Vancouver: Raymond Massey is line producing Lynne Stopkewich’s follow-up narrative feature Suspicious River, a film packaged by Cassian Elwes, who heads up the production unit of William Morris Agency.

Stopkewich has adapted the novel by American Laura Kisichke and will direct the Canadian-content picture – a kind of ‘sins of the mother’ project.

The dark, dark story involves a 24-year-old woman who finds herself following the same path as her mother who met her own, ugly end at the age of 24. Molly Parker – who Stopkewich directed in their debut film Kissed – is rumored to be the motel operator who sleeps her way through her guest list. Callum Keith Rennie is a candidate for the cast as well.

Presales and u.s. money are financing the film, though the financial structure and partnerships were being arranged at press time. Canadian Michael Okulitch is part of a troika of l.a.-based producers that includes Erik Stnsrud and Hamish McAlpine. No government money is attached.

The preliminary schedule calls for the project to go to camera before Christmas; production and post will be done in Vancouver.

Budget figures have not been released. However, Elwes brokered the talent and rights for the $5-million Oscar winner The Apostle.

While Suspicious River is not being made through Stopkewich’s Boneyard Films, her own company is busy enough. Suspicious River will be finished about the same time as Boneyard’s feature-length documentary on Lilith Fair. Director Stopkewich and partners Dean English and Jessica Fraser toured with Sarah McLachlan et al this summer. With a million miles of footage, the project is going through a long edit.

And Boneyard is still proceeding with what was scheduled to be Stopkewich’s second feature, Falling Angels, another story by Barbara Gowdy who inspired Kissed. Falling Angels is about three sisters in a dysfunctional family.

*Three dog night

New features in Vancouver include Dog Show, a ‘dogumentary’ about pet shows by Christopher Guest for Castle Rock. Early word suggests Dog Show will have some of the same elements of the offbeat, cult-hit mockumentary Waiting for Guffman, which was also created by Guest.

Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara will star as dog-eat-dog pet owners. Production begins Nov. 8 for one month.

Robert Redford is the executive producer of How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog, which stars Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright-Penn and Lynn Redgrave. This show prepped in Los Angeles for six weeks before an apparent labor conflict pushed it north. Branagh has a pay-or-play contract, which has put some heat on getting this project moving. Production wraps Nov. 17.

And Vancouver’s International Keystone is back with its Air Bud three-quel. World Pup, about a soccer-playing dog, follows family films about a basketball-playing dog and a football-playing dog. Kevin Zegers stars and production wrapped Oct. 17.

*Another threesome

Omni Film Productions has been three times lucky this fall. The Gastown company began production of Edgemont Road – a half-hour teen drama series for the cbc – on Oct. 18.

A month earlier, on Sept. 20, Omni launched the third season of Discovery Channel’s conservation series Champions of the Wild with the episode ‘Cheetahs,’ directed by series producer Chris Bruyere.

Champions is called one of the longest running, most successful documentary series made in Western Canada. It is also broadcast in the u.s. on Animal Planet, and is distributed internationally by Europe Images.

And Omni producers Gabriella Schonbach and Brian Hamilton launched Quiet Places on Vision tv Aug. 31. The spiritual retreat series wrapped Oct. 12.

*Shavick two for two at E!

A day after it wrapped Best Actress for E! Entertainment Television Oct. 6, Shavick Entertainment was starting on the details of a new 26-part, half-hour series for the u.s. specialty. Hollywood Off-Ramp is a hosted anthology series about Hollywood – but weird Hollywood as seen through the eyes of creators, inspired by the works of people like Rod Serling.

Hollywood Off-Ramp will be the second production for E!. Production is set to begin Nov. 1.

*Zaloom boom

Paramount is producing The Sports Pages with Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and George Zaloom, a man who has been busy in b.c. production this year.

Sports Pages, an mow, is described as an anthology of weird vignettes from the sporting world. For Zaloom, the executive role follows the same credit in Double Hockey Sticks, a family-oriented mow.

However, Zaloom will be directing The Whole Shebang, a new feature starring Stanley Tucci. Shebang is about an Italian family that has a fireworks business.

*Reich stuff

Victoria’s May Street Group and London, Eng.’s CASE Television have joined to produce the feature script Undesirables. The film – to be directed by May Street’s Hillary Jones-Farrow next year, financing willing – is written by New Orleans-based writer Alcee Anthony Poiencot.

A period story, Undesirables is about a brother and sister and takes place in wwii Germany. The brother has been raised in the Hitler youth corps and the sister has Down’s Syndrome and is sent to a death camp.

Andrea Fay Friedman (Life Goes On) has signed on as the sister and was the key player in Jones-Farrow’s acclaimed special smudge.