Greenlight Film and Television is partnering with a trio of u.k. producers and broadcasters cbc and bbc to develop a $10.3-million, half-hour series, Fungus the Bogeyman, a live-action/animatronics combo.

Based on the Raymond Briggs book published by Penguin in the u.k., the program delves into the slimy, mucky underworld of Bogeydom and is geared to tween and family audiences. The Bogeys like all things repulsive and the contrasting human and sub-slime culture will offer all sorts of humorous comparisons, say Greenlight producers Gary Howsam and Michael Hadley.

The u.k. coproducers are George Ayoub, Terry Gilliam and Ray Coope. Robin Mills and his team at Radical Sheep are working on the animatronics elements.

The 13-ep script order is being handled by u.k. writer Georgia Pritchett and Canadians Edgar Lyall, John May and Suzanne Bolch, all repped by Harrison Artist Management in Toronto.

With the project weighted 80% in favor of Canada, all of the production is slated for Toronto beginning in April.

As well as licensing the program, a video and music deal has been signed with the bbc and merchandising opportunities are being explored. A German sale is currently in the works. Once segments are completed the project will be shopped to American broadcasters.

Greenlight recently wrapped its first feature, Chicago Cab, starring Paul Dillon (Pretenders), John Cusack, Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files). Mary Cybulski and John Tintori directed. Howsam is exec producer.

The dark comedy is a big-screen rendition of the stage play of the same name penned by Will Kern, who also wrote the screenplay. The film follows a Chicago cabby throughout one long, bad day from hell, offering comic as well as stark, gritty portrayals of the cross-section of urban life and the many human dramas that unfold over a day.

Chicago Cab generated quite a buzz at the Chicago International Film Festival in October as well as at the London Screenings.

Cathy Morgan International is handling distribution and is currently negotiating an American theatrical deal. The $4-million film will be screened to potential Canadian distributors in the new year.

*No corpvid at Genuine

Apparently there is still the misconception that producers in Ottawa only do corporate and government videos, a myth which producer Donna Leon-Millen wants to dispel.

Her production company Genuine Pictures is currently in production on six half-hours of sketch comedy series Y B Normal? for The Comedy Network. ‘It’s a cross between Kids In The Hall and Monty Python on speed,’ says Leon-Millen of the fast-paced program starring five 19- to 20-year-old actor/writers from Aylmer, Que., all finalists in last year’s YTV Achievement Awards. The $173,000 series is shot on location throughout Ottawa – everywhere from grocery stores, arenas, hot tubs and hostels to airport hangars.

The first six episodes will be delivered at the end of January. Comedy has signed on for an additional 13-ep order. Leon-Millen is aiming to pick up a second window in Canada and plans to shop for a distributor to sell the show internationally.

Genuine is in development on a one-hour doc for Bravo! chronicling the life of Nicholas Goldschmidt, a major force on the opera scene since arriving in Canada in 1946. Development money has also been picked up at mctv, an Ottawa regional station recently purchased by chum. Production is tentatively scheduled for next summer. The budget is under $200,000.

A feature, Myles From Nowhere, penned by Leon-Millen, is also in the works. First-draft script development funding has been secured from Nation’s Capital Television, the bbs Ottawa station.

The romantic comedy/drama set in a small Cape Breton village is the semi-autobiographical account of a young woman who returns to the island she left years earlier upon the death of a family member.

Leon-Millen is seeking a Nova Scotia coproducer for the roughly $500,000 project.

*The Weekend Guy

‘Write about what you know and then exploit the hell out of it,’ says Vince Grittani, and that’s just what the avid outdoorsman/cottager is doing as he cashes in on his Weekend Guy persona.

‘Martha Stewart on drugs and Bob Vila with a sense of humor’ is how Dini Petty has described the Weekend Guy character Grittani created for his weekly stint on Life Network’s Real Life program where he offers tips on ways to spend your Saturdays and Sundays.

The Weekend Guy also makes the talk show rounds, with guest appearances on Citytv’s Breakfast Television, ctv’s Canada AM Weekend, and The Dini Petty Show, where you can catch him on a Dec. 18 segment.

Now Grittani is developing a 26 half-hour lifestyle series around the fun-loving, outdoorsy do-it-yourselfer. The Weekend Guy will provide activity options ranging from planning a picnic or annual spring cleaning to skydiving adventures and escaping to Paris for a weekend getaway.

He will also offer helpful tips on negotiating one’s way out of weekend weddings and avoiding ‘weekend fashion foibles.’

Grittani is coproducing with Toronto commercial production house Imported Artist’s tv arm, Clarence Square Pictures. Jeff Berman (Kids In The Hall) is exec producer. Each ep is budgeted at $30,000.

Life has committed development money, but the producers are holding out for the best deal when it comes to broadcast windows.

Grittani wrote, coproduced and cohosted Cottage Life Television, which aired on Global, Life, pbs and Outdoor Life Channel in the u.s. He will begin shopping his latest project at these broadcasters.

Three American distributors are interested, including Rysher Entertainment and King World, says Grittani, who is also looking to snag sales throughout English-language territories.

Production is scheduled for spring ’98, with a fall broadcast debut.

Merchandising opportunities abound, with a line of Weekend Guy clothes in the works. A deal has been made with Key Porter to publish The Weekend Guy’s Guest Book & Survival Guide this spring.

Grittani has also written the pilot for a half-hour sitcom modeled on his own life and titled Scenes From My Dock. The central character is an outdoorsy sort who works at a specialty channel and lives in a small town. Other characters include ‘a Martha Stewart type – sweet on the air but a bitch off screen.’ The plot will follow the antagonisms between the locals and the summer cottagers.

The bible and pilot have been sent to Sandra Fraire’s production company, which Grittani says has expressed keen interest in the project.

Also based on the cottage land he knows so well, Grittani has penned a feature entitled The Grass Widow. It’s the tale of rich older women who seek out young men in the Muskoka resort area. Grittani has hooked up with a British agent to sell the script, which he says is perfect for the English market.

*Latest La Monde title to shoot

The Alliance/La Monde feature Hidden Agenda, a post-cold war thriller, shoots Dec. 15 to Jan. 16 in Toronto. Director Iain Paterson, who wrote the script, brought the project to Alliance. Adam Shully is producing with exec producer John Fremes. Paterson is directing.