Vancouver: From her waterlogged barge on the waves of Pitt Lake an hour east of Vancouver, Free Willy iii producer Jennie Lew Tugend says the difficult working conditions have been made better by co-operative crews.

Film crews, the American producer explains, have had to handle a completely water-borne set with dynamic weather changes, kids and animatronics. ‘Yes, labor has been stable so far,’ she confirms, which must come as music to the ears of those who worked to improve labor relations here.

Willy’s studio, Warner Bros., brought the film to Vancouver after a two-year boycott because of financial incentives like tax rebates and the new-found labor stability created by the one-year master agreement with the B.C. Council of Film Unions, says Tugend, producer of all three Willy movies.

‘Including all the department heads, 97% of the people working on this film are Canadian,’ she explains. ‘And we’re not handicapped by that. We’ve assembled a very good team. A lot of people have made a real contribution to the movie.’

The last time Warner worked in Vancouver was in 1994 with the feature This Boy’s Life and the mow Beyond Betrayal.

Harold Tichenor, a Vancouver-based service producer who recently managed the four-hour cbs miniseries The Titanic, was at the negotiating table.

‘It stands as a reasonable agreement,’ he says after testing the master agreement with what he describes as ‘a monster’ of a 40-day shoot. ‘Any problems we had definitely didn’t have anything to do with the agreement.’ The 140-foot set where the ship was recreated required massive engineering to simulate the post-iceberg capsizing.

Tichenor adds: ‘Some of the contract language needs work (such as `turnaround’ issues and meal break grace periods), but the labor situation remains positive. From talking to American producers, Vancouver used to have a reputation for being unpredictable in its contracting compared to other jurisdictions. At least now there is a bottom line for a shoot.’

Producer Gerrit van der Meer, who worked in Vancouver for the first time during the production of the Hallmark Hall of Fame mow Ellen Foster, observes:

‘There is a very good labor climate here in Vancouver. It’s a well working one-stop shop. There is no nit-picking here (compared to other jurisdictions). It’s not like everyone works with a rule book in their back pocket. I’d love to come back.’

Among the dozen projects that have worked under the agreement since it was ratified in May are the features Excess Baggage and Firestorm, mows Breaking the Surface, Fall into Darkness, In the Shadow of Evil, Mother May I and The Traveller, the miniseries Intensity, and the series Millennium.

Hi-Tech hit

Vancouver-made Hi-Tech Culture has sold its first season of 13 half-hour episodes (plus the one-hour pilot) to a&e for a price tag of less than $100,000, says coproducer Terry McEvoy of Omni Productions. The deal represents access to the coveted u.s. market and puts significant steam behind the creation of the second season, he says. The series – which explores how the advent of new technology is having an impact on the way we live – is currently seen in about 25 countries.

We hardly knew ya

In the wake of the provincial government’s child protection crisis, Penny Priddy has been moved from the small business, tourism and culture portfolio to the newly minted Ministry of Children and Families. The new minister of film is former backbencher Jan Pullinger. No word yet on any changes in movie-making policy.

Her boss, Premier Glen Clark, meanwhile, made headlines Sept. 26 when he took the unprecedented step to endorse chum’s Vtv application at the crtc hearings. Civic politicians are fair game for application endorsements, but it’s taboo to have senior politicians telling the crtc what to do, say miffed competitors.

Cooking with gas

Barbecue: A love story, an independent feature by Vancouver-based Rufus Film, is scheduled to go before cameras Oct. 8-31. The film is about a trailer park resident with an insatiable appetite for barbecued food, which causes the hero no end of heartburn and gas. The story is a metaphor for life, says producer Bob Millar.

Stacy Kirk is the writer/director of the low-budget project. The creative team’s Drawing Flies premiers at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Fired up

Canadiana Blaze, a locally made feature by producer Craig Berggold and director Teresa Marshall (in association with the nfb and the Canada Council), wrapped late last month. The low-budget docudrama features newcomer Rebecca Nygard and is ‘a ranting, raving eco-road movie’ along the Columbia River.

Other reasons for big white trucks

Shari’s Passover Surprise – featuring Shari Lewis of Lambchop fame – is before cameras at cbc Vancouver until Oct. 11. The special is being shot for pbs.

Sealed with a Kiss, an mow for Saban Entertainment of l.a., will shoot until Oct. 19. Starring C. Thomas Howell (Soul Man), the psycho thriller is about a cop who investigates a woman serial killer.

Starchild, a feature with Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire) and Sean Young (Bladerunner, No Way Out), is about an alien who travels the universe to find a compatible mate. Production runs Oct. 7 to Nov. 4 with a theatrical release next year.

Ronnie & Julie stars Teri Garr (Tootsie) in the latest Larry Sugar classics update for Showtime. This time it’s Romeo and Juliet. The project shoots between Oct. 9 and Nov. 6.

Columbia/TriStar’s miniseries Intensity started production Oct. 7 and shoots through to Dec. 4.

New City Productions handles the day-to-day operations of Tricks, a Showtime mow in which a woman becomes a call girl to support her child. The show shoots through October and stars Mimi Rogers (Someone to Watch Over Me).

The nbc mow Runaway Girl is set to start production Oct. 18

Mountain due

Everest Entertainment is posting Montreal-shot Lazerhawk, the first b.c./Quebec coproduction, in the newly transplanted DHD Postimage facility.

dhd was moved from Montreal to the West Coast as a result of parent company Greenlight’s acquisition of Vancouver-based Motion Works. Lazerhawk – about a young boy fighting an alien invasion – is scheduled for four months of special effects work here and a release date in either theaters or on video next spring.

Other Everest work includes Managua, which is also being posted in Vancouver after being shot elsewhere, this time Mexico. The film – a political thriller about an undercover agent’s drug investigation in Managua – will also be released in the spring.