Shortly after Telefilm Canada cut a cheque for $1.8 million, Devine Entertainment got going on its first theatrical feature, Bailey.

The $10-million pic, about a dog who becomes CEO of an animal rights group, got underway in Mississauga, ON Sept. 8 at Citadel Studios and shoots until mid-October.

Originally known as Puppy Love, the film had been slated to shoot last year but was delayed by casting complications.

Bailey is a Canada/U.K. copro (80/20), produced by locals David Devine and Richard Mozer and by The Spice Factory’s Jason Piette and Michael Cowan. Devine (Degas and the Dancer) will also direct, working from a script co-penned by Heather Conkie (Degas and the Dancer, Pit Pony) and the ubiquitous Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes).

Jon Lovitz, a voice talent vet of The Simpsons and Cats & Dogs, is the lead voice, and recently phoned in his lines on a high-def line from New York.

A golden lab has been flown in from Vancouver – following training by B.C.-based Canine Co-stars (Goodboy, Air Bud 3) – and will star with bipeds Dean Cain (Lois and Clark) and Laurie Holden (The Majestic). Jennifer Tilly (Hollywood North) and Tim Curry (Charlie’s Angels) have been paired as the villainous couple. Kenneth Walsh and Sheila McCarthy play butler and maid to the high-paid pooch.

The picture looks to expand on Devine’s good rep for family entertainment, built by Mozer, Conkie and Devine with a series of educational shows about famous inventors and artists.

The company plans to deliver on presales to The Movie Network and Movie Central by spring. Odeon Films will distribute in Canada, while Aussie-based Arclight handles international. Bailey is also backed by the sale-and-leaseback program and the Brit financing outfit Movision, says Devine.

Sit, Stay.

The Brits also have a 20% stake in the feature Some Things That Stay, which just wrapped its four-week stay in Toronto.

Based on the Sarah Willis bestseller, it’s the $2-million story of an eccentric 1950s family, as seen through the eyes of 14-year-old daughter Tamara. Katie Boland (The Zack Files) stars with Kevin Zegers (Wrong Turn), Stuart Wilson (Dinotopia) and Alberta Watson (Nikita). Wyn Davies, Maria Ricossa and Peter MacNeil also pop up.

Catherine Gourdier (Chicago) wrote the script and produces with Chris Chrisafis (Gospel of John) of Grosvenor Park Productions, Don Carmody (Chicago) and Martin Katz of Prospero Films, and Simon Dekaric and Hassain Zaidi of new Toronto prodco Reality Pictures in Motion.

According to a spokesperson, several companies – including William F. White, Fujifilm and Cinespace – deferred payment on their services as a thank you to Carmody, who has a long history of bringing big Hollywood shoots to Canada.

Director Gail Harvey (Paradise Falls) and DOP Frank Tidy (The Christmas Secret) have handed their footage to editor Simon Cozens (Ghosthunter) and are looking to hit the festival circuit by spring. Cozens will cut at Toronto’s Sim Video and Christal Films will distribute in Canada.

Runaway train

Global Television has announced it will ride Train 48 into a second season, and recently ordered a whopping 198 half-hour eps of the pseudo reality series from local house Protocol Entertainment.

The series will air four nights a week for 14 weeks starting Sept. 23, switching to five nights after the finale of the new Survivor.

The show, which follows the lives of 10 rail commuters, played well to Ontarians during its 63-ep summer run. ‘We’re confident that the audience will continue to grow as the summer ends and people… are spending more time at home,’ says producer Steve Levitan.

Making a killing

Meanwhile, Barna-Alper Productions and North Bend Film Company are shooting season four of Blue Murder, also for Global and due to air early next year.

The gritty cop drama has two new faces. Kari Matchett, seen frequently on Nero Wolfe, and Tracy Waterhouse (The Eleventh Hour, Cold Squad) play two rookies teamed with series regulars Mimi Kuzyk, Joel Keller and Benz Antoine.

Steve DiMarco (Queer as Folk), T.W. Peacocke (Mutant X, Amazon) and Scott Summersgill (The Immortal) are among the name directors set for this season, working for producers Laszlo Barna, Steve Lucas and Norman Denver. Jim Jeffrey is DOP.

Blue Murder is backed by CTF LFP and EIP, the Independent Production Fund and Rogers Telefund. Alliance Atlantis distributes.

Bigger is better

Fran Drescher and Broadway star Marissa Winokur are in Toronto this month, finishing the romantic comedy Beautiful Girl for ABC Family. Winokur plays a plus-sized woman out to prove herself in the stick-thin world of beauty pageantry and stars with Mark Consuelos of All My Children. Drescher plays her mother.

Doug Barr (Sweet Valley High) directs from the script by Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft. Winokur produces with Stan Brooks, Greg Gugliotta and Mark Valeo. Mark Winemaker (Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story) is line producer. Beautiful Girl wraps mid-month and airs in October.