Following the success of Cochrane Entertainment’s mow Pit Pony, which aired on cbc last December, the Halifax-based prodco is gearing up to shoot the 26 half-hour Pit Pony drama series with the cbc.

The $12.1-million production, about a boy coal miner in turn-of-the-century Glace Bay, will be directed by Eric Till and penned by Heather Conkie.

Shooting will take place from mid-August to March ’99 on location in Cape Breton Island as well as in the new Filmscape studio, making Pit Pony the first tenant of the island’s first soundstage, currently under construction at Sydport Industrial Park. The first episodes will be delivered to cbc in November for a planned ’98 broadcast.

To identify potential crew members, Cochrane will be implementing a three-phase hiring program, beginning with a public information session, followed by a day of interviews and final call-back interviews in mid-July.

‘We want to use local people as much as possible,’ says president Andrew Cochrane. ‘It’s a problem finding crews in the Maritimes right now and there is a need for more people. The idea is to grow the skill base locally, and with the studio, hopefully it will continue to grow.’

Along with the mow’s international success – Pit Pony has been licensed for broadcast in 64 territories – Cochrane says ‘there was unusually high response’ from the Internet site, which was downloaded by over 3,000 Canadian schools for use in the classroom to teach students about coal-mining.

Also in the works at Cochrane, 25 Theodore Tugboat branded items will be sailing into retail stores this fall. The company recently inked a licensing deal with Swedish toy maker brio, which will produce magnetized wooden Theodore toys, ERTL Company will look after water-friendly tub toys, and Random House Children’s Publishing will release a line of books, the first being Theodore’s Whistle.

– Gunning for funds

After two years in development, Fredericton producer Gilles Losier is anxious to get going on his French-language feature film Shotgun (working title) for Transmar Films, about a group of boys aged 18 to 21 who lose their jobs.

Quebec coproduction partner on the $1.5-million project, Les Films Du Lils, is on board with 20% of the funding and Telefilm Canada is in for 50%. As for the rest, Losier says he had a verbal commitment for the province for the remaining 30%, but with the production boom in New Brunswick, all funding has been committed.

Film nb executive director Sam Granna says at the time of the evaluation process the application was not complete. But, he adds, ‘Film nb really wants to do it.’

‘It’s part of the additional funding application that we have made to the government. It is the very first film we want to do (since) it is the area’s first indigenous French-language feature film,’ says Granna, adding he hopes to have a firm response from the province by June 15.

Losier is going ahead with casting early this month, and if the funding comes through, the plan is to get preproduction underway in July for an August shoot.

Rodrigue Jean is set to direct.

– Studio planned for Fredericton

While still in the early stages, plans are underway for Fredericton’s first soundstage. New Brunswick casting director/production manager Bruce Dennis is in the process of putting together the funding and getting the government on board.

According to Dennis, a number of investors are already attached to the project. The purpose of the studio, he says, is to develop film industry infrastructure as quickly as possible.

‘We want it to be efficient and cost-effective,’ says Dennis. ‘We want producers to be able to walk in and the coffee is on and the phones are in. We have tremendous connectivity here with fiber optics and we can do digital dailies.’

– N.S. woos H’wood

nova Scotia Film Development Corporation ceo Anne Marie Varner and director of marketing Christopher Worth recently took three Hollywood reps on a whirlwind tour of the province to promote Nova Scotia as a film location.

Along for the ride were Maria Warren, head of location services for Walt Disney Pictures; Patrick Graham, president of XOX Publishing, which produces movie budgeting software; and producer/director Mark Bedrodian.

Day one of the tour, a first for the nsfdc, began in Halifax at the crack of dawn and took the party down the south shore where they spent the night. Day two kicked off with a drive up the interior of the province to Annapolis, along the north shore and ended in Wolfville.

Worth admits it was a little ambitious for two days, but says it looks like Disney will probably be back.

In other news, service program administrator Len MacKeigan is leaving the nsfdc after a year to try his hand at production management.

– Blue Moon over Lunenburg

Columbia TriStar mow Blue Moon has set up production offices in Lunenburg, n.s. Shooting dates have not been nailed down.