Shrink wrapped

Toronto – Chesler/Perlmutter Productions of Toronto has wrapped the first of a planned three-pack of MOWs for Lifetime, and has sent the thriller The Shrink into the editing suite with Marvin Lawrence (Tempo). The pic, by director John Bradshaw (Triggermen) and writer Paul Margolis (Earth: Final Conflict), stars Mariel Hemingway as a psychiatrist being stalked by a serial killer.

David Perlmutter and Lewis Chesler produce. ThinkFilm will distribute in Canada, while AB Groupe in France handles the international. A second MOW, Cheaters Club, is expected to shoot in January, says Perlmutter. Plans for the third are still being worked out. Sean Davidson

Skogland shoots Banshee

Montreal – Rising star Taryn Manning (8 Mile, Hustle and Flow) is starring in Banshee, a crime thriller that wrapped in Montreal on Dec. 20.

The $4-million MOW, directed by Kari Skogland (Chicks with Sticks, Liberty Stands Still), tells the story of an expert car thief (Manning) whose winning streak runs out when she mistakenly steals the car of a notorious serial killer. The killer responds by kidnapping her boyfriend, which leads to a tense game of cat and mouse.

Shot for Oxygen in the U.S., Banshee comes from Wishmaker Films, with assistance from SODEC.

Kimberley Berlin (Artificial Lies) produces and Caldecot Chubb and Meyer Shwarzstein exec produce. David Franco (The Whole Nine Yards) is DOP. Banshee is distributed by Brainstorm Media. Matthew Hays

Green days across Canada

Vancouver – A dozen families are competing for the title of ‘Greenest Canucks’ in Code Green Canada, a four-province coproduction currently shooting simultaneously in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

In the 6 x 60 lifestyle series for CBC, each family is given $15,000 to retrofit their homes with energy-saving appliances and devices, receiving advice from conservation experts along the way. The family that has the greatest energy savings after the retrofit wins a hybrid car courtesy of Toyota Canada.

The production companies are Prairie Dog Productions of St. Albert, AB, Toronto’s Six Island Productions and Halifax’s Tell Tale Productions, working under the banner of Code Green Canada Productions out of Vancouver.

‘It’s quite a feat of endurance,’ says executive producer Daniel Leipnik. ‘We have five crews out there at the same time filming.’

According to Leipnik, about 30 partners have contributed approximately 90% of Code Green’s $1.2-million budget, including Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the four participating provinces and 12 municipalities, B.C. Hydro, Ontario Power Authority, Enbridge Gas, Union Gas and Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

‘Instead of handing out pamphlets and hoping people will do something, [these organizations] are heavily involved in a series like this, which really drives the message home,’ says Leipnik.

Executive producers are CGC’s Leipnik and Ric Beairsto, with Prairie Dog’s Ron Scott, Six Island’s Paul Scherzer and Tell Tale’s Edward Piell producing in their respective territories. Beairsto, Doug Main and Noura Kevorkian are directing, and Gillian Deacon (@discovery.ca) will host.

The series will likely air on CBC and CBC Newsworld in the spring. Shooting began on Nov. 29 and runs through February. Dustin Dinoff