Still beaming from The Tale Of Teeka’s (L’Histoire De l’oie) double win for best children’s tv program and best independent English-Canadian program at the 1998 Banff Television Festival, Toronto’s Triptych Media is in development on a number of theatrical and tv projects.

The French version of Teeka, a one-hour examination of the hereditary nature of family violence, starring Maxime Desbiens Tremblay and Benoit Briere, attracted 672,000 viewers on Radio-Canada in March. The English-language version, starring Tony winner Brent Carver, will air this fall on cbc.

Both versions were directed by Tim Southam (Drowning in Dreams, Satie and Suzanne) and marked the third collaboration between Triptych and Montreal’s Galafilm, following the features Lilies and The Hanging Garden.

The Triptych mow The Book Fair Murders, based on the writings of Key Porter Publishing principal and author Anna Porter, is in development with ctv. In his first screen venture, Toronto playwright and theater critic Jason Sherman will pen the script about a publisher and her journalist friend who become involved in a murder mystery that takes place at the Frankfurt book fair.

Triptych’s Louise Garfield says the mow will be treated like a pilot, with the potential for a series.

Aiming for a spot on the ’99 schedule, shooting could begin as early as fall when the German book fair takes place. Germany’s TiMe Medien Vertriebs GmbH, is a partner on the project.

No cast or budget have been set on The Book Fair Murders.

On the feature side, Falling Angels, based on the novel by Barbara Gowdy, is the next project for writer/director Lynne Stopkewich (Kissed). A coproduction between Triptych and Stopkewich’s Vancouver-based Boneyard Films, the film is set in Don Mills, Ont., but will most likely be shot in Vancouver. Casting and budget details are currently being hammered out.

Also in development at Triptych is The Biggest Modern Woman of the World, based on the novel by Susan Swan, and The Republic of Love, based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields.

Triptych partners are Garfield, Robin Cass and Anna Stratton.

– Leaving a Legacy in Toronto

Vancouver-based Legacy Filmworks has opened a Toronto office, which will provide production services as well as develop a slate of programming to be produced by Legacy in Ontario.

Mireille Watson will head up the Toronto office, and provide consultancy services as a production executive. Yvonne Katz has joined the company as the Toronto office manager.

Legacy is currently in production on an independent feature titled Silver Wolf, based on an original screenplay by Michael Amo and starring Roy Scheider, Michael Biehn, Shane Meier and Kimberley Warnat.

Other Legacy productions include Shattered Image for Paramount, Crackerjack ii and Misbegotten for Republic Pictures, American Dragon for mgm, True Heart for Orion Pictures and The Creators for wtn.

– Medium’s show gets big sponsors

Thanks to promotional partnering, Medium Entertainment’s five-part comedy series Fruitopia Comedy Fest managed to break even before it went to camera July 5, reports executive producer Mike Wixson.

The one-hour, stand-up comedy shows, hosted by Mini Holmes of wtn’s She’s So Funny, shot at Paramount Canada’s Wonderland and will air this fall in Ontario on The New vr and on asn in the Maritimes, with Coca-Cola brand Fruitopia as the title sponsor.

Syndication to other markets is available immediately.

As per its ‘out of the box’ philosophy of combining promotions with programming, Medium first secured Wonderland as the venue for the taping, and the park was ready to promote the show via signage in the park and direct mail to 150,000. A distribution deal was then signed by Chum’s New vr and asn, which were looking for comedy specials at the time.

The New vr contributed five cameras for the taping and all post-production facilities.

Wixson says Medium’s successful attempt to create an environment in which advertisers feel confident that their brand will flourish was demonstrated by Fruitopia signing on as a supporter and promoter of the show.

‘They [Fruitopia] can carry out samplings and their signage can be incorporated into some of the programs,’ says Wixson. ‘Suddenly we have event marketing meeting tv programming – and it’s happening right here.’

Yuk Yuk’s talent agency, Funny Business, lined up 25 stand-up comedians.

James Storie was also an executive producer.

Projects in development at Medium include Between The Ropes, a weekly half-hour wrestling show, and Scavenger Hunt, a game show for ytv.

– Green on the road

The citizens of Ottawa will be getting a brief respite as bizarre talk show host Tom Green has hit the road, accompanied by director/cameraman Ray Hagel and writer Derek Harvey, to shoot a video journal of his cross-country odyssey for his Comedy Network show.

Segments will air throughout the 13 episodes of The Tom Green Show, which Comedy has renewed for next season.

Reports indicate Green and crew were last seen headed for Sudbury in a beat-up old van donated by a fan who learned of the tour through the show’s Website.

The saga of Green’s show is well known: the 26-year-old began the show four years ago on Rogers Community Television in Ottawa, later shooting a pilot for the cbc and languishing in self-described ‘development hell’ with the Corp.

The pilot aired on the pubcaster Oct. 31, 1996. ‘That was it with the cbc, Slawko Klymkiw [cbc exec director network programming] dropped us like a hot potato,’ says Green’s official Website.

The show began airing on Comedy in January ’98. Marilyn Read, former director of development at Lacewood Animation, produces the show for MTR Entertainment.

– Cole builds mini prez digs

Toronto’s B.E. Cole Models recently scored the contract to build a large model of the White House for Phoenix Pictures’ production of Dick, which shot in town recently.

The one-twelfth scale model was 43 feet long, five feet high, and was finely detailed so the production could use the mock building to shoot fake exteriors of the president’s residence, which is generally off limits to film crews.

Cole says the project took approximately eight weeks to build and was done at cost with the hopes of securing more work from visiting big-budget productions.

The risk appears to have paid off: Cole has been given the contract to build models of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and a subway crash for the Saban/Fox Family Channel/Northquake Poductions mow Earthquake in New York.