It’s a Canadian affair once more for Charlize Theron and longtime Irish beau Stuart Townsend, who are now filming projects in Regina and Vancouver until early December.

In 2003, the pair was in Montreal to star in director John Duigan’s Genie Award-winning drama Head in the Clouds.

Oscar-winner Theron has now teamed up with Vancouver’s Infinity Features (Capote) and Los Angeles-based FilmEngine (Lucky Number Slevin) to produce and star in the dark family drama Ferris Wheel, about the struggles of an 11-year-old girl, played by AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), to come to terms with abandonment by her mother. William Maher makes his directorial debut.

Infinity producer Rob Merilees (The Snow Walker), who desired a cold, bright look for the film, suggested to Theron that Ferris Wheel shoot in Regina.

‘Reading the script, you can see the characters aren’t well-to-do people… the tone of the film needed a bit of starkness and bleakness to it,’ says Merilees, who also chose the Queen City’s wintry look to shoot scenes for the 2005 holiday comedy Just Friends.

Merilees says Infinity came on board after being approached by FilmEngine, with which it coproduced the crime comedy Code Name: The Cleaner, starring Cedric the Entertainer and scheduled for release next year.

‘[They] knew that Infinity could bring some financing to the table and put the movie together,’ explains Merilees, though he wouldn’t disclose the budget.

Merilees, who had never worked with Theron (Monster, North Country), came away impressed with his coproducer upon their first meeting.

‘She brought a lot of passion to the project and is really hands-on. This isn’t a vanity credit for her,’ he says. A.J. Dix and Brad Jensen are producing for FilmEngine.

The South-African-born actress also heads to Vancouver for an appearance as a pregnant bystander during the 1999 anti-globalization protests in the political thriller Battle in Seattle, which marks boyfriend Townsend’s directorial debut. The film also stars Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt) and André Benjamin of hip-hop group Outkast.

Back in July, the L.A.-based agency Endeavor shopped the script, penned by the 35-year-old Townsend (Queen of the Damned), to busy Vancouver prodco Insight Film Studios.

Insight producer Kirk Shaw says his company welcomes the opportunity to work with first-time directors like Townsend, in the hopes of cultivating a long-term relationship.

‘The way to build a studio is to get your own stable of directors and grow with them,’ Shaw says. ‘If you look at Woody Allen, he worked with the same producers throughout his career.’

Insight – which recently completed the Global TV MOW A Mother Behind Bars, starring Kate Jackson (Charlie’s Angels) – came on board as Battle coproducer with L.A.’s Proud Mary Entertainment. Insight also partnered up with Montreal’s Remstar Productions and L.A.’s Hyde Park Entertainment on the US$10-million feature.

In addition to Battle, Insight is filming the new comedy Blonde & Blonder, starring Pamela Anderson and Denise Richards and directed by Dean Hamilton.

Infinity, meanwhile, is gearing up for its follow-up Charles Martin Smith feature – Stone of Destiny. Actor/director Smith helmed The Snow Walker in 2002.

Icon Entertainment will handle international sales for Ferris Wheel – no North American distributor has been attached.

For Battle, Endeavor is overseeing North American sales while Hyde Park International handles foreign distribution.

www.insightfilm.com

www.infinitymediainc.com