No, the other kind of Genie

Ottawa: Ottawa’s Amberwood Entertainment is moving ahead with development of My Teen Genie and, if all goes well, will take the 26 x 30 tween series to camera in Toronto or Vancouver this fall, copro-ing with the U.K.’s Talent Television, a London-based indie house with which Amberwood recently announced an ongoing partnership.

According to president and CEO Sheldon Wiseman, the project has secured but not yet named its Brit broadcaster and is closing in on an unspecified Canadian deal. (Most likely with Family Channel, which backed development.) A deal is also said to have been struck with an unnamed distributor in the U.S., which advanced some funds and will handle international sales. Wiseman is working to secure further production dollars while shopping for a cast, directors and other crew.

Season one of the 60/40 Canada/U.K. copro is expected to run $12 million. Billed as a ‘lighthearted comedy drama,’ it follows a 14-year-old girl who has a gorgeous young genie living in her cel phone. Alan Silberberg and Brit Grant Cathro wrote the scripts, building on development by Jonathan Wolfman and Barbara Slade, and on an original idea from Martyn Day and Dominic Macdonald.

Family has also ordered another 13 half-hours of The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, season one of which is set to air this fall and is still in the works with Amberwood and Red Kite in Scotland. Season two will be done entirely at Amberwood.

Amberwood will also soon wrap season one of its animated spoof Zeroman, again to air this fall, this time on Teletoon. Leslie Nielsen lends his voice to the bumbling title character, joined by Ryan Reynolds (Foolproof) and Kevin McDonald (Lilo & Stitch). Sean Davidson

Eat Up!

Montreal: This fall, tweens will tuck into a new series about food called Surprise! It’s Edible! Incredible! The 40-day shoot started April 22 on this $1.8-million reality game show, co-created by Jean-Louis Cote (Popular Mechanics for Kids) and Paul Vinet for executive producer Jonathan Finkelstein at Apartment 11 Productions. Director Richard Mortimer (Jonovision) helms 26 episodes to air on the CBC this fall.

Surprise!, hosted by Julie Zwillich (Brainbounce!), is part cooking school, part Candid Camera. Kids audition to be contestants on the show. The winners are secretly videotaped at home, so audiences can see their usual eating habits. The unwitting contestants are lured to the studio where they view the footage and get shocked out of their normal eating patterns. The kids learn new recipes to cook for their family and friends. DJ KillaJewel (The Busker’s Opera) spins tunes throughout, while 22-year-old chef Alexander Orlando and grocery guru Mike Paterson teach kids how to shop and cook – with a few challenges thrown in.

‘Parents and friends are involved when we capture the secret video footage of how the kids normally eat, so we hope the entire family will watch,’ says Finkelstein (Mystery Hunters, Popular Mechanics for Kids). ‘We interviewed hundreds of kids, with support from the Montreal school boards. After the interview, the kids didn’t know if they were actually contestants until they arrived at the television studio.’

Surprise! is being filmed at three locations in Montreal: a culinary institute in the Old Port, in the kids’ homes and in the studio, where a grocery store was recreated. The show’s financial partners include CBC, Shaw Television Broadcast Fund and the Canadian Television Fund. Joanne Latimer