waiting to hear what The History and Entertainment Network will greenlight are going be put out of their misery soon enough, we’re told. then’s Norm Bolen, who has no doubt been pitched near to death recently, says completed deals are close at hand.

At least two Toronto production companies are reported to be vying for deals on flagship-type series involving dramatic interpretations of historical figures and events.

-Other people’s money

James Buffin rounded up $1,200 at a fundraiser for his film The Stone Skipper, not $12,000 as was mentioned in ‘A bigger, better plan b’ in last issue’s Ontario Scene.