The Canadian Film Centre is planning to launch a new television drama initiative as early as March 1998 geared to the development of drama series and sitcoms.

The details of the tv drama project are still being hammered out but target budget for the new lab is in the $500,000 range. ‘We want to ensure that the cfc’s tv activities are on par with the standards set by our resident film program,’ says Kathryn Emslie, programmes manager for the cfc.

An advisory committee, headed by Due South executive producer Jeff King, is currently being assembled and by mid-September a board of experienced tv producers and broadcasting reps will be in place. The committee will then work on the design of the program, determine details of the training it will offer, and access industry professionals to mentor the residents.

A blueprint for the program should be completed by the end of September, with the project up and running before May of next year, says Emslie. Recruiting and advertising could begin as early as mid-October.

The main thrust of the initiative will be the creation of a functioning story department, with an emphasis on the building of strong writing teams and finessing a project through the various stages of development until ready for production.

Training will likely run over a three-month period, allowing nine to 15 residents working in three teams to develop a bible, accompanied by six fully sketched episodes and several finished scripts.

The cfc’s Feature Film Project and Short Dramatic Film Programme takes a project through production, but as to whether the tv initiative will participate in the completion of a tv pilot, Emslie says that although a final decision has not been made, in-house production is not likely.

‘The message that has come back from the tv community is clearly that it sees the Centre’s greatest role is training through project development rather than production.’

The gathering of financing for the project is a work in progress, although Emslie says some of the sponsors behind the cfc’s earlier version of the tv drama project ­ a lower profile, less intense one-month workshop ­ have already signed on. Sponsors for the four-year-old tv program include Atlantis Films, Paragon Entertainment, Fireworks, cbc, a&e, ctv, ytv and the Global Television Network.

Exploration of the possibilities of a tv program along the lines of the center’s feature film initiatives began when the latest run of the four-week tv workshop wrapped in March. At that point, an evaluation was initiated to see how the program could keep pace with the rapidly changing and expanding tv landscape.

Over the past month a questionnaire was sent out to producers, broadcasters, production companies and tv program alumni across Canada asking them to assess the current needs of the industry, the strengths and weaknesses of the current program, and the training opportunities a revamped initiative should provide. The results are being incorporated into the design of the tv project.

To qualify for the program, residents will likely require tv experience along the lines of work as junior story editors or writers on series or sitcoms, or producers of educational shows.

The cfc is also interested in tying the program in with the Banff Television Festival as a venue to profile the tv initiative and pitch the developing projects to national and international broadcasters.

The cfc’s expanding role in tv training follows on the heels of the addition of The Editors Lab to its four-month-long Resident Programme as well as the introduction of a new media program, Medialinx h@bitat.