Director Vic Sarin is not eating lunch with the cast and crew today. While they line up in a church hall not far away, preparing to chow down on the mandatory midday feast, Sarin sits at the kitchen table in a house north of Yonge and Eglinton, contemplating the work cut out for him this afternoon.

‘It gets so hectic, I take this time to collect my thoughts.’

The house is vintage 1960s – heavy glass light fixtures, lots of detail, backstairs, pantry, and bright yellow paint cracking charmingly in the kitchen. The backyard is huge, by Toronto standards.

Sarin – who’s helmed film and tv projects like Cold Comfort, Trial at Fortitude Bay, Wind At My Back and Millennium – is halfway through In His Father’s Shoes, the first project from Patrick Whitley’s Temple Street Productions. Having produced 25 cable features and one theatrical feature through Dufferin Gate Productions (most of which were made for u.s. cable net Showtime), Whitley formed Temple Street to produce Canadian content exclusively, focusing initially on family fare for tv.

And In His Father’s Shoes, written by Gary Gelt, is family fare. It’s the story of Frank and Clay Crosby, a 40-year-old father and his 15-year-old son. After his father’s death, Clay – with the help of some wing-tipped shoes given to him by a gypsy – travels back in time and finds himself in 1962, magically becoming his father as a boy. Skipping back and forth between the present and past, Clay learns more about the experiences which made his father the man he was.

‘I think it’s one of the most wonderful scripts I’ve come across in my life,’ says Sarin. ‘It not only deals with human values, but it deals with the most important subject of death. We don’t talk much about death in this society, we tend to try and package it. And here’s a film for kids tackling what it means to be left behind after a death in the family.’

The picture, which will air on Citytv in Canada and on Showtime in the u.s., stars young American Robert Ri’Chard as Clay, Rachel Crawford (Rude, When Night Is Falling) as Celeste, and Lou Gossett Jr. in a number of leading roles. Gossett is also an executive producer.

Aside from the added location and budget crunches inherent in shooting a period piece for tv, Sarin says casting was one of the biggest hurdles.

‘It’s the story of a black family, and that sounded wonderful. But we have a limited market of black actors in the country, and they don’t get used in many films so their experience is also limited. On the positive side, the people we got are totally committed because they have so few opportunities to be in stories based on black families.’

Another tough task was finding a young star to carry the picture. Ri’Chard is in virtually every scene. ‘It’s a very big load for a kid,’ says Sarin. ‘He had to learn to roller-skate, learn the old dances, and he had to be able to pull off the comedy of playing one role inside the body of another role.’

Plus he had to wear the 1960s clothes. When asked about the checked pants and pastel cardigans, the response is a grimace. Apparently, the ensemble wouldn’t be a hit back in l.a., or here either.

While Whitley says there isn’t another project on Temple Street’s production slate yet, the company is actively soliciting material. Sheila Hockin – whose 17-year career spans drama, docs and features – has been taken on as the company’s director of development. For now, the focus is on family-oriented, long-form tv product in the $2.5-$3 million range, with an eye to series production somewhere down the road.

‘Obviously,’ says Whitley, ‘I’m able to take advantage of the relationships I have with American studios and distributors through Dufferin Gate.’ In the last year, Dufferin Gate branched out to produce for clients other than Showtime, namely USA Network and Largo Entertainment.

Meanwhile, back in the house, not a half-hour after lunch, craft service is attempting to circulate in the close quarters, handing out cappuccino and treats to one and all. But behind closed doors, Sarin is blocking out the next scene. He has the unenviable task of directing Celeste (played by Crawford) on how to teach the even younger Clay to authentically replicate The Twist – music and movements popular long before at least one of the actors was born. Perhaps that’s what he was contemplating so deeply at lunch.