In search of fresh sex adventurers, the Paperny Films documentary series Kink is moving production from Vancouver to Toronto for season two. The program focuses on the everyday lives – and kinky activity – of those in the underground cultures of sadomasochism, bondage, cross-dressing, fetishism and other fantasy games.

Preproduction will begin April 15, followed by 13 weeks of principal photography on the DV format commencing May 3. Field director Aerlyn Weissman (Forbidden Love) will shoot in Toronto and then return to Vancouver to edit the series along with codirector Dennis Heaton, who returns from season one. Also on board as field director is Winnipeg indie filmmaker Noam Gonick (Hey, Happy!). Stacey Offman is producing and David Paperny exec producing. Vancouver-based Paperny will set up a satellite office at Toronto’s Associated Producers facility.

Season two will consist of 13 half-hours, weaving various storylines throughout the season, each achieving its own dramatic arc. In keeping with broadcaster Showcase’s mandate of ‘Television without Borders,’ Kink is more graphic than standard TV fare. The first season was produced with the intention of airing after midnight, but now that Showcase has included the show in its primetime rotation, Offman says the filmmakers will have to tone it down somewhat. She also acknowledges viewer demand for more ‘eye candy’ – in other words, better-looking subjects.

The shift in locale comes after Kink had exhausted the number of Vancouver S&M practitioners willing to go on camera. Paperny had two researchers investigate Toronto for six months.

‘There’s definitely a lot of interesting people in Toronto and a big scene happening,’ Offman says. ‘There’s lots of stories to be told and great production people as well.’

After Showcase, Life Network has the second broadcast window. Additional funding for the season – the total budget for which is approximately $1.5 million – comes from the Rogers Cable Network Fund and the Licence Fee Program. Delivery date for season two is fall 2002, with an expected airdate of January 2003.

T.O. = Windy City on Soul Food

Toronto is up to its usual stand-in routine, this time subbing for Chicago on season three of the hour-long family drama Soul Food, which began shooting in March for an October wrap date. Based on the surprise 1997 hit feature film of the same name, Soul Food tracks the daily trials and tribulations of a tight-knit African American family, and stars Nicole Parker, Vanessa Williams, Malinda Williams and Darrin Dewitt Henson.

Canadian Sean Ryerson (Bait) produces, and exec producers include pop musician Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds and wife Tracey, Robert Teitel and George Tillman, Jr., who wrote and directed the original film. The series is an Edmonds Entertainment and State Street Pictures production in association with Paramount Network Television. The first of season three’s 13 episodes will air June 26 on Showtime in the U.S. No Canadian broadcast deal is yet in place.

A lack of purpose-built studios in Toronto has not deterred the production, which is shooting in a converted military base in north Toronto. Local DOP Mike McMurray, a veteran Gemini nominee (TekWar), lenses the show.

Velocity speeds out of the gate

Indie movie distributor THINKFilm has launched Toronto-based Velocity Home Entertainment, a standalone direct-to-video label aimed at working closely with rental retailers to bring them movies that move.

‘We chose the name ‘Velocity’ to express the speed with which we would meet clients’ needs,’ says David Rand, Velocity GM. ‘Our goal is to put the right titles in the right stores at the right time.’

Jeff Sackman, former president of Lions Gate Films, is assuming the role of Velocity president and CEO, bringing with him Randy Manis, VP acquisitions and business affairs. Marc Hirshberg, VP finance and operations for THINKFilm, will oversee the entire Velocity enterprise.

Velocity is targeting titles with familiar casts and genres. Its first two releases are Pressure Point, a Canadian action thriller from Frontline Entertainment Group, starring Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), and The Elite, a timely U.S. production about five young adults trained in anti-terrorism, from writer/director Terry Cunningham and Mediapro Pictures. Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot), Maxine Bahns (She’s the One) and Robin Givens (Boomerang) star.

These titles will be followed by Campfire Stories, a U.S. horror flick featuring among its cast Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), and The Circuit, a U.S. Film One production starring Olivier Gruner (Code Name: Eternity) as a university coach involved in an underground fight club.

Velocity plans to release 15 to 18 titles per year.

Motel gets new lease

In other video news, Darius Films has checked back into Motel, a feature it produced but which ended up on the shelf in a mire of bankruptcy. The Toronto-based company, which is involved in both proprietary and service production, has cut a trailer and an EPK and assembled deleted scenes in anticipation of the thriller’s DVD release.

Motel, a film noir about a thief who investigates the murder of a prostitute in order to redeem himself for his own crimes, went to camera in 1998. The film is written and directed by David Parker (The Long Weekend), and has a cast including Scott McCord, Martine Charron, Earl Pastko, Jacob Tierney and Frank Bonner, better known as Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati. Nicholas Tabarrok of Darius is producer and Chris Dalton, former head of production at Telescene Film Group, is exec producer. The film’s budget is $1.5 million, two-thirds of which are deferrals. The balance of the funding was from distributor Telescene and private investors.

The film’s future looked promising after it played at various international festivals and nabbed the best actor award for Scott McCord at New York’s 1999 B-Movie Film Festival. But shortly afterwards, Telescene filed for bankruptcy protection, and after a couple of small sales, the film dropped off the radar.

Darius recently approached Montreal’s CineGroupe to take over distribution of the film, as the latter had purchased Telescene’s library and still retains ownership of Motel. The deal Tabarrok has struck leaves him as the movie’s North American sales agent. In addition to Motel’s forthcoming DVD release, Darius has an L.A. sales agent looking for broadcast deals.

Waterloo cinema exhibits satellite flick

A Galaxy Entertainment movie theatre in Waterloo, ON took a step toward D-cinema recently by presenting a motion picture piped in digitally via satellite. Galaxy received the Canadian feature Drop Dead Roses, a production of Toronto’s Danforth Studios, from a satellite teleport operated in Toronto by Telesat Canada. Drop Dead Roses, written and directed by first-timer Jessica Hudson, was originated in the 24p high-definition format.

Electronic distribution could be the wave of the near future. Proving it can work is one step; exhibitors are reluctant to switch over, however, due to the high cost of replacing traditional film projectors with digital ones, and the lack of a standard industry platform. Content owners, on the other hand, are concerned over the possibility of satellite feeds being illegally intercepted. (Other potential ways for theatres to receive digital content is by fibre optics or on disc.) Once digital distribution takes over, it is the studios that stand to save substantially, as they will no longer have to strike and ship expensive release prints.

Galaxy’s adoption of D-cinema could also lead to neighborhood theatres more regularly providing different forms of content, such as live concerts and sporting events.

The Ottawa-based Telesat also recently received the Canadian Satellite User Association’s outstanding service award at the organization’s annual conference in Toronto. The company was recognized for its innovations in direct-to-home and cable services and providing DTV and telecommunications to remote communities.