Winnipeg production company Les Productions Rivard, formed in 1995 by Louis Paquin and Charles Lavack to enhance the voice of francophone communities in Western Canada, continues to pursue this goal with five projects currently in production including the company’s first sojourn into the HD format.

Voyageurs is the working title for Rivard’s $1.7-million HD docudrama series (2 x 60) for TFO/TVO. Principal photography began March 20 throughout various locations in Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec and British Columbia and will wrap in December. Paquin executive produces and produces with Lavack.

Directed by Jean Bourbonnais and written by Lousie Pelletier, the historical doc examines the foundations of Canadian culture formed by the union of Native American and European cultures through the fur trade.

Distributed by Source Distribution, Voyageurs receives funding from TFO, Telefilm Canada, Canadian Heritage, CTF and Manitoba Film and Sound, with the assistance of provincial and federal tax credits.

Paquin and Lavack are also producing the $800,000 doc series Moments Anxieux II, six half-hours for TFO/TVO that seek to expel some of the public misunderstanding surrounding anxiety disorders.

Written and directed by Laurence Veron, Georges Payrastre and Jacques Couture, the series started shooting in Winnipeg, Quebec and Ontario in March and will wrap in June.

Distributed by Source, the series was funded through TFO, Telefilm, CTF and tax credits.

Rivard is also currently shooting De la source au ruisseau, a one-hour doc for TFO/TVO and Radio-Canada Ouest. Scheduled for delivery in spring 2005, Paquin and Lavack produce, with Veron writing and directing. Shooting on the $300,000 doc started in March and will wrap in October. Made with funding from TFO, Telefilm and the CTF, the doc examines the history of the Missionary Oblate Sisters and will be distributed through Source.

The third season of Le magazine VIA TVA, Rivard’s half-hour national magazine about francophone communities outside Quebec, which airs Saturday mornings on TVA, is also currently in production. Lavack and Paquin produce, Shereen Jerrett directs, Jean Fontaine writes, and journalists Sandra Poirier and Anne-Marie Gignac host.

Season two of the company’s children’s puppet series Paul et Suzanne started principal photography in December and wrapped in February. Producers Lavack and Paquin will deliver to TFO/TVO in the fall. The $1.2-million series is directed by Marcel Collet and written by Janine Tougas. Apprentissage Illimite will distribute.

In development at Rivard is the documentary series Mon corps et mon environment, 13 half-hours for TFO. Pascal Boutroy will direct and write with Marie Cadieux.