Vancouver: Ms. Bear – the family feature about kids, the environment and things ursine – did well enough on hbo and in video stores since it was shot three years ago to inspire a sequel. Production wrapped Dec. 20 in Abbotsford, an hour east of Vancouver, on Bear With Me.

The sequel picks up on the story of Emily (Kaitlyn Burke from the original) who – as a ‘cub’ reporter for her school newspaper – gets into danger investigating illegal logging in the woods. Her adventure reunites her with Masha – the baby cinnamon bear from the first movie now all grown up.

Michael Ontkean takes on the role originated by Ed Begley, Jr. Helen Shaver, Gordon Tootoosis and Alan Thicke also star with a roster of b.c. actors.

Animal wrangler Gerry Therrien’s 700-pound bear Broud plays the lead animal role along with the trainer’s ravens, cougars and a fox.

The film is executive produced by Lewis Chesler and David Perlmutter, produced by Mary Sparacio and directed by Paul Ziller – the team that created the first film.

Bear With Me will appear on wic television stations in Canada and will get international distribution through Endemol Entertainment.

*Rumors and intrigue

Tim Robbins’ film Anti-Trust, a feature for mgm vaguely inspired by Microsoft and Bill Gates, is already set to begin production in Vancouver in February.

But the system is also beginning to churn for other potential new year’s projects.

Fox Family mow Downfall could go this month. Meanwhile, the Paramount feature Along Came a Spider is tentatively scheduled to begin in February.

hbo mow Black Top could also go in February along with the New Line feature Bones.

Andromeda, a Gene Roddenberry-created tv series with former Hercules star Kevin Sorbo as a starship captain, is looking at Vancouver as its production hq.

Other titles scouting Vancouver are feature film The Encryptor, feature film Medusa and Fox feature Riptide.

*Frosty fate

A Winter’s Tale is a cbs mow that began production Jan. 6 and wraps Feb. 1.

Starring Patty Duke and William Devane, the story chronicles the experiences of a family struggling to survive after they crash their plane enroute to their mountain cabin.

*River runs through it

Documentary writer/producer Lynn Booth and director Heather Frise get to the heart of real b.c. beachcombing with the hour-long Dog Lines: Beachcombers of the Fraser, which wrapped production last month.

Set for delivery to vtv and ctv in the spring, the documentary focuses on three beachcombers – the only woman beachcomber in b.c., a local raised on the river and a former Alberta farmer – and was inspired by the original cbc series Beachcombers.

‘It’s not an easy job, and getting tougher by the minute,’ says Booth of beachcombing, a tough waterside job of wrangling logs. ‘Lower wood prices, a tough industry eye, rcmp and forest company security forces – everything conspires to drive an honest beachcomber off the river.’

BC Film, Telefilm Canada and all the other usual funding agencies are involved.

Brian Hamilton of Omni Film Productions is the executive producer and Water Street Releasing is distributing.

*R&DTV

Knowledge Network wrapped post-production mid-December on Planet Education, a six-part, one-hour series produced in partnership with BC Hydro.

The series, hosted by Kathie Hill, tours b.c.’s five major universities to explore research projects such as zooplankton in space and bugs-assisted police forensics. The series began airing Tuesdays on Jan. 4.

BC Hydro chipped in 50% of the $180,000, says Knowledge Net gm Bohdan Zajcew, who is looking for a 13-episode renewal of the series.

*World traveler

Vancouver film programmer Hannah Fisher traveled to the Calcutta Film Festival with critic Roger Ebert and Ranfilm’s feature My Father’s Angel in November and she’ll be heading back to southern India in April as a programmer for the Kerela Film Festival.

In between, Fisher will host her annual Floating Film Festival, which disembarks Ft. Lauderdale Feb. 1 for 12 days on the MS Maasdam, a Holland America ship, in the Caribbean sun.

Ebert will also attend and present a frame-by-frame analysis of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. The Big Kahuna (Kevin Spacey), Shadow of the Vampire (John Malkovich), East is East (Om Puri) and American Psycho (Willem Dafoe) are confirmed titles.

Premiering at the floating event is We All Fall Down, a $128,000 Vancouver feature shot in June with Helen Shaver, Nicholas Campbell, Barry Pepper, Rene Auberjonois and star Darcy Belsher among the cast members. Cowriter and director Martin Cummins also stars in a lead role in a story based on his life of drugs and despair in Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside.