Canadian distributors are reporting record sales activity at the recently wrapped mip-tv in Cannes.

Salter Street International closed over $4.2 million in deals; Great North International saw its sales rise 30% over last year’s figures, generating over $3 million in deals; and Minds Eye International’s tally rings in at over $2 million mark.

Minds Eye’s Incredible Story Studio kids’ series scored an international coup, with sales to Walt Disney Television International, Discovery Kids in the u.s., Nickelodeon Australia, the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, Ireland’s TnaG, Israel’s Noga, Poland’s TV Polska, and a pending deal for China, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Walt Disney International will pick up the first 26 episodes of the Minds Eye/Verite Films Incredible Story Studio for Disney Channel in the u.k., France and Germany, with an option for the additional 39 episodes.

The program, which airs on ytv in Canada, involves an ensemble cast of children dramatizing stories written by students from across Canada. Based on discussions with the new European broadcast partners, seasons four and five will feature episodes based on stories collected from children in the u.k., France and Germany to make for a more internationally viable program, says Minds Eye International’s Paul Black. Story-gathering workshops in Europe begin this summer.

Minds Eye International is also close to a deal with Discovery Latin America for Mentors, a teen series coproduced by Minds Eye Alberta and Anaid Productions. The show was also picked up at mip by Noga (Israel), zbc (Zimbabwe), ifd and (Poland).

Black also reports pending deals on Big Schtick Productions’ The Tourist to Travel Channel u.k., Media Bank for all of South East Asia, and three broadcasters vying for Latin American rights.

A Minds Eye primetime series in development, Radio Silence, generated presale interest from Korea, Latin America, Germany and Italy. The $1-million per episode series will shoot next September without government funding and a Canadian licence is currently being negotiated.

An adventure thriller with an urban edge, Radio Silence centers on a young woman on the run from her father who got into trouble in Columbia who starts up a pirate radio station with some friends in the back of a semi-trailer.

Highlights of Halifax-based Salter Street International’s mip tally include the presale of 13 new episodes (as well as the acquisition of last season’s six-pack) of Rick Mercer’s Made In Canada series to Australia’s Comedy Channel, and the third season of sci-fi series Lexx to Chum Television, France’s Canal+, Sci-Fi Channel Europe, u.k.’s Channel 5; New Zealand’s Sky TV and Contender Video in the u.k.

Season three of Emily of New Moon has been presold to Encore Media Group’s WAM! Channel in the u.s., which has already picked up season one and two of the Cinar/Salter Street coproduction.

The three one-hour doc series cod has been presold to obc in Iceland; the Life Network series Foodessence has been sold to rai in Italy and Tohokushinsha in Japan; and the second season of Mrs. Greenthumbs has sold to Living Channel in the u.k.

Edmonton’s Great North International recorded $650,000 in presales alone. Shiver, a new series of 13 half-hours about the science of cold (slated for production this summer) sold to National Geographic. The first season of Cosmic Highway (13 half-hours by Vancouver’s Orchard Productions) was picked up by Northbridge Trio, and Animal Planet bought the seventh season of nature program Acorn: The Nature Nut.

According to Sandra Green, managing director of Great North International, significant growth was due to long-term relation-building strategies and a general overall improvement in the market this year over last. Stimulating a lot of interest was the original programming for the u.s.-based Romance Channel, for which Great North handles distribution.

As for trends, Green says science and technology and lifestyle programming were popular with buyers as was programming geared to the millennium change.

ChumCity International’s Steve Tapp is also dubbing this their best mip ever. The Asian market is re-emerging, he says, with deals in Thailand, Singapore and Japan signed for Citytv and MuchMusic programming. Arts and Minds was picked up by tcs in Singapore and a package deal (including Fashion Television, Media Television and Movie Television) signed with Thailand’s ubc.

ChumCity broke into the French market for the first time, selling Egos and Icons and Rap City to satellite service Absat and Paris Premiere.

Sex tv sold to the u.k.’s Bravo and a major multi-territory deal (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) is pending finalization with Modern Times Group Scandinavia. Ed The Sock was picked up by Comedy Channel Australia and Ooh La La by Australia’s Foxtel.

