Vancouver: A fleet of new pilots and mows rolled out onto the streets of Vancouver this month, marking the beginning of another frantic spring/summer production season on the West Coast.

Now that the local labor climate has warmed up with the creation of a new Bargaining Council of Film Unions, the anticipated merger of rival performers unions, and the negotiation of a collective master agreement, it looks like our l.a. cousins are again descending on the fresh-air city in droves.

Former Knots Landing vixen Michele Lee arrived in Vancouver with The Genius, an mow for Lifetime in the u.s., which she is executive producing, directing and starring in. Produced by Julian Marks, line produced by David Shepherd of Vancouver, and crewed by the acfc, it’s the tale of a mentally deficient young woman who is transformed into a high-iq wonder by two scientists using experimental drugs.

Production runs from March 18 to April 12.

Executive producers Michael O’Hara and Dr. Larry Horowitz, a couple of frequent flyers to Vancouver, have a double-header lined up this month.

First up is Nobody Lives Forever, an abc mow line produced and production managed by Tracey Jeffrey. The Knots Landing cast must be holding an alumni meeting here – Kevin Dobson and Annette McCaffrey star in the film about a womanizing detective whose dalliance with a psychopathic woman complicates a murder investigation.

Director Paul Wendkos will be calling the shots for veteran Canadian cinematographer Richard Leiterman.

Production on Nobody Lives Forever wraps on March 26, and then filming begins on A Child’s Wish, an mow for cbs based on a true story about a young girl with cancer whose last wish is to go to the White House and meet the president. l.a.-based Vancouverite Michelle MacLaren is producing for O’Hara Horowitz Productions, with Waris Hussein directing. Casting has yet to be finalized.

Chris Carter, writer/executive producer and creator of the hit series The X-Files, begins work this month on his new pilot, 2000.

While Carter’s production team is tightlipped about the cast and content of the eagerly awaited new series, the pilot offers cinematographer Peter Wunstorf – who attracted attention through his outstanding work on the low-budget feature films The Grocer’s Wife and Double Happiness – exposure to a broader tv audience.

Local visual special effects creators at Rainmaker Imaging, Prospero Imaging and Northwest Imaging & FX are busy churning out extraterrestrial creatures for New World Communications’ sci-fi adventure pilot Them.

Produced by David Roessell, Them is about one man’s discovery of aliens inhabiting the earth and his solo quest to eliminate them from the planet. Director Bill Norton replaces Jonathan Kaplan (Immediate Family, The Accused), who was originally slated to helm the pilot.

I Werewolf, another New World pilot, about a mild-mannered scientist who is struck by lightning in his laboratory and switches personalities with his pet wolf, was scheduled to begin shooting here March 1, but has been put on hold ‘indefinitely’ pending casting negotiations by cbs.

To pick up the production slack, next month New World will shoot Spider’s Web, a presentation pilot for Warner Bros. Network. Written by Stephen J. Cannell, the series will follow a wheelchair-bound former cop/now criminologist and his band of student investigators as they help crack murder cases.

`Kicking butt’ at the AFM

The annual Locations Expo in Los Angeles earlier this month proved to be a big bomb at its new location in the L.A. Convention Center, according to some Canadian attendees. ‘It was like wandering around a hall of Maytag repairmen,’ says Don Ramsden, president of IATSE Local 891.

Mark DesRocher, manager of production/location services for the B.C. Film Commission, concurs: ‘Yes, this year the exhibitors were exhibiting to each other.’

Ramsden says the organizers had better move it back to Santa Monica near the American Film Market or many of the b.c. marketing contingent will think seriously about whether to attend next year.

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Vancouver producer Stephen Benoit reports that several local producers were ‘kicking butt’ at the afm. Double Happiness, Listen and For A Few Lousy Dollars all did brisk business.

For A Few Lousy Dollars far exceeded its self-deprecating title. Executive producer Hsing Lee was positively beaming. Just three days into the market – where silicon and shiny suits reign supreme – the low-budget feature, directed by first-time helmer Michael Bafaro, had already recouped its entire production budget and was sold for theatrical release throughout most of Europe.

Distributors Astral, Malofilm and Alliance Releasing are now lined up trying to secure Canadian distribution rights. Showcase Entertainment is handling u.s. distribution.

Encouraged by the film’s market performance, Benoit is already planning a sequel, entitled naturally, For A Few Lousy Dollars More, to be shot in spring ’97.

Showcase has also anted up the $1.6 million to do another film with Benoit. The Crib, a thriller cross between Coma and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, should begin production in Vancouver next month.

Bafaro is obviously someone to watch. Listen, another feature that he scripted, directed by Vancouver’s Gavin Wilding, produced by Dianne Patrick O’Connor and executive produced and distributed by Greg Sims of l.a.-based Devon Entertainment, cut a u.s. theatrical and video distribution deal with Orion Pictures.

Several years ago Sims produced the until recently little-known film Red Surf starring George Clooney and Dedee Phieffer, which caught the eye of director Quentin Tarantino.

‘We think Listen has the potential to be a real sleeper hit,’ says Sims. ‘We like to work with new talent before they’re discovered. Wilding certainly has what it takes to become a substantial director.’

Chasing dragons

No one could accuse producer Walter Daroshin of being stuck in a rut. After dining out for nearly a year on the success of the cbc movie The War Between Us, which he developed and executive produced and Anne Wheeler directed, the last time I spoke with Daroshin he was producing Raging, a documentary special on West Coast performance poetry. Now he’s at work on a one-hour, live-to-tape sports special for tsn on the world dragon boat race festival.

Actually screaming sonnets to thrusting oars is not such a big stretch. Daroshin got his start producing Spirit Of The Dragon, a documentary on the history and mythology of the ancient Chinese tradition of dragon boat racing. Apparently the sport is so big in Asia, it’s broadcast as a live event.

Courtesy of the film’s sponsor, Air Canada, Daroshin has been flying around the world interviewing participating teams – this week New Zealand, next week Hong Kong. Nice gig if you can find it.

Agency comings & goings

Gigi Boyd, longtime Telefilm Canada staffer, made a rather hasty departure this month from her recent appointment as director core business unit, television. John Taylor, director of operations with the Western office, wasted no time in hiring her replacement, Elizabeth Friesen, former production officer with British Columbia Film.