Winnipeg-based Farpoint Films has set a multi-year first-look deal with producer Ryan Cooper ahead of production on CBC Gem original series Alter Boys.

The deal will allow Farpoint to have a first pass at all projects created under Cooper’s banner Back to Space Productions.

The companies are scheduled to go into production on Alter Boys (6 x 20 minutes), created by writer and director Jonathan Lawrence, on Aug. 31 in northern Manitoba. Cooper is producer on the series while Farpoint president Kyle Bornais serves as executive producer alongside Al Magee.

Alter Boys was a Talent to Watch recipient in 2020 and was selected for the CFC/Netflix Project Development Accelerator in the same year. It was commissioned by CBC Gem for 2023-24.

The series follows a group of young men forced the relive the trauma of a conversion therapy camp following a narrow escape and rescue. Lawrence will star in the series alongside Keishon Joseph, Duncan Cox, Stephanie Sy, Justin Otto, Matthew Lupu and Dakota Nickels, with additional cast to be announced at a later date.

Cooper, a Playback 10 to Watch alum, is from the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and has previously produced projects such as the National Screen Institute short doc When the Children Left and the web series Daybreak People.

Bornais said the deal with Cooper comes “at a perfect time for the company having just invested heavily in the growth of Farpoint Distribution,” in a statement, adding that the company is “actively looking to increase our IP and Ryan’s slate does just that.”