Vancouver: The integrity of Vancouver Television’s claim that it is locally accountable is under siege with the high-profile resignations of three of its four Vancouver-based directors.

Veteran producer Darryl Duke, aboriginal lawyer Calvin Helin and Simon Fraser University communications professor Catherine Murray quit earlier this month as ‘directors’ of the nascent Vancouver station.

In the Vancouver Sun, Duke said: ‘We were directors of bubbles, of nothing. Vancouver Television as a company didn’t exist. But they never told us.’

Duke claims he was misled by Baton in securing his support for the station’s application and that Baton has breached promises made to the crtc. His endorsement came from pledges that vtv would offer the most local control, augmented by a proper board with influence over programming, policy, publicity and community relationships. As it stands now, he adds, vtv is controlled by Toronto decision-makers.

But when Baton absorbed the Western television assets of Electrohome Aug. 31, the legal need for a separate vtv board was eliminated, says vtv gm Jon Festinger. ‘The intent of having a board that holds vtv’s feet to the fire regarding the needs of the community remains,’ he says. Festinger adds that he regrets the loss of the directors, but maintains that vtv is the epitome of community accountability and openness.

The remaining vtv director, arts impresario David Y.H. Lui, is expected to chair a vtv council of up to 10 members, which will hold sway over vtv operations, Festinger promises.

*Force of nature

Vancouver’s Force Four Productions is enjoying a busy fall. Its 26-part series You Me & the Kids is currently airing on wtn after debuting Oct. 6.

The parenting series, which blends drama and documentary elements, is based on family relationship issues.

Also in October, the company’s Emily Carr episode for the cbc’s Life and Times series aired and coproductions are underway on similar episodes based on the lives of Chief Dan George (with aboriginal filmmaker Loretta Todd) and For Better or For Worse cartoonist Lynn Johnston (with producers Sharon Bartlett and Maria LaRose).

Also in production at Force Four are the one-hour comedy special Happy tv for Baton’s vtv, Grizzlies of the Canadian Rockies for cbc and Discovery Channel in the u.s., and Oops Mommy, I Broke It, which tells the story of street kids turned poets, for Vision tv and Global Vancouver.

*Wild success

Champions of the Wild, a wildlife documentary series by Vancouver’s Omni Productions, has been sold to Discovery’s Animal Planet network. The 13-part series debuted in November on Discovery and profiles Canadian scientists and activists dedicated to endangered animals. Animal Planet airs the series beginning in January.

International distribution is handled by Europe Images International.

*Business notes

*Vancouver’s Movie Vista Productions has acquired the rights to Trump Tower, a Dynasty-for-the-’90s series based on the lives of people at the glittering Manhattan landmark. And yes, The Donald will make cameos. At press time, mvp producer Bob Fredericks was in l.a. negotiating with u.s. broadcasters for the show, which could begin preproduction in Vancouver by January.

* Vidatron Entertainment has a conditional listing with the Toronto Stock Exchange that should be vetted by the end of November. The multimedia company behind series Dead Man’s Gun and First Wave will maintain its original listing on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

* The Vancouver Film School reports that its clone will be up and running in Kobe, Japan by next year. It will be located at the Kobe Electronics College and offer courses in multimedia, computer animation and digital film.

*One for you, one for me

Colleen Nystedt’s script about a 12-year-boy who meets a 12-year-old Sasquatch and gets him on the basketball team got the green light when Richard Thomas (The Waltons) was signed as the lead.

Nystedt’s Vancouver-based New City Productions owns the project that will air on Showtime. The former Vancouver Grizzlies basketball mascot dons the hirsute suit.

As a Vancouver service company, New City is also involved in the production of Plea Bargain for Wilshire Court and the USA Network.

Plea Bargain – with Tracy Gold (Growing Pains) and Jack Wagner (Melrose Place) – is about a kidnapping. It also wraps in mid-December.

In other service business, showbiz legend Jack Lemmon is shooting tv road movie The Long Way Home for cbs. The story is about a widower traveling to California to see an old girlfriend and shoots until Nov. 27. It’s by Hallmark for cbs.

Showtime mow Sorrow Floats stars Rosanna Arquette and Paul Hogan in a story about a woman who loses custody of her baby and begins a cross-country search for family. Local Tom Rowe co-exec produces. Production runs Oct. 20 through Nov. 24.

The Tin Wife, a Universal mow for USA Cable, features Anne Archer as a cop’s wife. Production runs through Dec. 10

*Blasphemy TV

Vancouver short filmmaker Kellie Benz has the distinction of generating more calls of outrage to the Comedy Network than any other producer of programs aired since the specialty channel went live Oct. 17.

The Second Coming – about a woman who has sex with a disillusioned Jesus Christ – has racy content that some viewers found offensive, says Brent Haynes, who produces the weekday program Canadian Comedy Shorts. The Second Coming debuted Oct. 29.

Callers demanded the program be pulled from the air and that the Comedy Network apologize. But Haynes has kept the short in regular rotation and aired it again Nov. 7.

‘We like irreverent material and The Second Coming is well produced and clever,’ says Haynes, who says the outrage comes as no surprise. ‘We’re letting comedic talent express itself.’