It Waits for Cannell in Van

Vancouver: Stephen J. Cannell, revered here as a godfather of West Coast production for his work on 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy and other Vancouver-based series in the 1980s, is making a big return to production after toiling as a novelist.

It Waits, a script Cannell acquired and rewrote, goes into 17 days of production Oct. 15 in Vancouver – his first production here in seven years. (Cannell wrote 12 novels in the past eight years.)

The $1.5-million cable TV and video release is the first of a new multi-picture deal for Cannell.

Michael Dubelko, Cannell’s lower-profile business partner for 25 years and the catalyst for Lions Gate Studios (formerly Cannell’s North Shore Studios), says details of the output deal are undisclosed for competitive reasons, but involve several horror/thriller/sci-fi genre movies over the next six months.

Demon Hunter, another movie in the deal, goes into production in Los Angeles next month.

It Waits, meanwhile, was also scheduled for production in L.A., but had to move when the forest service declined permission to shoot because of the fire risks.

In It Waits, a conflicted female forest ranger does battle with a murderous native demon unleashed by archeologists.

Dubelko says the project should have always been destined for Vancouver for its locations and quality crews. ‘We love shooting in Vancouver,’ he says.

Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever), Eric Schweig (The Missing), Dominic Zamprogna (Bloodsuckers) and Greg Kean (Saved!) star.

Steven Monroe (House of 9) directs. Raymond Massey is the local line producer.

Dubelko says locations for the next two movies have not yet been determined. Ian Edwards