Each year at Banff, a number of producers are chosen to bring their developing projects to the attention of the international television industry in the hopes of securing coproduction partners and/or broadcaster interest. Playback went back to the 1998 pitchers to find out whether any of their projects have been greenlit for production since last year’s Banff Market Simulation.

Last year’s Two in a Room, hosted by commissioning editors Paul Hamann of the bbc and Rudy Buttignol of tvontario, brought Party Girls to the forefront as writer/director Susan Terrill and producer Katherine Baulu beat out an estimated 75 competitors.

After almost one year and with some Telefilm Canada funding added to the mix, the one-hour documentary, budgeted at $300,000, is heading into production with tvo and bbc – a huge feat according to Terrill, who says she is the first Two in a Room winner to actually make it to production with the support of both broadcasters.

This is also the first time Terrill and Baulu have ever produced anything with a broadcaster and Terrill says it has been a great experience.

‘They were incredibly supportive, they didn’t even impose an executive producer on us.’

Party Girls focuses on women involved in the home sales of Tupperware, cosmetics and lingerie.

‘The whole idea was not to make a caricature or take easy shots at a humorous subject, but to look at how women are motivated to sell and how these companies work as a model,’ says Terrill, adding: ‘The original idea hasn’t changed much since the pitch.’

But Terrill didn’t go to Banff with the intention of pitching the project.

‘I just wanted to go to see how things work and I probably wouldn’t have talked to anyone if it wasn’t for the open forum.’

Two in a Room brings two commissioning editors on stage to come up with terms for an international coproduction. Once they reach an agreement, they put out a call and producers have 24 hours to respond.

Five finalists are chosen and each is given 10 minutes on stage – five minutes to pitch and five to answer questions from the commissioners. The winner receives a wad of cash for development.

Ironically, Terrill was somewhat prepared for this last-minute pursuit as she had brought her project to a pitching workshop at the National Screen Institute in Edmonton just prior to Banff last year.

And equally ironic was that Terrill met Baulu on the plane to Banff, only days earlier. In casual conversation, she talked about her idea for Party Girls and it turned out Baulu is related to the Tupper family, which Terrill says, ‘eventually gave us access to the Tupperware archives.’

Terrill and Baulu both received a ctv fellowship to Banff this year. They’ll be returning to find support for their own respective projects.

‘But we’re also looking to sell Party Girls to pbs.. . . We still have a bit of money to raise.’