From Nova Scotia to Toronto to Hollywood, South Shore filmmaker Sheri Elwood has chased her dream of producing movies and television programs.

 But, it seems, no matter where the multitalented and versatile writer, producer and director travels, she ultimately ends up where she started - back home in Nova Scotia.

 And, she adds, that's just fine by her.

 "My family lived on the South Shore," said Ms Elwood in a recent interview on the set of her new project currently being filmed in New Minas. "I grew up in Toronto, but I spent every summer here and I love it. After going to film school in Toronto, it seemed only fitting to come back to Nova Scotia to work so I've tried to do that whenever possible."

 In fact, the prolific producer - who maintains a summer residence in LaHave - did her first project in 1998, a short film called "Eb & Flo," on the South Shore. Then two years later she directed her first feature film, "Deeply," around Chester and Hubbards.

 "They were both great experiences and I've been looking for a reason to come back ever since," she said.

 Over the past decade, Ms Elwood has become one of Canada's most sought-after producers and has worked extensively in Hollywood. Most recently, she wrote and produced "Defying Gravity," the story of eight astronauts living aboard a spacecraft on a six-year mission to explore the solar system. It aired on CTV and the Space channel in Canada and on ABC in the U.S.

 However, these days she is devoting her strength, energy and creative powers to a new, 13-episode half-hour comedy that has been filming in New Minas since late October and will continue production until mid-January.

 "Call Me Fitz" is produced by E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film + Television and Chester-based Big Motion Pictures for broadcast on Astral Media's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) in 2010.

 The series stars Canadian actor and director Jason Priestley (The Day of the Triffids, My Name is Earl, Beverly Hills 90210) as the charismatic used-car salesman known as Fitz.

 In "Call Me Fitz," Mr. Priestley stars as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, a used-car dealer who pushes the boundaries of acceptable behaviour just a few steps too far.

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 According to production notes from the set, "After Fitz botches a test drive and puts his latest customer in a coma, he finds himself face-to-face with a new salesman on the lot - Larry, a do-gooder with a heart of gold. If Fitz is a man who lives for the moment, Larry is his foil, ready to pick up (and re-furbish) the wreckage Fitz leaves behind."

 Larry is played by Ernie Grunwald (King of the Hill, My Name is Earl) who becomes the moral anchor of the Fitzpatrick family. Series' regulars include Peter MacNeill (Copper, Mayerthorpe), Tracy Dawson (The Gavin Crawford Show), Kathleen Munroe (Durham County), Donavon Stinson (Reaper), Brooke Nevin (I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer) and Gillian Ferrier (Ice Castles).

 Talking about the series, Ms Elwood said the idea evolved several years ago while she was shopping in the U.S. for a literary agent.

 "I wrote the first half hour of the show as a spec script," she explained. "Honestly, I never really anticipated that the show would ever be made, but it became a very popular script, making the rounds in Hollywood."

 Eventually the legwork paid off and, based on this script, Ms Elwood was subsequently signed by the William Morris Agency, one of the top talent agencies in Hollywood.

 "We started pitching it as a television series and it just took off from there," she added. "Everyone liked it but they wanted to see how we would cast it and how we would make it. … So here we are."

 Explaining that "Call Me Fitz" is edgier than most shows seen on mainstream television networks, she said, "The show is about a morally bankrupt car salesman - Fitz - who goes into business with his conscience in a character called Larry. We're never entirely sure whether or not Larry is really his conscience or some lunatic who is basically stalking Fitz. So we really walk that line between slightly magical realist and the cold, hard reality that this guy is not a good guy and needs a bit of help."

 She continued, "I was really interested in exploring the themes of good and bad and the grey in between that suggests that sometimes good and bad aren't as far apart as we would think. … Essentially, at the heart of the show, it's really a buddy comedy."

 Albeit, she added, not the kind you're normally used to seeing on network television.

 "It's definitely a little more twisted and edgier than that most shows on television, but it's perfect for cable where your hands aren't tied creatively," she said.

 Once the idea was sold, Ms Elwood said the next big step was deciding where to film it and she knew right away she wanted to come back to Nova Scotia to do it.

 "This show is set in a fictitious town in the suburbs of a large city and we never know where it is. … I knew we could do it in Nova Scotia."

 After scouting out locations earlier this year, they chose New Minas as the setting.

 "This is a perfect location for this show," she said. "The area around New Minas has kind of an 'everywhere' quality to it and that's really appealing for filmmakers wanting an anonymous location and to viewers thinking they could actually live in this town. New Minas is more relatable for this story than, let's say, a place in Toronto or Los Angeles."

 Additionally, she pointed out that she knew the crew in Nova Scotia and that helped lock down the location.

 "There's a lot of good people available in this area and there was a lot of good will between us from working with them in the past, so it made our decision much easier."

 "Call Me Fitz" is filming in New Minas, Wolfville and Kentville. The main sets are located in what were formerly a Kia dealership, Wacky Wheatley's Audiotronic and Speedy Auto Glass in New Minas, with additional locations throughout the Wolfville and Kentville areas.

 Series writer, creator and executive producer, Ms Elwood, is joined by executive producers Teza Lawrence and Michael Souther, both with Amaze Film + Television (Finn on the Fly, Saint Ralph) and David MacLeod of Big Motion Pictures (October 1970, SeaWolf, Moby Dick).

 Next week, meet a cast member of "Call Me Fitz" who has deep roots on the South Shore.

posted on 11/24/09