Barbara Willis-Sweete, who drew applause from festival audiences earlier this fall with Perfect Pie, is bringing Timothy Findley’s hit play Elizabeth Rex to the little screen for CBC and Rhombus Media. The historical drama, wherein Elizabeth I pays a visit to William Shakespeare’s theatre troupe, enjoyed a successful run at Ontario’s Stratford Festival a few years back and has been reworked as a two-hour TV special by Rhombus partner Willis-Sweete, who also directs, and Kate Miller. The planned five-week shoot is expected to wrap early next month.

‘It’s similar to what we did a few years ago with Long Day’s Journey into Night,’ says Rhombus’ Niv Fichman of the $2-million project, which is backed by Telefilm Canada, Bravo! and CBC. Fichman produces along with Danny Iron and Jennifer Jonas.

Milan Podsedly (Due South, Nikita) is DOP, David Wharensby will edit and U.K. import Matthew Davies is production designer. Diane D’Aquila and Brent Carver reprise their stage roles as Elizabeth I and actor Ned Lowenscraft. Elizabeth Rex will air April 6, 2003.

Speaking of Stratford, Rhombus is also preparing to shoot St. Ratford, a 6 x 60 behind-the-scenes comedy about a certain ‘large theatre festival in a small agricultural community,’ says Fichman. The $5.8-million project is slated to shoot in March, just as soon as comic Mark McKinney (Kids in the Hall) and theatre mavens Susan Coyne (The Broad Side) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone) hammer out the script. Producers Fichman, Iron and Sari Friedland (An American in Canada) are shopping for a director. The shoot is bankrolled by Telefilm Canada, The Movie Network and Movie Central, which have first broadcast rights, and Showcase, which signed on for second.

Hockey Night in Mongolia

Tropic of Hockey, the best-selling book by Rheostatics guitarist and globetrotter Dave Bidini, has been reworked as a one-hour documentary called Hockey Nomad by House on Fire Productions and Mercury Films and will air on CBC early in 2003.

The book and film recount Bidini’s travels to hockey-crazed communities, and games against locals, in such unlikely spots as Transylvania, Dubai and the Far East. Mike Downie and Nick de Pencier of House and Mercury, respectively, returned from their final shoot in Mongolia earlier this month, and the $370,000 project is now in post with editor Mike Munn (Highway 61). Downie directed, de Pencier was DOP and both produced.

‘The idea was to re-create those experiences, or at least follow up,’ says Bidini. ‘We tried to get into north China through Mongolia, the way I went for the book, but with a camera crew, getting across the border was a pain in the ass. We stayed in Mongolia and it ended up being a lot better.’

Bills were paid with funds from Telefilm and CBC. Hockey Nomad will air on CBC Newsworld in January and on the main channel Feb. 1, shortly before the NHL All-Star game.

House on Fire was also on the road this year for Into America, and is now posting the four-ep half-hour series for TVOntario. The $125,000 doc project follows five U of T students and their poli sci professor/producer Ron Deibert on a state-of-the-nation tour of the U.S.

‘The whole idea was to get face to face with the whole American system of politics and security,’ says Downie, who directed. Robert Megna edits and Into America is due to air in 2003.

Meanwhile, Mercury is getting ready to lens Streetcar, the tentatively titled one-hour dance special for Bravo! Choreographer Peter Chin will dance in a Toronto streetcar for director de Pencier and DOP Steve Cosens (Flower & Garnet) sometime in February, to the tune of $125,000. Bravo! licence fees and cash from the Toronto, Ontario and Canada arts councils will pay the bills. Svil Anovic has signed on to edit.

Have an Ice day

CBC has another hockey project in the works, and on Dec. 7 will unveil Ice, a series of animated shorts slated to run this season during Hockey Night in Canada. The 26 eps, ranging from one to three minutes, are set in a futuristic world where humans take to the ice against evil, hockey-playing robots.

Cynthia Dale, Wendy Crewson, Tie Domi and Ron MacLean lend their voices to the motion-capture cartoons by animator Graham Melley of Aquila Pictures. Ice is written by Mike Dodson and produced by CBC’s Greg Sinclair and Joel Darling. The shorts will air during pre-game shows through the regular season and into the playoffs. It’s the CBC’s first ‘kid-friendly’ hockey project since the network rolled out Peter Puck in the 1970s.

Tierney does the Twist

Oliver Twist has been plucked out of Dickensian London and dropped into modern-day Toronto, thanks to a new film underway at Victorious Films. Actor-turned-writer/director Jacob Tierney (The Life Before This) is calling the shots on Twist, a feature film retelling of the Charles Dickens classic in production Nov. 25 to Dec. 20. Producer Victoria Hirst is still shopping for a distributor, but has secured funding from The Movie Network, Movie Central and private investors. Nick Stahl (In The Bedroom) stars along with Tygh Runyan (K-19: The Widowmaker), Brigid Tierney (Affliction) and newcomer Joshua Close as Oliver. Gerald Packer is DOP.

Victorious is also prepping to shoot A Sudden Darkness, a gritty crime thriller based on a true story in 1970s Toronto. Director David Weaver (Century Hotel) and DOP David Greene (Fire Dance) will shoot in the spring, working with a script by Hugh Graham. No word yet how much it will cost, but funding has been secured with Citytv, The Movie Network and Movie Central. Thinkfilm has also picked up the Canadian distribution rights.