Winnipeg: Building on the buzz around Gary Yates’ first feature Seven Times Lucky, which gained considerable attention and a very positive review in Variety after its Sundance premiere, the Montreal director has returned to Manitoba to shoot his second feature, Niagara Motel, a dark comedy about people whose lives crisscross at a rundown motel in Niagara Falls, ON.

The $6.5-million feature brings producers from Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec together with Niagara Productions of the U.K. Canadian production companies include Winnipeg’s Buffalo Gal Pictures, Montreal-based Muse Entertainment and Toronto’s Indian Grove Productions.

The Canada/U.K. copro went to camera in and around Winnipeg Aug. 30 and is set to wrap Oct. 6 after two days shooting in Niagara Falls. The story is written by George F. Walker and Dani Romain, the writing team that created Canadian dramatic series This is Wonderland.

Executive producers Tom Parkhouse and Jackie Quella from the U.K. are working with Canadian producers Phyllis Laing, Bernie Zukerman and Michael Prupas as well as U.K. producer Terry Potter.

Mongrel Media is signed on to distribute in English Canada and Montreal-based Christal Films will distribute a dubbed version in Quebec. Soda Pictures will distribute in the U.K., with Park Entertainment, also of the U.K., handling international sales. The Movie Network, Movie Central and CBC have acquired broadcast rights.

As of Sept. 1, confirmed cast included Craig Ferguson, Anna Friel, Caroline Dhavernas, Peter Keleghan, Kevin Pollak and Wendy Crewson.