Have you tried to make a wife happy? How about four wives? Paul Kilback, producer and director of the upcoming 4 x 60 doc Shaye, has. Kinda.

‘It was a running joke during the production that I had three extra wives,’ Kilback jokes. ‘I had to make the band members all happy…good thing the crew and the band had such a great relationship.’

A Breakthrough Films & Television effort, Shaye is exec produced Ira Levy and Peter Williamson and went to air Sept. 9 on E!. Adriana Maggs is writer, with Mark Caswell as DOP.

Filming for Shaye involved Kilback and a small crew following band mates Kim Stockwood, Damhnait Doyle and Tara McLean around for almost six months. The result: a touching, funny, deeply personal look into how tough balancing a Canadian musical career, a family and life in general can be. Shaye is the first Canadian show commissioned by the rebranded E! channels.

Budgeted at $320,000 per episode, principal filming began in January and wrapped in June, says Kilback. Editing on the final two episodes is in the works.

‘It’s a mass amount of material, so the editing has been tough. But well worth it,’ he says.

The idea for the doc came from Breakthrough’s director of development Carolyn Newman, the former talent co-ordinator for The Toronto Show, on which the band appeared. Newman met the girls and was struck by their humor and their personality.

‘One thing about Shaye is that when you watch them perform, 50% of the appeal is music, 50% is their personality,’ says Kilback. ‘That’s what we tried to capture on the show.’

The doc footage shows Shaye as they head toward the release of their second album, Lake of Fire, and is narrated by the band’s manager, Sheri Jones.

‘It’s about reaching for the Canadian dream. It’s earnest.’ says Kilbear. ‘These are really Canadian girls who are all about friends and family and making it in the biz…I think it’s a good story anywhere. You’re following these intimate details, but there’s a lot of inside stuff…the pressure, it’s all coming to a boil.’

Shaye streamed online on the E! site on the same night as the E! premiere. It will stream concurrently with the Ontario sked for every episode. CMT will later air the four-part doc.