A deal is being finalized with MGM Latin America for Movie Television, Fashion Television and Sex tv.

Negotiations are underway for a new home for Fashion tv in the u.s., says Tapp. The series had aired on VH1.

Following the launch of the City format in Bogota, Colombia, Tapp says there is interest from Italy, France and Israel in the MuchMusic and City formats. A Brazil and Spain franchise is likely within the next six months through the MuchMusic joint venture with Cisneros TV Group in Miami, says Tapp.

Montreal-based The Multimedia Group of Canada sold Devine Entertainment’s Artists Specials to Disney-France and HBO-Ole in Latin America. The Just Kidding comedy series was sold to Scandinavian service mtg and the two-hour Verseau International killer religious cult documentary In The Name of God was picked up by Discovery, u.k.

‘There are a lot of new startup digital services, especially in Spain and the u.k., and they’re looking to buy children’s material,’ says Sari Buksner, senior vp, international sales and development. ‘So there are new opportunities in the market where before you could only go terrestrial, and terrestrial is difficult because there’s a lot of homegrown production.’

She says bigger program packages are attractive sellers and if prices are towards the low end, at least the new digital opportunities ‘keep product moving.’

Buksner says many of the digital channels are seeking more rights. ‘Like Discovery, they’re trying to buy multi-territories all at the same time, so there are a lot of things to consider now when you make a deal. You have to read the contract clauses carefully to see if in the long-term you’re really doing the best thing for your product.’

As for prices, she says terrestrial channels’ prices are holding steady and in some cases digital channels are paying more as their subscriber base grows. ‘And startup services are even paying a little more because in order to get product they have to compete.’

Catalyst Distribution sold the animated series James the Cat, (52 x 5 minutes) to Channel 5 in the u.k., and preschool series Funny Farm (40 x 5 minutes) went to Fox Kids Australia, which also picked up 65 half-hours of Racoons. The kids’ adventure series Captain Pugwash, produced by John Cary Films for Catalyst’s u.k. partner the Brit Allcroft company has been picked up by tvv.

Shadow Lake, a thriller to be produced by Breakthrough Film and Television, was sold by Catalyst to Polar Star which took all Latin American rights.

Breakthrough International presold its Streets of the World series, a copro with u.k.-based Double Exposure, to Discovery International. Production begins on the 13 half-hour ($200,000 per episode) biography of shoes this fall.

A deal was closed with Fox Family in the u.s. and Disney in Spain on the one-hour special Jenny and The Queen of Light. All 65 episodes of Dudley The Dragon were picked up by Singapore.

Steal This Life, a movie Breakthrough will coproduce with Katherine and Jackie May, created interest which will be followed up post mip, says Breakthrough’s Ira Levy. The mow is in development with the cbc and is penned by Jackie May. Based on initial international interest, Levy is also confident that Paradise Falls, a soap opera in development with the cbc, written by Alex Galatis and Paula Smith, will ink presale deals in the coming months.

Marni Sanderson, senior vp, television distribution at Alliance Atlantis, noted a growing international interest in event miniseries and movies. The four-hour cbc and cbs miniseries Joan of Arc was a hot property, she says, with deals closing for Australia, Japan, Asia, and a big sale to Endemol for Europe, Africa, and Latin American concluded prior to the market.

Two new aac series – Peter Benchley’s Amazon and Beastmasters, were presented at mip and deals are pending for Australia and Latin America.

Psi Factor sold to TF1 in France and Total Recall was purchased by Canal+ in France and Belgium.

Latin America is continuing to be a strong market, says Sanderson. Televisa in Mexico has picked up Amazons, Jett Jackson, Sinbad and Psi Factor, and Colombia’s City signed on for Beastmaster, Cold Squad, Jet Jackson and Amazon. Argentina’s Telefe also bought a package of series from aac and Canal 9 took a slate of tv movies.

With files from Ian Edwards in Vancouver and Leo Rice-Barker in Montreal.