Filmmaker and comic book artist Kaare Andrews makes his feature debut with Altitude — a supernatural thriller that he was hired to direct on the strength of his work on the trailer.

The producers wanted a trailer in order to shop the film and enlisted Andrews, a writer and artist on such comics as Spider Man and X-Men, and director of the shorts SpaceMan and Sleeping Booty.

‘He is good at handling action and timing’ says executive producer Dave Valleau. ‘This is needed in this film because so much of the action takes place on a plane. You need to keep the pace up.’

Andrews was signed to direct the $5 million picture, which shot in Langley, BC and is now in post. Vancouver native Jessica Lowndes (90210) stars in the story of a rookie pilot and her four friends who head out on in a small aircraft to see a concert — only to run into some nasty weather and a supernatural force that’s far out of their control.

Valleau exec produces with Rob Merilees (Stone of Destiny), Gary Hamilton (The Long Weekend) and Mike Gabrawy (Resident Evil).

The picture, produced by Escape Factory and Foundation Features and to be distributed in Canada by Alliance Films, was one of 15 films that recently scored funding from the Canada Feature Film Fund, netting $1.5 million.

Other projects backed by the Telefilm fund include The Bang Bang Club (Foundry Pictures — $1.9 million), Funkytown (Corsimar Films — $3.7 million) and Alcina Pictures’ The Love Child, which is produced by Paul Barkin and Larissa Giroux, directed by Risa Bramon Garcia (200 Cigarettes) and distributed by Maple Pictures.

The Love Child, which drew $2.9 million from Telefilm, wrapped shooting in May and is currently in post-production. The cast includes Rossif Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Rebecca Romijn, Sarah Roemer and comics Russell Peters and Mary Walsh.

Alcina has been developing the film for the last six years. ‘It’s been a long road,’ says Barkin. ‘It’s a real passion project for me and Larissa.’