Toronto: Insight Production is teaming with producer/distrib FremantleMedia (the Idol franchise) to put a Canadian spin on another hit U.S. reality show, Project Runway.

Having worked together on Canadian Idol, now in its fourth season on CTV, the two companies are in the midst of developing Runway – a competition seeking out Canada’s next great fashion designer – and, according to Insight head John Brunton, are currently in talks with broadcasters.

‘It is a project I felt would translate really well into this marketplace,’ says Brunton. ‘[Fashion is] a flamboyant world, a bitchy world by nature, and I think it has a lot of the ingredients that work well for a reality show. I also think the Canadian fashion industry could use a promotional vehicle like this to draw attention to some of our great designers.’

Brunton and Barbara Bowlby will executive produce for Insight, while Lindsay Cox (Hatching, Matching & Dispatching) and Andrea Webb (MuchMusic VJ Search) are producing. Brunton says the Canadian version of Runway will have a ‘significant’ budget and that much of the funding will come through the ‘new order of advertising,’ such as product placement with cosmetics lines and other partners, some of which have already expressed interest in the show.

The producers are currently negotiating with a host, courting potential judges from the fashion scene, and developing challenges for the contestants.

Insight hopes to begin shooting in April 2007 for a fall premiere.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company in L.A. developed the show’s format. The original Runway – which has since become a hit in the U.K. under the title Project Catwalk – premiered on Bravo in the U.S. in late 2004 and became the highest-rated program in the net’s 25-plus-year history.

Fremantle and Insight have developed a close relationship in recent years. In addition to their reality TV endeavors, Fremantle is also the international distributor of Insight’s Falcon Beach – coproduced with Winnipeg’s Original Pictures – and has sold the Global Television drama series to more than 35 territories worldwide, including the U.K., where it airs on BBC. Late last month, Fremantle and Insight also signed a first look-deal.