Montreal: The media turnout was unprecedented at the upscale Lemeac restaurant Sept. 16, the day before the start of principal photography on the France/Canada feature film coproduction Pere et fils. Press and cameras were there to see and hear legendary French actor Philippe Noiret (La Vie et rien d’autre, Monsieur Albert), who plays a manipulative widower plotting closer ties with his three somewhat estranged sons.

Pere et fils is the first feature from director Michel Boujenah. The film began 20 days of shooting Sept. 17 in rural Charlevoix, with the Quebec leg of the eight-week shoot, including scenes in Montreal, wrapping Oct. 31. Filming then moves to Paris.

A regular performer at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival, Boujenah (Trois Hommes et un couffin, La Grande Vie) has also appeared in some 25 films as an actor. He developed Pere et fils over four and a half years (coscripted by Pascal Elbe and Edmond Bensimon) and says the film ‘is a natural coproduction,’ because it’s a story about a French family’s experience on a visit to Quebec. ‘It’s the story that brought us here,’ says the director.

Joining the 71-year-old Noiret, who has made many great movies over 45 years, are actors Charles Berling, Bruno Putzulu and Pascal Elbe as the three sons, and Pierre Lebeau, Marie Tifo and Genevieve Brouillette as the locals who meet with the visiting French family.

‘It’s a pleasure shooting here,’ says Noiret (La Fille de d’Artagnan, Cinema Paradiso). ‘I am a saltimbanque [a highly versatile person, according to the Larousse dictionary]. I’ve had a suitcase in hand for 50 years. I accepted to do this film, like all the others, firstly because of the…money [‘pognon’], and because of the quality of the screenplay. From the start, the theme, the atmosphere, the characters, and the mix of humor, tenderness and violence pulled me in.’

Pere et fils is a coproduction between France’s A.J.O.Z. Films (Ariel Zeitoun), Bernard Tavernier’s house Little Bear Productions (Frederic Bourboulon) and Gaumont (Patrick Ledoux), which has France and international distribution rights, and Montreal’s Max Films (Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal). The Canadian distributor is Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm (Guy Gagnon, Patrick Roy). The producer is Sidonie Dumas. Patrick Blossier is the DOP. Casting in Quebec is by Marie-Jan Seille. The budget is just over $7 million (80% France).

Violent metamorphosis in The Last Chapter II

Gang warfare explodes between old friends as the second season of the Radio-Canada/CBC biker drama The Last Chapter/Le Dernier Chapitre II opens.

Logistical deployment on the 69-day (10 to 12 hours a day plus meal) double-shoot (six hours in French, six in English) represents a major undertaking, with as many as 300 actors, crew and extras on set for the biggest days. The show has some 15 to 20 significant speaking roles.

The second season, set to wrap Sept. 29, keys on the rivalry between Bob Durelle, leader of the Toronto chapter of the Triple Sixers biker gang, played by Michael Ironside (The Arrangement), and Ross Desbiens, played by Roy Dupuis (Un Homme et son peche).

Durelle’s tightly wound world begins to fall apart. The president of the international chapter is murdered in front of his eyes, while his wife Karen, played by Marina Orsini (Dr. Lucille), is determined to take herself and her children away from the endless violence.

Series director Richard Roy says new season highlights include an extreme combat fight featuring biker Roots Racine, played bt Dan Bigras (filmed at Le Medley night club), a blowout Triple Sixer wedding and a scene where two gang members with money machines ‘count more money than you’ve ever seen.’

There is also a very noisy biker parade, with 50 piped-up Harley Davidsons and riders in full patch filmed from a 10-camera car using variable lens and multiple angles through the streets of suburban Sainte Anne de Bellevue. Most of the series action is set in Montreal and Toronto, with a single day of shooting in Ottawa.

Claudio Luca of Productions Tele-Action is the producer. Martine Allard is line producer. The screenwriter is Luc Dionne (Omerta, Bunker, le cirque) and the budget is $10.6 million (for 12 hours), up $1 million from 2001.

In the new season, Dupuis’ character, already a bit nuts and suicidal, emerges with his own rival biker club and becomes Durelle’s arch enemy. Desbiens’ hatred is pushed to the limit after a bomb intended for him kills his wife, played by Celine Bonnier (Tag).

Other key characters in season two include detective Guenette, played by Michel Forget (La Femme qui boit, Les Machos); Triple Sixer club member ‘The Brain,’ played by George Buza; a Quebec City biker, played by Tony Conti; a trio of police officers played by the talented Maxim Roy (Misguided Angels, Virginie), L.P. Dandenault and veteran actor Jean-Pierre Bergeron (Crosswinds, Free Money); and Ron Lea in the role of a biker lawyer.

