Eco-Nova Multimedia Productions partner and producer John Wesley Chisholm seems to have a thing for shipwrecks – and he isn’t alone. His partner John Davis also has a thing for shipwrecks and last year at mipcom, Chisholm discovered popular American author Clive Cussler has a thing for them, too. Now the three are working on the new Eco-Nova series The Sea Hunters. It’s about – what else? – shipwrecks.

Two of the projected six 60-minute episodes have already been shot, with Davis directing and Davis and Chisholm producing for Eco-Nova. The series is set to air on History Channel in English and Canal D in French, says Chisholm.

The doc series takes place underwater and, at its core, is about the discovery, documentation and preservation of shipwrecks.

‘The searching for shipwrecks is not always straightforward, so we found that six episodes a year was pretty much all you can do,’ admits Chisholm.

The idea for The Sea Hunters was born out of the Eco-Nova series Oceans of Mystery for Discovery Canada. The series was distributed by H.I.T. Entertainment, which will also distribute The Sea Hunters. While at mipcom last year, some of the H.I.T. brass advised Chisholm and Davis to contact author Cussler about their favorite subject. They met at the author’s home in Arizona a short time later. The three discussed shipwrecks and The Sea Hunters and it was eventually decided that Cussler would act as presenter/host for the series, joining host James Delgado, curator of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, an expert in marine archeology.

Meanwhile, Oceans of Mystery has been left in the wake of Sea Hunters. The series has been discontinued, but Chisholm hints Eco-Nova may be working with Discovery again.

‘With Discovery, we were very much focused on the technology of finding the shipwreck, which is still interesting, but we still wanted to use the technology as a tool to tell the story, as opposed to [it being] the story itself,’ says Chisholm. ‘I’m sure we’ll be going back to work with Discovery again on more science-based projects.’

The Sea Hunters has been backed in production by History, Canal D, Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund. Chisholm hints a u.s. broadcaster may be picking up the series, but was reluctant to give specifics, including the series’ budget, until the deal is in place.

*Cochran doesn’t miss the boat on interactive MOW

Hey – I lost my tugboat; maybe you’ve seen him. He’s the size of any other tugboat, 65 feet long. Weight? He’s about 105 tons. Distinguishing features? Well, he has a five-foot smile, moving eyes and a red baseball cap. He answers to the name of Theodore. Well, he’s not actually mine (although, how cool would that be?). Theodore, in reality, is the property of Halifax-based Cochran Entertainment and if he isn’t docked in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, he’s probably out on some goodwill mission.

It’s true. As many of Playback’s readers on the East Coast can testify, Theodore Tugboat, the popular children’s property created by Andrew Cochran’s Cochran Entertainment, has a life-sized, ocean-going model of the friendly tug and could be docking near you some time in the near future. When the tugboat was first unveiled in Halifax, approximately 10,000 people showed up to greet him. Recently, he chugged alongside the tall ships visiting Halifax during a floating parade.

The real-scale Theodore Tugboat has opened up new licensing opportunities for the company, including many water-based products, perhaps in part because the character was named the official ambassador for the u.s. National Safe Boating Council and Canada’s safe-boating ambassador by the Coast Guard.

‘He has become the face of water safety for North America,’ says a proud Cochran. ‘It is great for the character and it is great for our larger strategy to move Theodore beyond being a long-running children’s tv character to being a classic children’s character. [Theodore has a life] in the real world, beyond tv. We are getting great reaction in the licensing and retail communities.’

With a whack of Theodore products currently on the market (toys, apparel, games, puzzles, etc.), Theodore could be in a licensing field all his own, promoting water fun and water safety beginning as early as spring 2001, kicking off what could be a very lucrative summer for Cochran.

Known for its forays into interactivity, Cochran is close to launching a new two-hour feature documentary to air on ctv, which will be heavy on the interactive side. The film is called Go Where You Want to Go and is based on the one-man show by Halifax-bred Denny Doherty about his times with The Mamas and the Papas and his personal relationship with Mama Cass.

‘There is a very large broadband and World Wide Web component that will have things like an interactive timeline of the ’60s and the ability to create your own show online out of some of the material that is presented there,’ says Cochran. ‘There will be a whole host of other features, which will allow viewers to be able to have a different experience with the content online than you would for television.’

The interactive components of the tv doc will be launched simultaneously with the mow, says Cochran, who adds all of Cochran Entertainment’s projects will have interactive components, pushing beyond the leaps the company has already made in the field for Canada.

‘We determined about a year ago that we think the content world is a convergent world and we want to produce in all bands from the beginning – from the origin when the product is produced for television to the World Wide Web and the broadband component,’ says Cochran.

*Something fishy at TVI

St. John’s-based producer Ray Penton Jr. says that the fishing industry in Newfoundland, despite what many believe, is far from dead. To prove it, he is producing a 13-part documentary series about the fish biz in Newfoundland and Labrador titled The Fishery Now.

Penton, president of Think Visual Inc., says the 13 half-hours will be different than the original series he produced last year for a Newfoundland community access station, which was funded from a variety of federal and provincial sources, with some private funding to fill some gaps.

‘The series is meant to be an examination of the new face and new approach of the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador,’ says Penton. ‘We’ve been through a very difficult time with an incredible downturn in the fishery. Mistakes had been made and lessons have been learned, and what we are trying to focus on in the series is the result of that learning – the new approaches, the new attitudes. The primary thing is the new attitude that exists, not only in the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans but also from the people in the industry, both land workers and the fish harvesters themselves.’

He adds that the series will examine the advances made in the Newfoundland fishing industry.

‘It’s utilizing much better technology, much better science, a greater understanding and awareness [of the role] each player has to play in this world business and this food business,’ he says.

The project, according to Penton, is in preproduction and has already received funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Human Resources Development Canada, The Fisheries Diversification Program, the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation and ntv, as well as other private contributors. He expects nlfdc will also contribute, although nothing was confirmed at press time.

The Fishery Now is set to air on ntv, ctv’s affiliate in Newfoundland. According to Penton, this is the first time ntv has purchased an independently produced television program. It will begin airing in October.

Hosted by former journalist and cbc personality Dave Quinton, the series will be a trying and complex one to produce, says Penton, himself a former journalist.

‘We will be shooting with at least three different crews at one time in different parts of the island and Labrador,’ says Penton. ‘[Different] aspects of the fishing industry happen at different times of the year and in order to capture [it] on tape right now we just have to go after it and go with vengeance.’

*Correction

Intercartel is the Spanish coproduction partner on the feature film Una Casa con Vista al Mar, mentioned here in the July 24 issue. Halifax’s imX communications and Venezuela’s Cinema Sur join Intercartel on the project.*