Vancouver: El Nino has hit Vancouver as the production climate warms with the promise of at least three series pilots in March.

At press time, there were few details about the content and cast of the shows. But, Twentieth Century Fox Television claims two of them.

Production for Daybreak for Fox Network runs from March 16 to April 8, while Strange Days, an abc pilot that apparently has nothing to do with the Strange Days feature film about the new millennium, is before cameras March 17 to April 3.

The third pilot is It’s True, a cbs show which is in production from March 4-24.

abc’s Futuresport, with Wesley Snipes, Dean Cain and Vanessa Williams, began production last month.

B.C. Film Commissioner Pete Mitchell says Vancouver is hosting more pilots than in the past several years. Fewer pilots are being made generally as more series go directly into multi-year production cycles. He explains that labor stability and the dollar exchange account for the uptick and bodes well for another strong production year. There is a strong possibility, he adds, that the series will shoot in Vancouver if the pilots are successful.

– Debut news

Twisteeria, a stop-motion animation comedy special, began production in Vancouver last month. Slated for broadcast on ytv next fall, the show is animated by locals David Bowes and Lisa Gray. u.k.-based Aardman Productions’ John Craney (Wallace and Gromit) and miniature model maker Gary Young (Titanic) round out the crew for the project, scripted by Vancouver writer Tony Philpott.

The $500,000 half-hour is about a live-action character who falls asleep on a bus and wakes up in the animated world of Twisteeria.

The project is the first for Vancouver-based producer Pindar Azad of Scintilla Entertainment.

And documentary producers Tony Papa and Leigh Badgley (of Avanti Pictures) are posting their first dramatic effort at their in-house facilities.

Does that Make Me a Bad Person? is described as a dark comedy and tells the story of a woman who indulges in procrastination. The lead role features Leslie Jones; the 30-minute project was written by Sharon Gibbon.

Funded in part by the British Columbia Arts Council, Bad Person will hit the festival circuit.

– Juno where it is?

The Junos Awards for Canadian music are in Vancouver for only the second time this decade and CBC Vancouver is producing the tape-delayed event March 22.

Performers Sarah McLachlan, Shania Twain, Diana Krall, Jann Arden and top nomination-earners Our Lady Peace will perform at GM Place.

For the previous three years, the Junos were held at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ont., which earned between $3 million to $5 million through economic spin-offs for its role as civic host.

– No brussels sprouts

On Feb. 16, Take Part Productions in North Vancouver began production of a new 26-episode kids’ series called Surf’s Up! Let’s Cook. Billed as the first cooking show in Canada developed for children (aged four to 10), Let’s Cook will air on ytv, which has worked with producers Lois and Herb Walker for 10 years.

In the series, kids ‘travel’ with host Lois Walker on a ‘searchin’, surfin’, safari’ on the World Wide Web to discover recipes at The Sweet Treat Site, the Sandwiches and Snacks Site and the Breakfast Site.

Celebrity chef Mary Halpen, stage star Denis Simpson and children’s performer Lee Karvonen are part of the show’s cast.

Take Part’s other series are Take Part for Kids, Hands Up! Hands On! and Tell-a-Tale.

– Revving up

Showing that their stint on the cbc was no fluke, automotive journalists Ted Laturnus and Tony Whitney are in their third season of Inside Track.

They were formally co-hosts of the cbc’s Driver Seat, a similar review- and trends-oriented series about vehicles. Inside Track, produced in Vancouver by Insight Film & Video Production, airs on bbs stations, cfcf-tv in Montreal and Speedvision.

The third season of 13 episodes wraps at the end of March with a fourth season order also airing on pbs.

Last month, meanwhile, Inside Track added pro race car driver Marybeth Harrison to its hosting staff. She’ll emcee a weekly segment called ‘Car Care.’

In other local production news, David Chalk’s Computer Show (New Century Digital Broadcasting) began airing March 1 for 11 half-hours on the Global System. It also began airing on Prime tv on March 7.

Hosted by David Chalk, a computer entrepreneur turned broadcaster, the series focuses on computers and the Internet.

Life Network has signed a deal with Vancouver’s Yaletown Entertainment to produce 13 half-hours called Weird Homes. The series profiles some of North America’s strangest abodes: the house made of beer cans, underground homes, a house decorated with 15,000 coffee cups, flying saucer homes, etc.

cbc host and humorist Arthur Black will host, with Yaletown’s Mike Collier overseeing production and Eva Wunderman handling writing and direction.

Production begins in May with a fall debut.

Ken Hegan’s mockumentary Aardvark!, which was commissioned by and aired on vtv, will make its u.s. debut at the New York Underground Film Festival on March 19. One of 12 Canadian films in the festival, Aardvark is about two actors trying to stage a no-budget ‘Cringe Festival’ play.

– Sage advice

Women in Film & Video Vancouver has launched a new mentorship program for women in the film industry. Called Moving Up!, the program will feature two initiatives this year – Career Cafe and The Exchange – designed to promote networking with successful men and women involved through the production industry.

The Royal Bank, Forefront Entertainment and British Columbia Film are sponsoring the program, which was officially launched Feb. 25.

The first Career Cafe will be held March 9 in Vancouver, with actor-director Helen Shaver, producer Colleen Nystedt, writer Susan Nielson, special effects producer Sandra Almond, distributor Mickey Rogers and dop Tobias Schliessler offering participants words of wisdom.

The Exchange costs participants $100, which buys a ‘time bank’ of 10 hours during which they can consult with advisors.