Finkleman checks into Hotel

Toronto ­- Described as a ‘satiric and dark murder mystery,’ the latest project by Jan Peter Meyboom and Ken Finkleman is underway in Toronto, even though its title and airdate are still up in the air.

Their original name – Hotel Metropolitan – has been scrapped because of copyright issues. It’s just Hotel for now. And the airdate? Well, this Hotel show is for CBC. So, y’know…

The 6 x 60 limited series puts Finkleman back behind the camera, directing an ensemble cast of more than 100 stage and screen types.

The story is framed by two murders, one in the 1960s and another in present day, but the real focus is said to be on the oddball characters who inhabit the opulent, titular location. Martha Henry (Clean) stars as the boozy, eccentric owner, joined by Hrant Alianak (Monk) as her manservant and Natalie Lisinska as a newly hired chambermaid.

Other cast include Carlo Rota (Horsie’s Retreat), Matthew Edison (Waking up Wally) and Samantha Weinstein (Siblings) as a ‘wise beyond her years’ 11-year-old lass who lives in the hotel. Benz Antoine (Blue Murder, Four Brothers), meanwhile, is the house detective with two murders that need solving.

Finkleman exec produces with Meyboom, through their 100 Percent Film & Television, and cowrote the script with story editor Ellen Vanstone and Morwyn Brebner. Unlike his last several projects – two runs of The Newsroom, More Tears, Foreign Objects, etc. – Finkleman will not appear on screen. Scott McEwen, also of 100 Percent, is an associate producer.

The shoot is based in east Toronto but will also head out to Hamilton to blow up a car, and to Ottawa to shoot the pool of the Chateau Laurier, the scene of both murders.

That will mean some underwater work for DOP Luc Montpellier (Sabah, Foreign Objects). Oh, and did we mention that there’s singing and dancing, too? Courtesy of choreographer Donna Feore (Mean Girls, Elizabeth Rex) and composer Rob Carli (Open Heart).

Because of the labor strife at CBC, it’s unclear when Hotel will go to air, though it is slated for sometime in 2006. Sean Davidson