Vancouver: Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy – a series that romances the pioneering spirit in b.c.’s hinterland 50 years ago – was given the go-ahead by cbc brass for a second season of 13 episodes last month. The series is produced by Toronto’s Alliance Atlantis and Vancouver’s Milestone Productions.

Producer Chuck Lazer says there will be no major changes to the series and production will return to the Maple Ridge studio/ranch complex owned by Danny Virtue. Lazer hopes that production can begin in June.

Distributed by Alliance Atlantis Releasing, Cowboy debuts on cbc Feb. 7. Likewise, Cold Squad got the green light for a third season of 13 episodes from Baton just before natpe. Production could begin as early as mid-June.

It, too, is distributed by Alliance Atlantis.

*Running start

Local producer Lisa Richardson, formerly with Vancouver’s Pacific Motion Pictures, is kicking off her new company, Dogwood Pictures, with a British coproduction called The Guilty.

Production on the feature – for which plot details are as yet undisclosed – runs from Feb. 8 to April 19 with Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Vancouver native Devon Sawa (Idle Hands) and Gabrielle Anwar (Scent of a Woman) in the leads.

Dogwood has an output deal with MUSE Entertainment of Montreal, which has a minority interest in Dogwood and will handle Canadian sales. International sales will be handled by Jaffe/Braunstein Films of l.a.

*Two and counting

Busy service producer Shavick Entertainment is stacking up mows for Fox Family Channel.

The latest in the long line of Shavick/Fox Family collaborations, Heaven’s on Fire is before cameras until Feb. 21 and production on Don’t Look Behind You runs Feb. 8 to March 5. Both are family dramas.

Heaven’s on Fire is an action story about a father and son who work to foil a burglary of $100 engraving plates from a u.s. federal building.

The chase sparks fires that burn toward each other, heightening the suspense and creating work for Vancouver’s effects companies.

Eric Roberts, Cali Timmins (Another World) and Vancouver actor Kaj Eriksen (The Commish) star, with Canadian David Warry-Smith in the director’s chair.

Behind You – which didn’t have a cast at press time – is about a corporate executive who fingers his corrupt boss for drug dealings, thereby putting the hero’s family in danger.

The mows are scheduled to air this summer.

*Fundamental filmmaking

Former Pentecostal preacher Victor Khong of Vancouver is producing and directing his own script Perfect Room Mates – described as a suspense-murder – as a 40-minute presentation he hopes will entice further investment and an mow deal.

Production runs Feb. 5-18 with a local cast including himself. The budget is under $100,000.

In the story, a woman takes in two new roommates, one of whom is a thief who, in a botched burglary, gets involved in a murder. A private screening is scheduled for March, with the presentation offered to festivals in 2000.

*Gold, silver, bronze, copper

Local documentary producer Trish Dolman of Screen Siren Pictures, capitalizing on a pitch she made during Two in a Room at last summer’s Banff Television Festival, is proceeding with production on Ice Girls, an exploration of young girls in figure skating. bbc and ctv will broadcast the program that focuses on Vancouver skater Keyla Ohs and Brits Vicki Hodges and Jennifer Holmes as they chase the elusive stardom skating can bring.

Dolman is also producing a documentary called Britannia: The Life and Death of Canada’s Last Great Copper Mine for tvontario and ctv. Production begins this summer, with direction by David Vaisbord (Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man)

In other skating/film news, Vancouver choreographer and filmmaker Kevin Cottam will see his touring ice skating revue ‘Xotika: Journey to the Heart’ committed to film in September in Paris by French director Claude Lelouche as a three-minute excerpt in Lelouche’s dramatic feature about European 20th century history. The skating spectacle will also be filmed by French broadcaster TFI.

*B-I-R-D-S, B-E-E-S

Producer Elaine Gans of Vancouver’s Carson Street Productions is in post-production on Sex Spelled Out for Parents, a series of four half-hour programs for parents who want to talk with their kids about sex.

The series features best-selling author, nurse and sexual health educator Meg Hickling. It airs on Knowledge Network starting March 9. Each program will be followed with a studio phone-in session hosted by local broadcaster Bill Good.

*Barn biz

Delta, B.C.’s Big Red Barn Post will handle all 13 episodes of the new season of BTV – Business Television, produced by Vancouver’s Milky Way Entertainment and broadcast across Canada on Global’s Prime Network and on ontv. According to Big Red Barn, the post company will develop graphics and animation for the style of the show for the new season.

btv profiles successful Canadian businesses and offers advice from local business personality Ozzie Jurock. The series is produced and hosted by Taylor Thoen.

*Kudos

On Jan. 22, Omni Film’s Champions of the Wild – which has season three in production now – was handed a World Medal for Nature and Wildlife Series at the New York Festivals international tv awards. The wildlife series airs on Animal Planet, Discovery Canada and a roster of international broadcasters.

At the same event, Yaletown Entertainment’s new documentary series Weird Homes – directed by Eva Wunderman and based on a book by local author Jim Christy – won gold in the best documentary category. The series airs on Life Network.