In This Report

Playback is highlighting some of the film and tv prodcos forging new ground on the Western landscapes of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Partners In Motion, based in Saskatchewan, has moved from its long-time commercial and doc staples into the dramatic genre, as has HBW Productions in Alberta. Manitoba’s Visual Marketing is taking advantage of a generous labor incentive and making the leap from corporate work into docmaking. Blue Hill Productions in Saskatchewan is gearing up for an $8.5 million mini-series, the biggest project in its 10-year history, and Alberta -based Nomadic Pictures, behind recent theatrical and mow successes, has a three-pack of movies on the go and is setting its sights on foreign markets. Missing Link Productions continues to develop an eclectic mix of non-fiction programs and is looking to u.k. partners to overcome the financial obstacles of producing on the Alberta scene.

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With 15 years of commercial and corporate production under their collective belt, Winnipeg’s Visual Marketing co-owners Darlene Mulligan and Keith McKenzie are branching out into the realm of documentary programming.

‘Winnipeg has a vibrant film community, and seeing what some of our peers are doing really inspired us to do this,’ says director/producer Mulligan. ‘And with the tax credit, it just put us over the edge and inspired us to say `Why not?’ ‘

Visual Marketing’s strong track record, client base, cash flow and decade and a half of experience has allowed it to set the long-range goal of having 50% of its revenues come from long-form production.

Helping out in the startup is a full-time staff of nine plus a well-stocked arsenal of equipment. Visual Marketing possesses fully digital production facilities including cameras, Media 100 editing systems, Adobe After Effects, and a sound studio in-house.

‘We’re pretty much able to do everything from script to screen here,’ says Mulligan. ‘We’re one of the leading production companies in Western Canada doing corporate and commercial production and we have all these people who want to do this.

‘Given our geographic location, we’re not going to compete with [Toronto commercial production house] The Partners’ [Film Company],’ admits Mulligan, ‘so this is an area where we can use our skills and express ourselves. It doesn’t matter where you’re located.’

First up for the company is Leading Ladies, a documentary series of three one hours on the history of women in politics. Beginning with the point where women were given the right to vote, the $700,000 production will explore women and their role in politics right up to a present-day examination of current political leaders.

Mulligan is slated to direct the doc series, with Barbara Huck skedded to produce and script coordinate. Author Carol Shields has expressed an interest in writing the script, and according to Mulligan, once Leading Ladies gets a broadcast licence, Shields is expected to write a book on the subject to complement the film.

As to that licence, Visual Marketing is currently in negotiations with broadcaster wtn, which is reportedly considering taking on Leading Ladies as a candidate for a spot on its millennium series of programs.

Shot on digital Betacam, the series is expected to be funded through Telefilm Canada, the Manitoba tax credit, the ctcpf and through some private funders who have expressed an interest in the project.

A similar financing structure is expected to be utilized for an ongoing series that is still in early development titled Written In The Land. Examining Native Indian archeological sites throughout North America, the series promises a close-up look at Native artifacts and hieroglyphics that will be linked with stories on the cultures and people surrounding the sites today and in the past.

Mulligan says no budget has been calculated for Written In The Land and no broadcasters have been approached, but the show’s storylines have been written and the research has been done on the sites.

Those researching skills along with its production facilities have allowed Visual Marketing to do service and component work for other projects such as John McGreevy Productions’ Empire of The Bay series. Visual Marketing is doing research and stock photograph locating and shooting as well as providing the three-part historical series on the expansion of the Hudson’s Bay Company into Canada with scenic stock footage shots.