Moncton-based Dreamsmith Entertainment and Cahoots Productions of Los Angeles have struck a coproduction deal which will see the two companies shoot at least four low-budget ($2.5 million) feature films in New Brunswick over the next two years.

The catalyst for the partnership was the Cahoots action/drama feature Blue Hill Avenue, produced through the one-off Blue Hill Avenue Productions, with Dreamsmith acting as service provider.

Shot in October in Saint John, n.b., the film was written and directed by Craig Ross and tells the story of four men who grew up in the tough Blue Hill area of Boston, Mass. The film starts with a drug deal gone bad, which leads to a gun battle. The trauma of the gun battle sends the leader of the four men into flashback mode, reliving experiences he and his three cronies had as young men and how they got drawn into the drug trade.

The film stars Allen Payne, William Forsythe, Clarence Williams iii and Andy Divoff, and is currently posting in l.a.

According to Blue Hill Avenue associate producer and Dreamsmith executive vp Jim Hogan, Cahoots principals Mike Erwin and Max Kirishima enjoyed shooting in New Brunswick so much they are anxious to return; they just have to find the right project first.

‘[Blue Hill] was completed on time and very close to budget, using a lot of people who were trainees,’ says Hogan. ‘In this instance, they took a big chance on an unseasoned crew here in New Brunswick and it worked out very well for them. It takes producers with a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to allow that to happen, just to take a chance on these people, and it has paid off in spades.

‘If we were to do more of this kind of production, [Cahoots] would have the opportunity to access the incentive programs in Canada and take advantage of the exchange on the Canadian dollar,’ says Hogan. ‘What we’ve agreed to do is essentially look for properties that would be amenable to production in New Brunswick. Obviously you wouldn’t want a Gladiator filmed here, because we just don’t have the infrastructure for it here, but we do have the infrastructure for those low-budget, indie films and we have the locations.’

Hogan notes New Brunswick can double for a number of different locations: Saint John made a great Boston, he says, and other parts of the province can convincingly portray New York, Pittsburgh and even hilly San Francisco.

Hogan says it is crucial that the provincial government continue Film nb incentives to keep New Brunswick an attractive and viable option for foreign producers.

‘The Film nb initiative runs out at the end of next year and the government is deliberating the continuation of Film nb right now,’ says Hogan. ‘It would have to be in place for the industry to continue to grow because we’ve come a long ways. We are still putting infrastructure in place, we are still training teams, and it really would be too bad if the provincial government decided not to continue to fund Film nb. It would be too soon. The industry isn’t mature enough to be able to stand on its own.’

*Buck up for Christmas

‘Tis the season. A new batch of Christmas specials hope to endear themselves alongside Frosty The Snowman, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and many, many other old favorites.

On Christmas Eve, ctv offers a half-hour animated children’s special from Sydney, n.s.-based Virtual Media Productions.

Little Buck’s Christmas, which in look is reminiscent of the great Rankin Bass programs of Christmases past, tells the story of young reindeer Little Buck who lives on Christmas Island in Cape Breton where Santa Claus vacations in the summer with a few of his elves. One summer, Little Buck gets a flying lesson from a mischievous elf named Jingle and befriends a little girl named Ellen, who teaches the animal the meaning of a promise. When a snow storm sends Santa back to the North Pole early without little Ellen’s Christmas list, Buck promises to get it to the jolly old man before the holidays.

Cape Breton author Mary MacNeil, who lives on Christmas Island, penned the script. Brian Howald directed, with Shawn Green serving as producer. Cape Breton-based performers handled all the voice work.

The majority of the production was completed at Virtual Media over a four-month span, beginning July 11.

With a $553,000 budget, financing came from the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, provincial and federal tax credits, ctv, Enterprise Cape Breton, Coastal Business Opportunities, a small producer’s investment, and the Shaw Children’s Programming Initiative.

Virtual Media, headed by president Sean Coyle, has two animated properties in development.

In keeping with the seasonal specials theme, Evil Schmeevil is about a pumpkin-carving contest, won for nine years in a row by the town’s most unsavory character. The town’s residents are unaware that if he wins for a tenth consecutive year, the town will fall under a spell that will see their hygiene level drop considerably.

Coyle says Virtual Media is only at the character design stage and is putting together the first draft of the story bible.

He hopes the program will be regarded as a ‘spooky special’ appropriate for airing any time of the year.

Also in early development is Trading Post, an aboriginal animated series about a group of misfit kids who take their problems and questions to an elderly Indian man who runs an antique store. He guides them through stories, usually based on one of the store’s antiques.

Coyle says they are working closely with a Nova Scotia aboriginal community called Eskasoni ‘to develop some of the content and are looking at some of the models that have to be created to get a good look and feel for the show. We already have the Aboriginal People’s Television Network on board with that, but we are looking for another, bigger broadcaster to help with the financing.’ *