New ‘Jak City

Toronto – USA Network has sent director Michael Watkins (Las Vegas, Smallville) to Toronto for the four-week shoot of Kojak, a TV movie revival of the old CBS cop show, with Ving Rhames (Dawn of the Dead) taking over for Telly Savalas. Chazz Palminteri and Roselyn Sanchez also star.

The story by Tony Piccirillo involves a serial killer who stalks prostitutes, with Toronto subbing for New York. Rhames produces with Tom Thayer (Firestarter 2). The pic, the first of a possible series, says USA, will wrap mid-month and air in early ’05. Sean Davidson

Christmas in August

Toronto – The holiday special Snow has set up in Toronto and shoots until September for ABC Family and exec producers Phil Kruener and Myra Morris. Ottawa native Tom Cavanagh (Providence) stars as a second-generation Santa out to rescue one of his reindeer from a California zoo, and appears along with Ashley Williams (Good Morning Miami).

Alex Zamm (Inspector Gadget 2) directs, with help from line producer Kevin Lafferty and production coordinator Christy Cornett. Snow will air in December. Sean Davidson

Fight Fight Fight!

Vancouver – Martial arts action star Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport) will direct and star in his own independent feature script Kumite, a kung fu story about a champion of the Kumite tournament who returns to defend his title after years of alcoholism.

Production on the ‘medium-budget’ Germany/Canada coproduction begins Sept. 13 for five weeks in Vancouver. Three weeks of production will be at the A-Frame studio in Delta, BC, where the production hopes to attract a lot of audience extras for the fight scenes.

According to the production, no costars were signed at press time, but the feature was attracting the participation of K-1-style martial arts fighters from around the globe. No distributor was on board during prep. Ian Edwards

Pullman beats the Devil

Toronto – A Harvard professor, a nun and a psychiatrist will do battle with a satanic conspiracy in the Toronto-shot limited series Revelations, which gets underway for NBC next month at Cinespace studios. Bill Pullman (Independence Day) takes the lead as a shrink who, after the murder of his daughter, investigates a secret cult with help from John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings), as the prof, and the holier-than-them Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show).

The series will run mid-season in 2005, made up of a two-hour premiere and six one-hours. Lili Fini-Zanuck (From the Earth to the Moon) directs under exec producers David Seltzer and Gavin Polone (Secret Window, Celebrity Temps). Sean Davidson

Licensed to Hill

Toronto – Cinespace studios is hosting the UPN series Kevin Hill, which got rolling last month and stays through November, with Taye Diggs (Basic, Ally McBeal) in the lead as a lawyer who gets stuck raising his cousin’s baby daughter. Sounds like Raising Helen meets Two and a Half Men.

The pilot was a smash at this year’s L.A. screenings and will kick off the series on Sept. 29. Writer Jorge Reyes (Resurrection Blvd.) co-exec produces with Bruce Davey (Braveheart), Alex Taub (Judging Amy) and Nancy Cotton (Savages) for Touchstone Television and Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions. Jon Seda costars as the best friend, joined by Patrick Breen, Michael Michele and Christina Hendricks. Sean Davidson