Lockwood Films has optioned This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, the first book in Gordon Korman’s series of adventures centering on the shenanigans of Bruno and Boots, classmates at a conservative boarding school.

cbc has committed to a development deal for a 13-part, half-hour tv series. The London, Ont.-based prodco principals Mark McCurdy and Nancy Johnson will produce; La Fete Productions’ Kevin Tierney will be brought in as exec producer.

Writers are currently being interviewed. No director or cast has been attached to the project as yet.

Over six million copies of the Bruno and Boots series have been sold worldwide, so Johnson anticipates keen international interest once they begin shopping for presales.

A budget has not been nailed down. Production is tentatively slated for late summer to early fall.

Lockwood has produced docs as well as educational series for tvontario for the past 20 years. One of its recent programs, James Reaney: Listening to the Wind, aired on Bravo!, Vision tv and scn. The Bruno and Boots series marks their first foray into drama series production.

– Mayhem mystery

Stornoway Productions has also nabbed a literary property – a set of six mystery novels penned by J. Robert Janes.

First slated for production is Mayhem, adapted into a tv movie by Ron Base.

Set in occupied Paris in 1942, a detective investigating what appears to be a routine murder of a young man suddenly finds an infamous German detective, the Berlin authorities and the French Resistance keenly interested in the case. All this coupled with the detective’s personal dilemmas – his wife is having an affair and he is being chased by a cabaret singer looking for a romantic liaison.

TMN-The Movie Network has taken a prebuy and Stornoway is currently shopping for other broadcast deals. wic is looking at the project.

The prodco recently workshopped the script at Women In Film & Television-Toronto’s The Studio program. Participating actors included Joseph Ziegler (Black Harbour), Jennifer Dale (John Woo’s Once a Thief), Conrad Dunn (The Last Don) and Tamara Gorski (Striking Poses). All are eager to take a role in the movie.

And yet another series of mystery novels is close to an option deal. Toronto author Eric Wilson is currently negotiating with Great North Productions to turn his series of mystery novels The Tom and Liz Austin Mysteries into a 13-part series targeting the tween audience. Family Channel has committed to a development deal.

– A Guide to Life

How to repair small appliances in front of your childre, coping with annoyingly successful friends or a conformist’s guide to acting like a non-conformist are some of life’s little dilemmas that an ensemble cast of six performers will explore in a new project co-created by Megan Smith of Pyewackitt Productions in Toronto and Larry Bowman of Regina.

And although they might not provide any answers, Smith promises they will at least offer laughs.

The producers have a deal with cbc regional tv to develop the first ep of this ‘modern-day skewed version of Aesop’s Fables’ titled A Guide To Life.

‘It’s not a sitcom and not a sketch comedy – it’s a hybrid,’ says Smith, who envisions the program as a showcase for Canada’s writing and comic talent.

They initially pitched the idea to Joe Novak, cbc head of regional programming, a year ago. It was Smith’s first pitch ever to the cbc and she says Novak has offered them tremendous support.

If the pubcaster gives the go-ahead on the script, an initial episode will be shot at the broadcast facility in Regina and hopefully a series will emerge, says Smith.

Bruce Pirrie and Karen Hines, both well known on the comedy circuit, are writing the script.

– Crack docudrama

A docudrama centering on a crack addict is in prepro at Motion Video.

The director/producer team of Joe Carso and Frank Elsasser have skedded the Toronto shoot for March. The project is being shot on Betacam sp and actual addicts will be involved.

Casting begins Feb. 10, however, Joseph Clark (Edison: The Wizard of Light, Future Fear) has already been signed as the lead.

Clark will be researching the part with the assistance of the Metropolitan Toronto Police and Toronto drug addiction centers.

The producers are aiming for the international festival circuit beginning this fall.

Negotiations with distributors are underway and the producers are shopping for presales among the specialty channels.

Motion Video’s previous credits include Slasher, Comedy Mix and A Tale From The Jack O Lantern.

– Vicious Cycles

AIDS is another heavy subject to be explored. Ajani Entertainment’s Marilyn Gray and Jennifer Holness of Hungry Eyes Film Food are coproducing a half-hour drama dealing with a young hiv-positive woman who is not only rejected by her family but also loses her child to aids.

Family, solidarity, and sticking with loved ones through thick and thin are the themes discussed in Vicious Cycles. The producers also teamed up on the script.

The shoot begins Feb. 27. Gray, who has produced shorts and worked in production on music videos, is directing. Beverly Morgan (Fairytale) plays the lead.

Production funding came by way of grants from the Canada, Ontario and Toronto Arts Councils.

But the financing will only bring the project to the rough assembly stage when the producers will shop around for finishing funds and broadcasters, as well as submit to film fests.

– CIFS Valentine program

Actors Molly Parker and Daniela Olivieri will hold a q&a following the screening of their films at the Canadian Independent Film Series’ Valentine’s Day program Feb. 14 at The Bloor Cinema.

Parker and David McNally star in The Chain, a film by Vancouver’s Blake Corbet in which a recently divorced couple meet by chance on an overnight train to Paris. Fellini and Me, by Toronto’s Michael DeCarlo, features Michael Gabriel and Olivieri.

The cifs is on the lookout for Canadian narrative theatrical films or videos of any length to screen at its monthly forums. Submissions are accepted on vhs. Contact Chris Dwyer at (416) 955-4799 or chris@cifs.ca.

– Landing in Toronto

Paramount Pictures shoots the cable feature Aldrich Ames: America Betrayed Feb. 16 to March 20, with John Mackenzie directing and Timothy Hutton leading the cast. The script hails from Michael Burton and the movie will air on Showtime. Armand Leo is line producer.

Oliver Stone and Dan Halsted are the exec producers on The Corruptor, a New Line feature in production March 2 to May 15. James Foley is directing the script from Robert Pucci. Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg star.

The Columbia/TriStar pilot West Wing shoots Feb. 21 to March 4. John Flynn is producing and Allan Arkush is director. Line producer is Marc Dassas.

– Correction

The Canadian Film Centre’s Feature Film Project’s latest film Clutch is being produced by Chan Park and Allison Lewis. Christopher Grismer is writer and director. Clutch was one of three films to go through the ffp’s development phase. Helen Lee’s She Can’t Sleep and Lori Spring’s Flora & Fauna are now available for funding.