Vancouver: The new provincial tax credit and a renewed interest in b.c. are credited with wooing Alliance Communications to the West Coast, with three series and an mow likely starting this spring.

Betaville, from the producers who brought us The Hitchhiker series seen on Showcase, begins mid-April. The 13 episodes chronicle a Bladerunner-esque story.

Still scouting and not officially signed, meanwhile, are The Crow, based on the bleak action feature film of the same name, which is expected to start in May, and Nothing too Good for a Cowboy, a ranching story which shot a pilot in Toronto that’s supposed to begin production at an interior b.c. location in late May-early June.

The Alliance mow Death Merchant is also scouting locations in Vancouver.

According to B.C. Film Commissioner Pete Mitchell, the new work is the first serious look at b.c. by Alliance in five years. Previously, Alliance was involved in Mom p.i. and Black Stallion.

He says the new provincial tax credit is an incentive, but he adds that Alliance has people in management who are interested in working out West.

– Feature watch

Scouting are Disney’s karaoke film Duets (exec produced by Ridley Scott on a rumored us$50-million budget) and Paramount’s us$30-million-ish drama Double Jeopardy, about a woman searching for her young son.

Disney’s feature I’ll Be Home for Christmas is scheduled to divvy up production in b.c., Alberta and California between April and June.

– Mandalay TV takes aim

Tristar and Mandalay Television, wholly owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, began shooting tv pilot Cupid at Lions Gate Studios (formerly North Shore Studios) March 23. It’s one of the first, if not the very first, Mandalay tv project since Lions Gate took the company over.

Featuring Jeremy Pivin (Ellen), the pilot tells the story of a man who believes he is the cherubic archer. It wraps April 3 and will air on abc.

– More TV news

Ghost Cop, a pilot for Fox Television by PolyGram, is a story about a female officer who is teamed up with a psychic. Key players were not confirmed at press time, but production was going ahead March 23 through April 6.

Someone To Love Me (once known as Girl in the Back Seat) is an nbc mow that shoots between March 16 and April 6. Details are scarce, but the project is part of nbc’s Moment of Truth series, highlighting, well, moments of truth.

In local tv production, The Addams Family series – featuring Gomez, Morticia and their eerie clan – is expected to start production in Vancouver this spring. Saban Entertainment, in conjunction with Vancouver producer James Shavick, will produce the series for Fox Kids. Last year, the same team did Breaker High, which is not making a return engagement.

Vidatron’s alien-invasion series First Wave, meanwhile, gears up production April 6, with a wrap date of about Nov. 25.

– Ranson to shoot Sarajevo

Mort Ranson, director of Margaret’s Museum, begins producing West of Sarajevo March 30 through May 1. The independent Canadian feature is about two families – one Serbian and the other Bosnian – who have to learn tolerance when their lives intertwine in Vancouver.

Shooting from March 30 to May 4, the movie has cbc as a broadcaster, but no distributor signed.

Raymond Massey is acting as executive producer, while Davor Marjanovic directs and David Bouck coproduces with Ranson. Lead actors were not available at press time.

– Wilding returns

Director/producer Gavin Wilding – wild boy creator of genre-oriented, video-friendly productions such as The Raffle, Listen and, most recently, Stag – wraps production on Convergence April 3. A horror feature coproduced with Diane Patrick O’Connor, Convergence tells the story of a woman who once cheated death, upsetting the natural order of the world.

Starring Cindy Preston (Whale Song) and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), the feature is aimed at a theatrical distribution. Vancouver’s White Rock Film, owned by Wilding and Suzanne Daley, is handling worldwide sales.

– Odds and ends

Arri Canada, Clairmont Camera Canada, Panavision Canada, grip and lighting companies are hosting the first Rosco Showcase on March 28 and 29 at the Annex Studio in Burnaby. Described as the country cousin to the massive Showbiz Expo in the u.s., Rosco will highlight the latest in technical equipment.

– keys to kingdoms, a film poem, wrapped production at the end of February.

A Kick Start-funded 20-minute short, the film is directed and cowritten by Nathaniel Geary and cowritten by Paul Jarrett. Mentor is Velcrow Ripper.

The film follows a story by Vancouver activist-poet Bud Osborne, an advocate for Downtown Eastside issues. The project features Martin Budny in the lead role, with supporting roles filled by William MacDonald, Ben Cardinal, Ron Sauve, Rob Hayter, Paul Jarrett, Irene Karas, Robert Bruce, Carmen Moore and Todd Shillington. Wendy Hyman acts as producer and dop is Robert Aschmann. Other funding came from the Canada Council First Productions Grant.

– January’s nhl all-star game in Vancouver provided a hat trick of work for Finale Editworks. For the u.s. Comedy Central Network, the company handled a comedic take on hockey, while editor Allan Pinvidic worked on a 90-minute feature for MTV Sports. CBC Sports called on Finale to edit player profiles.

Other work includes the 26-episode Mounties – True Stories of the rcmp (KF Media), True Belief (Vision Television) and a one-hour cbc Witness documentary called Quake Hunters (Raincoast Storylines).