Fear Itself is about to grip the streets of Alberta's capital.

And according to the province's film and television industry, that is a good thing.

The new TV series is part of a business case being put together to see how feasible it is to revitalize an episodic television sector that until now hasn't seen many good days in Edmonton or Calgary.

Pre-production is slated to begin in December on Fear Itself, a new horror-anthology series from Lions Gate Entertainment and Industry Entertainment Partners that will air next summer on NBC.

Andrew Bako photo, courtesy of Rescued Horse Season One Inc.
Heartland lead Amber Marshall plays Amy in the CBC family drama series to be shot in Calgary.

Meanwhile, Calgary's television production sector also gets a boost with Heartland, a CBC family drama series set in the fictional Alberta town of Hudson.

Both shows are part of the two-year business case Alberta Film has assembled to examine the viability of permanent policy changes aimed at attracting more dramatic series to the province.

"What we're doing with this business case is looking at all the options on how to grow and sustain the film and television industry. We're actually taking it a step further and calling it screen based, which includes new media," says Debbie Harksen, a marketing specialist with Alberta Film, an arm of the provincial government that promotes the province's location and production services.

"As part of this research gathering, these dramatic series pilot projects were developed. We're testing the waters to see if this will work and what are the pros and cons."

Ultimately, the decision rests with the Alberta government, which contributed $5.4 million over two years to the Edmonton show and $4.9 million to the Calgary production, with funding for the projects coming from a special grant from the Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture.

The City of Edmonton added $2.1 million in grants as part of the deal with Lions Gate. Calgary did not contribute additional funding to the CBC project.

"Right now, Alberta as a whole has had a limited amount of (television) series work and that is one of the sustaining aspects of film and television industry," says Luke Azevedo, commissioner of film, television and creative industries for Calgary Economic Development. "This would allow us to maintain those crews."

While Alberta has had a number of high-profile feature film shoots over recent years, including Brokeback Mountain and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford starring Brad Pitt, it's episodic television - TV series - that provide crews with long-term work.

"A TV series, because of its longevity, takes a minimum of six months from the start of pre-production to when you wrap. A feature film can take 25 to 45 days; that's a short window if you want to take students out and start training them, says Patti Tucker, Edmonton's film commissioner.

Fear Itself, for example, will generate 116 person-years of employment in the first year of its two-year deal and provide valuable skills training through more than 20 apprenticeship positions associated with the project.

"This (show) will enhance our crew depth. It will showcase Edmonton as a credible production centre," says Tucker. "It will attract awareness from other major studios and producers and it will speak to our credibility when you do a TV series, especially one being broadcast on a U.S. network. (And) it will create a very vibrant film community for further projects."

Tucker noted that a young man, who originally hailed from Edmonton, contacted her from Vancouver. "He wrote and he's elated that he can come back here to Edmonton because of the work. It makes me proud that we get to bring our own home," adds Tucker.

Meanwhile, while provincial officials figure out whether this new business case will work, Azevedo says time is of the essence.

"There is no sitting back and waiting for decisions," he says. "Right now, we're going to sell our marketplace and our ability. The industry needs us to be consistently selling."

The last episodic television shoots in both Calgary and Edmonton were years ago.

It's approximately five years since Tom Stone, a CBC show about an ex-cop and ex-con, was shot in Calgary. Prior to that, other shows that shot in the Calgary region included CBC's North of 60 and the TV series version of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.

The last scripted television series filmed in Edmonton was Mentors, a 1997-2002 production from Canadian producers Minds Eye/Anaid Productions, which was broadcast on the Family Channel.

Jake and the Kid, produced by Great North Productions/ Nelvana, was another series shot in Edmonton from 1995-1998.

Azevedo and Tucker remain optimistic. Second seasons are already set for both Heartland, which premiered in mid-October after shooting 13 episodes earlier this year, and Fear Itself.

"This gives us an opportunity," says Azevedo. "We've put ourselves in a position as a province - with two series at a time - to show that this province is a location that can handle this work well at this level."

Adds Tucker: "We're hoping we can show the value of attracting episodic TV to the province and specifically its cities. We're not just talking return on investment, we're talking about growing the (industry) infrastructure and diversifying the economy.

"If we can bring in one series a year, not only will we be able to sustain the production industry, we will be able to grow it."

In the Spotlight

* Picked up by NBC for 13 one-hour episodes to air in summer 2008, Fear Itself is a reworked version of the 2005 Emmy-
winning Masters of Horror show. Masters of Horror executive
producers Keith Addis, Andrew Deane and Mick Garris are
confirmed for the NBC project as well. The Lions Gate series will be in production for approximately seven months in Edmonton. Hotels, restaurants, caterers, lumber yards, tradespeople, car rentals, transportation and other businesses all stand to benefit from the series’ $20-million annual production budget.

* CBC’s Heartland follows the Fleming family – teenager Amy and older sister Lou – after the death of their mother. Along with their grandfather Jack, they deal with the challenges of running a ranch that has been in the family for generations. Heartland stars Amber Marshall (The Elizabeth Smart Story) as Amy, Michelle Morgan (Diary of the Dead) as Lou, Shaun Johnston (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) as Jack and Nathaniel Arcand (Moose TV) as Scott Cardinal, the local veterinarian. Johnston and Arcand both hail from Edmonton. Heartland is based on the best-selling series of books by Lauren Brooke and is being produced by Dynamo Films of Toronto and SEVEN24 Films of Calgary. Executive producers are Michael Weinberg, Tom Cox (Brokeback Mountain) and Jordy Randall (Tom Stone).


(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)