Much of Toronto-based Sullivan Entertainment’s 1998 production slate seems focused on the reworking of established programs and characters.

Shooting began Sunday, May 3 on Happy Christmas, Miss King, the first of Sullivan’s Road to Avonlea revival programs. Stefan Scaini is helming the Toronto production, which wraps May 31. Ray Sager is producing.

The mow, set to air on cbc this Christmas, is based on the successful Avonlea series, which ran for seven seasons on cbc and on Disney Channel in the u.s. Happy Christmas, Miss King is set in 1914 during wwi and features Jackie Burroughs as Hetty King leading the family traditional festive dinner amidst wartime tragedies that hit the Avonlea community.

Also on the Sullivan slate is Anne Of Green Gables: The Continuing Story, with Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie reprising their roles as Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe. The four-hour miniseries, to be broadcast on cbc, is also set against the backdrop of wwi when the two return to Avonlea to find it in shambles.

And to continue the theme in an even more evergreen fashion, Sullivan says an animated series based on Anne of Green Gables is in the works. The toon Anne is reportedly sharing two broadcast windows with major American broadcasters, and although no one at Sullivan is willing to reveal the animation house involved at this time, Ottawa’s Dynomight Cartoons completed a production bible for the series earlier this year.

Sullivan also produces the family drama series Wind At My Back for cbc.

– DGC ‘banner year’

The Director’s Guild of Canada, Ontario District Council, is calling 1997 the best year yet for film and tv production in Ontario.

The dgc/odc signed a record 103 productions in ’97, a 20% increase over the previous year. So far in ’98, the guild has signed 44 productions and is well on the way to having another record year, reports business agent Heather Thibault.

At the dgc/odc’s annual general meeting in late April, a new executive for 1998/99 was elected: Alan Goluboff is chairperson, Peter Rowe is first vice-chairperson, Avrel Fisher second vice-chairperson, Brian Campbell treasurer and Brian Parker secretary.

In August, the odc is moving to new quarters at 890 Yonge Street, which will house larger administrative and member facilities including a boardroom, screening/training/member meeting room, editing suites and art gallery.

– Summerhill nature docs

Toronto-based Summerhill Entertainment senior producer John LaRose is putting the call out for what he calls the ‘breed apart’ of filmmakers – the naturalist documentarians who are prepared to ‘live with an idea for its life cycle.’

‘These are the type of people who go out with their camera and live in the tundra for six months doing a story on wolves, with their husband or wife doubling as the sound person,’ says LaRose.

Through its long-standing relationship with Canadian Geographic magazine, Summerhill is exec producing a series of quarterly one-hour specials for Discovery Channel Canada titled Canadian Geographic Presents.

LaRose will be at the Banff Television Festival soliciting pitches and ideas from nature doc types with projects that would be appropriate for the series.

Focusing on indigenous Canadian subjects, Summerhill will be producing two original shows this year for airing on Discovery Canada next season. One special is about the Canadian Eskimo dog and the other concerns a white bear that lives in the rain forest of b.c.’s Queen Charlotte Islands. Both projects go to camera this summer with approximate budgets of $175,000 and Nov. 1 delivery dates.

With development well underway on the first two projects, LaRose is reaching out to naturalist directors, producers and writers with the intent of stockpiling shows for future seasons.

‘We’re now in the process of trying to develop next year’s projects as well as the year after that and the year after that,’ says LaRose.

LaRose says Summerhill wants to develop a stable of talent from coast to coast who can either execute or originate projects.

Summerhill will sell and distribute internationally.

– Post indies

Last Call, a $50,000 feature from producer/writer/actor Phil Morrison, is currently posting in Toronto. The heist film, directed by Sean Buckley and produced by Morrison and Beth Kolisnyk, is hoping to hit the festival circuit and snag a distribution deal.

Also looking to score a distribution deal as well as some finishing money is Gary Ploj’s teen suicide pic Jacob’s Cry. Ploj’s Defiant Pictures is based in Kitchener, Ont.

– Inside Out

The 8th annual Inside Out, Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival runs May 21-31 at the Cumberland Cinemas in Toronto. The fest’s 62 screenings will showcase 217 works, including 40 feature-length presentations.

Among the prizes up for grabs is the $2,500 Bulloch Award for best new Canadian film or video.

Canadian David Adkin’s We’re Funny That Way will open Inside Out, while director Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art (Behaviour) will close the festival on May 30, with Cholodenko and High Art star Ally Sheedy in attendance.