Amsterdam: The ‘Hit Man’ was a hit.

Producer Paul Jay of Toronto-based High Road Productions, flanked by partner David Ostriker, brought some much-needed levity to the ‘bear pit’ at the 5th Forum for International Co-financing of Documentaries in Amsterdam (Dec. 1-3), garnering enthusiastic response from buyers and commissioning editors in France, Austria, the u.k., Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

High Road, the only Canadian producer to pitch at the Forum, has already shot 80% of its film on Canadian-born pro wrestler Bret ‘The Hit Man’ Hart, recently retitled Wrestling with Shadows.

Described in the pitch package as ‘a wild journey through a world of rabid fans, scowling villains and adored heroes,’ the doc concerns itself with both the stage life and real life of Bret Hart, son of pro wrestling godfather Stu Hart and brother to seven other pro wrestlers, and his white-hat alter ego The Hit Man.

Jay gave a dramatic pitch – full of phrases like ‘the epic struggle between good and evil,’ ‘blood feuds’ and ‘the greatest double-cross in the history of wrestling’ – combined with engaging and surprisingly sane interview clips from The Hit Man himself.

Producers who pitch at the Forum, and there were over 60 this year, must have at least one involved broadcaster present in order to participate. tvontario’s Rudy Buttignol, who has already committed over $51,700 towards the $533,000 project, told the assembly of buyers that the provincial pubcaster has had great success airing docs on sports figures as metaphors, and that Wrestling with Shadows was a prebuy designed to reach a wider audience than is drawn by usual tvo doc offerings. The National Film Board is also in on the film, to the tune of $207,000. Jay says the overall budget could very likely rise.

‘Although we’ve shot much of the material, we’ve yet to do any post, so the broadcasters coming in will have the editorial input that coproduction dollars buy,’ says Jay. ‘In a way we have the best of both worlds in terms of pitching because we’re not asking buyers to take any gamble. We already have the footage we’re promising.’

Although some buyers around the table – particularly Tore Tomter from nrk in Norway, Carel Kuyl from nps in the Netherlands and Helene Maimann from orf in Austria – expressed interest in a 52-minute version rather than the proposed 90-minute, feature-length project, Jay says they have yet to decide on whether to go short or long: ‘Most of the major players have a slot for longer pieces – Arte, Canal+, the bbc. And it is really a movie; it’s not going to be easy to cut and paste it down to a shorter version.’

While u.s. buyer and commissioner representation at the Forum was minimal – only pbs station wnet was present – Jay says the project had been pitched to other u.s. outlets prior to the event and negotiations are still underway.

Thom Fitzgerald’s Halifax-based Emotion Pictures (The Hanging Garden) had also been scheduled to pitch a feature-length doc, Beefcake, at the Amsterdam event, but Fitzgerald says a foreign sales deal with Alliance completed his budget prior to the Forum.

Budgeted at almost $850,000, Beefcake is a film about changing photographic depictions of the male physique after wwii and their resulting influence on gay culture.

Channel 4 in the u.k. is in for about $150,000 and Cineplex Odeon in Canada has dropped in over $32,000. Fitzgerald says that La Sept Arte, which was originally to contribute almost $49,000, is no longer in the mix. The film is currently in production.

With the biggest groups of participants coming from France, Germany and the u.k., the majority of projects pitched fell squarely in the ‘serious documentary’ category and the change of pace worked in favor of High Road’s pitch.

Even from European territories where public broadcasting can still count on stable government support, buyers still had their eyes out for a potential ratings winner, a relative rarity in the documentary world if you discount natural history and reality-based programming.

The Forum, organized in association with the European Documentary Network and running annually in conjunction with the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam, was originally accessible only to producers from MEDIA Programme member countries. This year the field was opened to accommodate a limited number of projects from non-member countries, up to a maximum of 15%.

Producers are given seven minutes to pitch their idea, and then there’s an eight-minute session where buyers and commissioners ask questions and express their interest or disinterest. Almost 90 commissioners from broadcasters and film boards made at least a brief appearance around the table over the three-day event, with a core group (including reps from rtbf in Belgium, dr tv in Denmark, YLE TV2 in Finland, La Sept/Arte and Canal+ from France, the bbc, and Discovery Channel Europe) holding out for most of the pitches.

Jan Rofekamp of Montreal-based Films Transit was one of the Forum’s five moderators, and buyer John Panikkar from Discovery Channel Canada rounded out the official Canadian contingent. On the observer list were Canadian producers Raymond Gauthier, Jeannette Loakman, Andrew Munger, Karen Shoposowitz and Megan Smith. Hot Docs! exec Debbie Nightingale was also on site, stirring up interest for the Toronto event in March.