Out of 350 applications, the CBC has short-listed 12 finalists in its daytime soap-opera project.

The Ceeb put out an open call in May to producers to develop a new half-hour daytime drama based on life in a Canadian community full of ‘spice and intrigue’ – a formula it believes has the potential for high ratings and the ability to build a loyal and broad audience.

While the contest was open to all comers, the results show a number of veteran names. And that has angered some independent producers.

Production companies on the shortlist include Breakthrough Films and Television, Protocol Entertainment, Haddock Entertainment and Shaftesbury Films, all well-established producers with long track records. The finalists each get $20,000 to develop their proposals to the next stage.

The original call for submissions appeared to be angling for up and comers, trumpeting the network’s long history of training writers, producers, directors and actors. ‘This project will continue that legacy,’ the call for submissions reads.

Not surprisingly, the selection of some of Canada’s top producers for the shortlist has some smaller producers who were passed over doing a slow burn.

‘It’s always a disappointment not to win a competition,’ writes Vancouver screenwriter Hal Gray in zineCAT, a weekly online film and TV magazine. ‘That’s not the grievance. It turns out we had no chance in the first place – we’ve been used in a cynical public relations exercise.’

Gray alleges that despite the aura of ‘equanimity’ in the contest pitch, the Daytime competition process favored the established producers. He suggests the CBC paid lip service to the independent producers in a bid to look like a broadcaster that supports the development of less established producers.

‘The adjudicators of the Daytime project did what was familiar to them,’ writes Gray. ‘They opted for exclusivity – in actuality, a glaring example of how the system really works.’

Vancouver-based Rob Bromley, president of Force Four Productions, was unsuccessful with the pitch for Blueberry Chai, about a family working in a blueberry field.

‘I’m taking a wait-and-see approach,’ says Bromley, whose project included a consortium of experienced and inexperienced producers. ‘There wasn’t much to go on by way of criteria. We assume the decision was fairly done, but we don’t know how the decision was made – whether training was in the parameters. [However], when you have 350 applications, you’re going to have 349 pissed-off people.’

Rae Hull, Vancouver-based senior director of network programming at the CBC, says the broadcaster wanted to open the doors as wide as possible to projects that were a) entertaining television and b) reflective of a diverse Canada both in front of and behind the camera. A closed selection process, she adds, would have opened a different can of worms.

‘We wanted to provide everyone with the opportunity,’ she says, ‘but we’re also talking about creating really good television on a daily or almost daily basis and that requires a lot of experience. We expected there to be collaboration in the market. We expected that less experienced people would get opportunities, and [judging by the finalists’ proposals] that’s exactly what’s happened.’

Projects were judged on their creative first and diversity second. Training, which was highlighted in the original letter to producers, was less important in the selection process, though some form of training is expected in the execution of the production. Geographic locations were not part of the selection mix, says Hull.

Vancouver-based Chris Haddock, one of the short-listed producers, thinks the disgruntlement is misplaced.

‘I’m a bit surprised [by the negative comment],’ says Haddock. ‘Part of the CBC mandate is to use this as a feeder for talent. Our proposal was to blend the experience of Haddock Entertainment with some younger talent. I can see how some might see [our selection] as a slam dunk, but I know that wasn’t what the network was thinking. I think it might be a case of a little paranoia.’

‘I’m not sure how the process could have been fairer,’ says Ira Levy, an executive producer at Breakthrough in Toronto, which won two of the final 12 slots. ‘Television is a competitive process. [The CBC was] looking at what had the best potential.’

The finalists are:

* Almost Normal (Breakthrough Films and Television, Toronto): Cultures, classes and generations clash in Canadian suburbia.

* Beaumonde Heights (Protocol Entertainment, Toronto): Trials and tribulations of the people who live and work around a strip mall.

* Changing Germain (West Street Pictures, Moncton): Big stakes, secrets and changes in an old working-class neighborhood of Saint John.

* Changing Tides (Pope Productions, St. John’s): Tragedy and romance when wealthy, urban newcomers establish a business in a small community.

* Fleas (Haddock Entertainment, Vancouver): Hustlers, artists, entrepreneurs, and wannabes sell, barter and trade in a Vancouver flea market.

* Heartland Medical (RGB Productions, Regina): The lives, loves and clients of three late-twentysomething female doctors.

* North South (Halifax Film Company, Halifax; Inner City Films, Toronto): Halifax families embroiled in class warfare within the volatile construction industry.

* Power and Pride (Wilbo Entertainment, Toronto): Betrayals, infidelities and passions of two Toronto family dynasties.

* The Regency (Breakthrough, Toronto): An immigrant tycoon transforms a white-world 19th century hotel into a hip center of ‘global-fusion culture.’

* Till Death Do Us Part (Black Market Films, Toronto): The inheritance war of a conflicted African-Portuguese-Spanish-Indo-Chinese extended family in Scarborough.

* 11 Cameras (Shaftesbury Films, Chokolat, Henry Less Productions, Toronto): Eleven webcams provide a tour of ‘Canada’s colorful human tapestry.’

* 49th and Main (Raging Ruby Pictures and William B Davis Productions, Vancouver): An African-born, British-educated, South Asian doctor takes up practice in Vancouver.

The roster will be whittled to five or six in October and the winner will be announced in November.

-www.cbc.ca