Force Four Entertainment is prepping two new factual series, The Cupcake Girls and Murder She Solved, for W Network, continuing a long history with the Corus-owned channel that began in the 1990s when it was still known as WTN.

The busy Vancouver prodco is putting the finishing touches on the 13 x 30 Cupcake Girls, currently in post-production and set to air March 3 at 9 p.m. on W.

The docusoap follows the personal and business challenges of two best friends who own five cupcake stores in Vancouver.

‘It’s aspirational television… people look at this and think ‘Yeah, I could start my own business,” says executive producer John Ritchie, who co-owns Force Four (Human Cargo, 65 Red Roses) with Rob Bromley and Gillian Lowrey. Their long-running series The Shopping Bags also still airs on W.

The 8 x 60 crime documentary series Murder She Solved was greenlit after a pitch at the Banff World Television Festival from co-producer Christian Bruyere, who wanted to hook up with Force Four to shoot the series.

‘W was looking at doing more crime doc series because they’re very popular with women,’ explains Ritchie. Each episode features professional women such as forensic specialists and police officers, who solve crimes against the odds. Production is underway in Vancouver and the series will shoot all over Canada for a late spring/early summer airdate.

Ritchie says they’re looking for distributors for Murder, while the company is about to sign an international distribution deal for Cupcake Girls.

Force Four also has the celebrity insider series Six Degrees of TV, which last week debuted on TVtropolis. Beyond International Australia is handling worldwide sales.

Meanwhile, preproduction is underway on a new 10 x 60 factual series for CBC. The as-yet-unnamed series follows the residents of a northern B.C. town who all go on a diet and get into shape. Force Four will begin production in the spring.