The art of Canadian drama production.

Even with the input of the new $100 million from the ctcpf, budgets over and above the $1-million-per-episode mark, and the ever increasing number of broadcast windows for Canadian productions, dramatic series stamped Made In Canada are still the most arduous of the program genres to sell and finance, not to mention produce.

How well it’s working is cause for speculation, but the bottom line after year one of the ctcpf is evident if only in the oversubscription tally and the frenetic union crews in the major centers. At the end of the summer there will be more Cancon programming in the offing than ever before. It’s a buyers’ ­ the broadcasters ­ market.

With that in mind, Playback went to the heads of original drama production at the six major networks to discuss the evolution of the flagship Canadian product on their 1997/98 schedules. How program strategy has evolved at their respective nets, the best means of reaching new audience, and blue-sky plans for drama production are all fodder for conversation in interviews with Loren Mawhinney, vp Canadian production for CanWest Global; Baton Broadcasting’s vp dramatic programming Bill Mustos; CTV Network’s group vp programming Gary Maavara; Dale Andrews, executive vp for WIC Entertainment; Andre Provencher, vp programming at TVA Network; and the cbc’s Susan Morgan, creative head of dramatic series.

See p. 34 for case studies on Alliance Communications’ Once a Thief (ctv), the Keatley MacLeod Productions and Atlantis Communications coproduction Cold Squad (bbs), Altantis’ Traders (Global), Donkey Kong Country from Nelvana and Medialab of France (wic), the Chris Haddock and Lazlo Barna-produced DaVinci’s Inquest (cbc), and Diva, produced by Productions Sovimage (tva).

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Baton Broadcasting vp dramatic programming Bill Mustos requires little introduction.

Former in-house legal counsel to TMN-The Movie Network, then executive coordinator of the Ontario Film Investment Program, Mustos was the heart and soul of the Cable Production Fund from its inception through its morphing into the ctcpf up until March of this year when he was seduced into heading Baton’s Canadian drama arm.

Down time is now a thing of the past. The cel is perpetually on, the briefcase full of scripts, pitches, story ideas, his development slate synopsis about an inch thick on paper, while story meetings, on-sets and rushes back in Baton’s Agincourt offices all demand attention. Then there’s the small matter of a new baby girl born last month. Some days are abject chaos, says Mustos. ‘But I love it.’

It wasn’t long ago that heading up a Canadian production arm at Baton would have been a walk in the park, almost an oxymoron to every producer in the country since Baton contributed minimally to production genres outside of news and sports.

All of that’s changing, says Mustos. ‘We’ve gone from standing still to 90 mpr with a strategy to put Canadian drama programming front and center ­ high-quality Canadian stories which are grounded here in content and creatively.’

The beginnings are of course Cold Squad (Keatley MacLeod Productions). In queue include a miniseries with Forefront Entertainment, Florence, a story about an Alberta woman in the 1920s who gets herself involved with the Mob and is the last female in Canada to be hanged. Pierre Sarrazin and Suzette Couture are writing Flesh and Blood, a new Upstairs Downstairs, Regent Park meets Rosedale type series in development for 1998/99.

mows abound including one based on the Sheldon Kennedy story, the Gail Bowen mysteries, including Deadly Appearances with Shaftesbury Films, and Class Rebellion at Burger High about a teenage girl in small-town Canada who pulls a variation on Norma Rae.

Reacting to speculation that Cold Squad, with simulcast and syndication potential, will fall prey to the trappings of industrial production, Mustos says nothing could be further from the truth.

‘The mind set which says the Canadian factor d’esn’t need to be marginalized starts with [Baton president] Ivan [Fecan] and flows to the people he works with. It’s a tremendous vote of confidence in the Canadian talent pool. We’re driven by the writers and producers and who they are; what they bring to the table will show up on the screen.’

Amongst the things for producers to know about the new Baton: the broadcaster is incredibly hands-on in development and production. Projects aren’t fed development funds lightly. There isn’t an arm’s-length relationship through execution.

He isn’t suggesting Baton drives things creatively, says Mustos. ‘It means we feel we can make a difference to the creative projects we’re licensing, that it’s very much a collaborative effort. I think producers are surprised by that, but we’re going to continue expending a lot of creative energy making the shows the best they can be.’