canamedia president Les Harris believes that only two kinds of distribution companies will survive the competition from industry giants like Atlantis/Alliance: ‘the really big ones and those really specialized.’

With this in mind, the bulk of Canamedia’s catalogue is composed of factual programs, including outdoor and lifestyle shows, jazz performance and nature films. The library of several thousands of hours encompasses the largest selection of fishing films in the world, with series like The Complete Angler, Canadian Sports Fishing and Bob Izumi. In an average year, Canamedia acquires three new series and four single programs for his catalogue.

Harris says the catalogue represents only 50% of his company’s sales. The balance of Canamedia’s business transpires through output deals with broadcasters around the world including a volume deal of wildlife programming to Canal d in Quebec.

Factual programming has provided a profitable niche for Canamedia, with major clients in the u.s., France, England, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and South Africa. The sale of Power Boat Television to Speedvision netted $3 million, and the second series of Screen Life’s Flight Path series sold to a broadcaster in Germany. Recent acquisitions include Wild By Nature, a 13-episode series on nature and wildlife in Canada, and Homes By Design, a 52-episode, half-hour documentary series on the history of interior design and architecture. Both series come from Sound Venture in Ottawa.

The company’s production division is in development with u.k. partner Dorling Kindersley Vision on a 26-episode children’s series called The Way Things Work. The $8-million animated program is based on a best-selling book of the same name and will go into production in the fall.

Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey, a coproduction with Winchester Films in the u.k., will take a look at the blues through the eyes of the Rolling Stones’ guitarist. Negotiations are underway with a Canadian cable network.

At mip-tv, broadcasters will see Old Lange Syne, a one-hour special on the millennium made with EcoNova in Halifax. Canadian broadcast rights have already been sold to the CTV Network and Vision tv. Harris will also be showcasing Screen Life’s Deadly Seas, a 120-minute wwii naval docudrama which has been presold to History Television in Canada.