There’s a hint of spring in the air

for those here scouting locations

With winter here in all its daunting glory, the darling buds of May are more than distant from the collective Hogtown mind. But not so for a wealth of industry types who have been scouting for spring locales. To name a few:

– Patrick Palmer and Richard Benjamin are scouting for a major studio pic called Mrs. Winterbourne, which should roll in the spring;

– Norman Jewison is scouting and doing some planning for his next feature, Bogus, the tale of a young boy and his imaginary friend, which will shoot in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and possibly Toronto;

– Don Carmody has also been in town, looking to set up a late winter/early spring shoot for the mgm feature, Before I Wake;

– And Paramount Pictures has been here regarding A Whisper in the Attic, a feature with Robert Harmon directing and Kevin McCormick, Tina Nides and Mark Johnson producing.

Daddy Dearest

Evil Harvest, Atlantis Communications’ new $3.5 million mow for Fox Television, goes to camera Jan. 23 for 20 days in Toronto and Pickering, Ont.

The 120-minute movie is about a young pop of two who is possessed by his late daddy’s soul. An exorcism by hypnosis, executed by doctors and the man’s wife, is the cure.

‘There’s no Linda Blair,’ says one crew member by way of separating Evil Harvest from The Exorcist. ‘There is some levitation of furniture, a burning barn and car tires that leave little pools of fire, but the pea soup doesn’t fly,’ he adds.

Jonathan Hackett is producing. Production manager is Marc Dassas. The director, dop, stars and crew have yet to be signed.

The thrill of it all

Alliance Communications has teamed up with Andras Hamori of Accent Entertainment on the Rebecca DeMornay feature, Never Talk to Strangers. Hamori, former Alliance senior vice-president, is producing the us$13 million thriller with Alliance production head Jean Desormeaux. It is the first time since Hamori left the side of Alliance chief Robert Lantos that the two have worked together.

Opposite DeMornay is Antonio Banderas as, of course, the love interest. The plot revolves around a psychologist (DeMornay) who works with prisoners and is stalked.

The feature started shooting Dec. 18 for eight weeks with Brit Sir Peter Hall directing. Lantos, Barbet Schroeder and DeMornay are executive producers and Peter Hoffman and TriStar are presenters.

TriStar has u.s. distribution rights, Alliance has Canadian rights and Mark Damon has international. Post-production will be done in Toronto, but no contract has been signed yet.

Friends at Last

ready to roll

Friends at Last, a $3 million TriStar/Columbia mow starring Kathleen Turner, starts rolling Jan. 16 through to Valentine’s Day.

Most likely headed for cbs airwaves, the movie stars Turner as one-half of a troubled couple who split and then become pals through someone else’s misfortune (a medical tragedy).

Director is John Coles, producer is George Perkins, exec producer is Allyn Stewart and Elizabeth Young is pm.

Painting the town

with series work

News for Toronto just keeps pouring forth from the producers of Painted Words; this time word is Jonathan Kaplan will be in town the first week of February shooting his 30-minute movie for the six-part series, and John Schlesinger will be here doing his bit two weeks later.

Kaplan is directing The Language of the Heart, a tale of a ballerina written by Bruce Mead and based on the Degas painting, ‘The Rehearsal.’ Supervising producer Jeff Freilich says when he sent Kaplan photos of Massey Hall and other concert halls, along with snaps of Queen Street West, the director practically flipped with glee – he just loves those streetcar tracks.

Schlesinger’s piece, Merce, is based on the Hockney painting ‘Bellair’ and is set in ’20s Chicago. Frielich is looking for a suitable, Connecticut-style manse for the family tale of material riches and moral poverty.

Song of Songs, Peter Bogdanovich’s contribution to the series, was in production mid-December for five days. The tale of adultery is based on a short story by Harry Mark Petrakis and was shot at Progress Bakery on the Danforth. George Segal, Brooke Adams and Sally Kirkland star.

No rest for the weary

DOP Paul Sarossy, whose wizardry was last seen on the big screen in Exotica, hardly has time to breathe these days, never mind take out time for a bit of seasonal cheer. The grueling shoot for Norman Jewison’s Soir Bleu for the six-part Showtime series Painted Words, wrapped Dec. 5 at about 9 a.m. after five overnight shoots that lasted up to 18 hours a stretch.

Sarossy didn’t mind: ‘It was great. (Jewison) has such a wealth of experience that he makes everyone’s job simple,’ he says.

The Genie winner (for his work on Exotica) could not make it to the awards show because he was doing a one-day shoot for Johnny Mnemonic – a bedroom scene with star Keanu Reeves that will open the film.

Meanwhile, Sarossy is set to shoot Bogdanovich’s Painted Words short, Song of Songs, and soon after will start prepping for A Promise of Heaven, Srinivas Krishna’s new feature set to shoot in February. There is talk of casting delays on Promise, but that won’t leave Sarossy with time on his hands; he’s also talking to a Montreal producer regarding lensing an hdtv project.