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.

Although it may be too late to enter the race for the first birth of the year 2000, Andre Picard of Montreal-based SDA Productions (Coscient) still has hopes of having his millennial baby, The Stork Derby.

Set in the 1920s and ’30s, the mow is based on the true story of an eccentric Toronto lawyer who left behind an equally odd will – offering $1 million to the woman in the city who had the most babies in the 10 years following his death. The race among three woman to win the money and the media circus which results is the foreground of the script, written by Karyn Nolan and Madeline Thompson. Mario Azzopardi is on board to direct and exec produce with Nolan, Picard and Francine Allaire.

With a prelicence from ChumCity, and rdi already in place and Motion International distributing, Picard headed to last year’s Banff festival to secure international presales and coproduction and distribution partners on the $3.5-million project. The general response from u.s. outlets, says Picard, is that they would be interested in the project as an acquisition but will not commit to a presale.

A German partnership was explored, but Picard says ‘it was a bit of a stretch, not a natural coproduction.’

BBC Scotland is interested and keeps up a continued correspondence with Picard on the project.

This spring, the project was turned down for both Equity Investment Program and Licence Fee Program funding. Picard is now looking at the possibility of revamping the story into a feature film since that leaves open theatrical, pay-tv and conventional tv windows. He is also working with ChumCity to explore the opportunity to bring other broadcasters in Canada and overseas into the deal.

Picard has no intention of giving up on The Stork Derby. The timing is right for the project, he says, with all the hype over the millennial baby race. ‘A similar story is repeating itself later in history so the project is very timely.’