Spawn is an occasional series on the production companies emerging to take advantage of the new specialty channel opportunities.

As the new specialties gussy up for their unveilings, the debutant bearing perhaps the greatest weight of expectation is Alliance/ctv’s History Television.

The channel has assumed a strong creative role in its shows and has fostered a cross-Canada perspective which has created cross-Canada partnerships. The channel has also brought production companies with varying kinds of expertise to a schedule heavy on documentaries, a genre at which Canadian companies of all sizes have long demonstrated skill.

History is meant to add value to the projects coming from the independent community, says History vp programming Norm Bolen, who together with History director, program development and acquisitions Sydney Suissa, brings significant experience to the task of assembling the schedule.

The channel has already committed over $5 million in licence fees and is committed in year two to spend $5.7 million on original Canadian programming. As the specialty gains subscribers, that level of production will increase, says Bolen.

He says the broadcaster is drawing on talent from almost all points across the country and inspiring partnerships between established and emerging production bodies. ‘I think we’re adding to regional expertise,’ says Bolen. ‘We intend to do more outreach projects over the next few years to try and build a base of producers in the regions who are regularly producing material for us.’

Flagship shows like Turning Points from Barna-Alper and New Brunswick’s Connections, and Faces of History from Edmonton’s Great North Productions represent major creative input from the broadcaster.

Faces of History, a 16-part, one-hour program on interesting dead Canadians, will represent the specialty’s largest editorial involvement. The broadcaster has hired a commissioning editor ­ award-winning Toronto producer Shelley Saywell ­ to work ‘full tilt on creative for the series,’ in addition to working on other shows and on acquisitions.

Faces will also be a test case for non-broadcast initiatives like cd-roms, Web development, publishing and educational projects ­ the broadcaster has entered into a multiyear deal with the CRB Foundation to exploit the educational and non-broadcast rights for the show.

The idea for Turning Points, which looks at crucial days of Canadian and international history, originated at Barna-Alper and was discussed at mip-tv with a receptive History. To round out financing, Laszlo Barna took the project to Film nb’s Sam Grana, with whom he had been discussing other development possibilities, and the two decided it would be a prime project in which to involve a local producer.

Grana brought the project to Connections, a Moncton company with experience in documentary production, and with a partnership agreement where the two companies split episode production, funding from Film nb, the ctcpf, and Ontario, New Brunswick and federal tax credits, the deal was done.

‘The project appealed to us right away,’ says Connections producer Frank Savoy. ‘We had a lot to gain by associating ourselves with [Barna-Alper].’

Savoy’s own background includes 24 years at cbc/src and a specialty in coordinating large projects (including 18 elections) and variety-oriented documentary programming.

Savoy says the emergence of History represents ‘limitless opportunities’ for independent producers, citing the broadcaster’s dynamic operating style as a major plus along with the establishment of Film nb and the contributions of Grana in developing a local industry and fostering extra-provincial partnerships.

Connections currently has two other projects in development with History, a proposal for a series on international scams and a series examining the Canadian perspective of the Vietnam conflict.

The company is also in the midst of production on a 26-episode variety series for tfo which the French-language broadcaster is considering signing on for an additional 39 episodes for next year. For the History projects and the tfo series, Connections is working in partnership with Toronto-based Mediatique.

Scattering of Seeds, a 13-part, half-hour series from Peter Raymont of Toronto’s White Pine Pictures which focuses on immigrant families, will draw on the contributions of a collection of Canadian filmmakers, each of whom will produce one ethnically centered episode.

History will also access the skills of Regina-based Partners in Motion for a one-hour commissioned documentary to run in the historically important Remembrance Day time frame on Nov. 10. The project, Missing on Way Back, is about the life of Saskatchewan pilot Rusty Haug, lost overseas during wwii, and exemplifies the personal view of historical events History is taking with many of the shows it has backed.

‘The whole approach of this show is not the war as the foreground of the story but as the backdrop of a human life,’ says Partners gm and producer Ron G’etz.

The project has been in development for the past two years with Edmonton writer Steven Scriver, who purchased a suitcase at auction that contained the traces of Rusty’s life from which his story is pieced together.

The show was put together with History’s licence fee as well as involvement from scn and the Cable Production Fund. Partners approached History with the story, which had the benefit of being a good fit for the specialty’s War Stories series and, since the company is equipped with in-house editing gear, film and video cameras and a production truck, the advantage of visual material to clearly convey the content and tone of the program.

The Regina company is also developing the Balgonie Birdman, a doc about an unsung Canadian aviation pioneer which may involve History, and Dad, a documentary for Vision tv about a troubled family.

In the acquisitions realm, History has bought into the multimedia approach of Toronto’s Linx Images for three programs revolving around aspects of the Great Lakes.

Alone in the Night, a 72-minute film about Great Lakes lighthouses, is set to air this fall, as is Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods. Enchanted Summers, a one-hour film on the lost grand hotels of the Muskoka Lakes, will air in the spring.

All three projects were produced for home video sale in bookstores, packaged along with books. Alone in the Night grossed about $250,000 in sales upon release, says Linx producer Russell Floren, and the two other titles are set for release in stores in October. Linx has another title in development in conjunction with History, Islands of the Great Lakes, set for release in fall 1998.

Floren says the nine-year-old company’s primary market is home video, accounting for over 80% of its business. ‘We’ve found a market where people know our stuff and will come back for the next package,’ says Floren. The company has deliberately kept its small ­ three-person ­ size and largely funds all of its own projects.

Floren says Linx is looking toward a series on mysteries of Canadian history and toward a more international scope.

Mitch Azaria’s Good Earth Productions also reaped the rewards of having proof behind the pitch, receiving a licence fee for 13 half-hour episodes of History Lands, a series on Canadian historic sites.

Good Earth has been producing the Great Canadian Parks series for Discovery for three seasons, and Bolen says their proven knack for low-cost, high-quality programs gave Azaria the edge.

Azaria also cites the merits of staying lean ­ the company uses two-person crews ­ and the industry benefits derived from History’s openness to small producers.

Good Earth has another series in development directed at the gray market called The Elegant Wilderness and is aiming for a deal with the Travel Channel in the u.s.

‘It’s a fascinating time, especially for little guys like us,’ says Azaria. ‘We couldn’t have asked for a better time to be in this business. I had a call from a broadcaster asking, ‘Do you have anything?’ I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen before.’

On the slate for ’98 are several commissioned series and one-offs from emerging and established producers. Among them, a four-hour documentary on the War of 1812 from Montreal’s Galafilm and coproduced with tvontario; a six-hour series of portraits called Rebels from Edmonton’s Interstate 80; and a half-hour drama about a young boy’s relationship with Einstein called The Genius from Edmonton’s Anaid Productions and Regina-based Minds Eye Pictures.

The World’s Greatest Journeys, 13 one-hour shows on great cities, is from Montreal company 2T3M, coproduced with Montreal’s Canal d and executive produced by Richard Sadler.

History may also revive the classic Witness to History series from Patrick Watson and Victor Solnicki of Filmworks (the show which had Watson interviewing historical figures played by celebrities of the day), pending a deal with a major u.s. buyer.