Tele-Action wraps Rene Lévésque

Montreal – Producer Claudio Luca, president of Montreal prodco Ciné Télé-Action, recently completed principal photography on the six-hour miniseries René Lévesque, about one of the most influential politicians in Canadian history.

Giles Walker directed both the English- and French-language versions of the mini, which shot simultaneously in Montreal, for a total of 12 hours, wrapping Dec. 23. The $11.3-million mini will air on CBC and Radio-Canada, and received assistance from the Canadian Television Fund’s EIP and LFP.

Emanuelle Pré-Daigle is executive producer and Télé-Action’s Anne-Hélène Brunet is associate producer.

Writer Geneviève Lefebvre drew on Pierre Godin’s official biographies of the great Canadian to pen a story that begins in 1958 when Levesque, played by Emmanuel Bilodeau (Un crabe dans la tete), was working as a television journalist. It follows his life through the Quiet Revolution to the October Crisis of 1970 and the murder of Pierre Laporte.

Additional stars include Pascale Bussières (The Blue Butterfly), Lucie Laurier (Comment ma mère acchoucha de moi durant sa ménopause) and Marie Tifo (Temps Dur). Laura Bracken

Naked again

Montreal – The second season of Cirrus Communications’ (Ciao Bella) sex-themed drama Naked Josh wraps principal photography in and around Montreal Jan. 30. Josée Vallée and André Béraud produce eight half-hours, due to air on Showcase this spring. Jim Donovan (Pure) directed the first four episodes, with James Allodi (Paradise Falls) stepping in to helm the last four. Jacques Blain and Richard Speer executive producer.

Show creator Alex Epstein and creator/writer Laura Kosterski worked with additional writers Rob Sheridan and Matt MacLennan to create the second round of stories about a sex professor, played by David Julian Hirsh, who, through his exploration of modern-day relationships, discovers he still has a lot to learn. The cast also includes Christina Colburn, Andrew Tarbet, Patricia McKenzie and Sarah Smyth.

The series is produced with Canadian Television Fund EIP and LFP cash. CBC International Sales is handling worldwide distribution. Laura Bracken

Ms. Mom

Toronto – Who says the MOW is dead? Lifetime scored more than four million viewers with its 2003 TV drama Sex and the Single Mom, and has again come north to shoot the sequel, now rolling in Toronto. The follow-up reunites director Don McBrearty (The Interrogation of Michael Crowe) with stars Gail O’Grady (NYPD Blue) and Grant Show (Six Feet Under) and picks up three years after the original – with O’Grady as a once-divorced, now-engaged mother of two.

Andrea Baynes, Les Alexander and Don Enright are the exec producers. Single Mom 2 is set to air in 2005 and represents a new wave of movie production at Lifetime, which is upping its yearly MOW quota from 12 to 18. Sean Davidson