The Alberta film production industry has traditionally been hit-and-miss in attracting the high-profile productions that would bring the likes of Access Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight to town in tow. Despite the province’s variable track record – which does include Unforgiven and some of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies – recent coups such as the Kevin Costner western Open Range and scenes from X2 might be pointing the way to a more steady stream of big productions coming to shoot.

There are several projects either slated to film in the province or negotiating to do so, which means Alberta’s future looks promising in terms of production revenue.

The biggest title being batted around is a new $100-million-plus Superman. Part of the attraction for the producers of the 1978 film was that some locations in and around Calgary apparently bare a strong resemblance to the Smallville hometown of Clark Kent’s youth.

Having been in development for several years, the new Superman is creeping ever closer to a start date (early 2004), even though it doesn’t have a confirmed director or star. Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) recently dropped out of talks to helm and Josh Hartnett (Hollywood Homicide), rumored to play the Man of Steel, has also parted ways. But Alberta Film Commissioner Dan Chugg says producers have visited the province and seemed to like what they saw for when the production puzzle is complete.

‘We did do some scouting for them and we’re very hopeful there will be a piece of Superman in Alberta,’ says Chugg. ‘We met with one of the senior executives and he wasn’t aware that the first ones had been shot in Calgary. You have to stay in front of them all the time.’

Staying in front of them is something Chugg has tried to do since taking on the role of commish a few months ago, and it seems to be working. Thanks to diligent promotion of the province, rumors now swirl about Alberta hosting production of a Little House on the Prairie miniseries (Chugg confirms location scouting has been done), the zombie flick Play Dead (with Jason Priestly), The Lazarus Child (with Andy Garcia) and Without a Paddle (a Paramount feature from Mr. Deeds director Steven Brill). Although Chugg would neither confirm nor deny the commitment of any of these projects, he is eager to talk about a project that recently wrapped.

Chugg says The Legend of Butch & Sundance, a TV movie which shot from March 25 to April 17, went off smoothly, shooting almost entirely in Calgary.

‘We got that one in real short order,’ he says. ‘They were going to shoot in Mexico and things were not going well. We literally got a call on a Friday afternoon, they flew up Saturday morning and we arranged for a scout. We still had snow all over the place and we had to shoot desert scenes, but the weather behaved for us.’

There has even been talk of the MOW spinning off a series. If that does go ahead, Chugg insists, ‘We’re going to give it our damnedest shot at getting it here.’

There are a couple more MOWs currently in prep in Calgary with production house Voice Pictures. The drama Twelve Mile Road – a copro with Fox Television Studio, starring Tom Selleck as a Nebraska cattle farmer – and Surviving Love – a romantic drama about a separating couple who agree to work out the terms of their divorce during a road trip, starring Ted Danson and produced with L.A.’s Jaffe/Braunstein for CBS – should both be rolling by summer.

Voice’s The Great Goose Caper, a Canada/U.K. coproduction starring Chevy Chase, is in post after a brief bridge-financing problem with a funding partner on the project. Voice executive producer Wendy Hill-Tout reportedly spent a weekend on the phone appealing to friends, family and industry peers to contribute, finally finishing the film.

The Alberta Film Development Program mandates that a guest producer must partner with a local producer in order to access the province’s financial incentives. Voice has been one of the beneficiaries of this and Hill-Tout says she’s finding many of her U.S.-based producers more welcoming of a copro relationship.

‘I think things have changed a lot in the States and they are looking to partner with people,’ she says. ‘As a company, a lot of our work is bigger-budget productions, so coproduction is inevitable. It’s not even a possibility not to coproduce.’

She has also noticed a pickup in the Alberta industry and feels it has a lot to do with the infrastructure that has grown over the years.

‘I think we have a really good group here and really skilled crews with a great attitude,’ she says. ‘We’re finding more TV movies are shooting up here, but not as many big-budget features yet.’

That could change if Superman flies into town. But although the current climate gives heart to Chugg, he does express worry over the loonie’s recent rise in value.

‘If you get a production in town and within the week they’ve set up their preproduction offices and the dollar goes up two or three cents, that’s huge for some of these movies,’ says Chugg. ‘That’s something we’re all very aware of and very concerned about.’

-www.albertafilmcommission.com