The DOP is Marc Charlebois (Cafe Ole).

Claude Palardy is the Avid picture editor. The 1st AD is Normand Labelle. Ray Dupuis is the designer and Normand Mercier is the sound recordist. Audio is by Modulations. Casting is by Vera Miller and Maxime Giroux of Elite Productions.

The show’s ratings have been solid, close to one-million for SRC and 900,000 for CBC.

Lighting and camera setup remain the same on a double-shoot, but the main change from French to English, says Roy, is ‘the pacing, the intonations – the musicality of the languages is different.’ As a result, picture and sound edits are unique for each version, with certain scenes 12 to 15 seconds longer.

The production typically uses two to four Aaton Super 16mm (16:9) cameras, with between 30 to 70 shots per day. ‘It’s a big show so we have to go a little faster,’ says Roy (Cafe Ole, Moody Beach), who is currently in talks on new drama projects with producers in Calgary and Toronto.

Paul Risacher is series creative consultant. The ‘big dialogue-coaching job’ this season is being done by Louise Pare and Elktra Risacher.

Luca (Big Bear, The Boys of St. Vincent) says the double-shoot formula represents an additional cost of 30% in shooting terms, while there are no savings on the post-production end.

New drama in development at Tele-Action includes The Story of Rene Levesque, an eight-hour double-shoot, with development support from SRC, CBC and Telefilm Canada. Author Pierre Godin is heading research.

Also in devlopment is a four-hour historical miniseries drama on the fate of Italian-Canadian internees during WWII scripted by Bruno Ramirez (Cafe Italia).

Exporter Distribution Cine Tele-Action will be at MIPCOM, Oct. 7-11.

Bliss II’s evolutionary gaze

Shooting (in DV PAL) on location in Montreal on Bliss II, the Galafilm/Back Alley Films women’s erotic anthology, extends over 32 days from Sept. 9 to Nov. 1.

The new round of production opens with the good news: U.S. cable TV network Oxygen Media has licensed all 16 episodes (first and second seasons). The first eight half-hours began airing on Oxygen (available in 42 million American households) in August, and the producers report ratings results have been excellent.

‘We set out to create a new genre for television, one that explores sexual content and erotica for women, that celebrates sexual desire and is sensual, too. We’re really pleased that our broadcast partners and viewers have responded so positively to the show,’ says Back Alley’s Janis Lundman, who shares series creator/exec producer credits with Adrienne Mitchell.

‘What has mainly changed for season two is that we are turning the cameras around more on to the males,’ adds Mitchell. ‘So we are really focusing a lot more on the ‘female gaze’ and looking at the stories unfolding from the female perspective. So I guess [one of the] themes of season two is how we look at men versus how men look at women – the similarities, the differences and the surprises. Will people be surprised in terms of how women look at men!’

Bliss II brings together an impressive (and expanded) group of writers, directors and actors, including directors Holly Dale, E. Jane Thompson, Ghyslaine Cote, Anais Granofsky, Sylvie Rosenthal, Marni Banack and Mitchell. Performers include Thea Gill, Troy Ruptash, Wendel Meldrum, Mark Taylor, Shannon Lawson and Alan Van Sprang, while the writing talents include Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik, Maureen McKeon, Sharon Riis, Janis Cole, Cathleen Bond and Leila Basen.

The DOP is Stefan Ivanov. Donna Noonan is the production designer and Diane Arcand is supervising producer/PM. Picture editors are Myriam Poirier and Teresa DeLuca. Shooting and post crews are Montreal-based.

Galafilm credits go to exec producer Arnie Gelbart (The Blue Butterfly, Chiefs) and producer Ian Whitehead (The Worst Witch, Two Thousand and None).

One location, the Cream fetish club on boul. St. Laurent, stands in for ‘the Cougar Club, where you have the older gals hanging out with the younger guys,’ says Lundman.

Bliss is an official Quebec (80%)/Ontario coproduction budgeted at $4.8 million. Broadcasters are Showcase Television, The Movie Network, Movie Central, Oxygen and Super Ecran. Funding sources include Telefilm Canada (Equity Investment Program), Rogers Cable Fund and the Quebec, Ontario and Canadian production tax credits. The series is distributed internationally by Peter Simpson and Oasis Pictures of Toronto.

Back Alley (Drop the Beat, Straight Up) is developing a feature film project entitled Arousal, based on a Barbara Gowdy short story. It’s a coproduction with Buffalo Gal Pictures of Winnipeg.

Lundman and Mitchell are also developing a doc series with Life Network called What Women Want, an exploration of female fantasy.