- Salter Street Films
Salter Street Films was a Canadian television and film
production company based in Halifax,Nova Scotia .The company was founded by brothers Paul and Michael Donovan in
1983 . Paul Donovan was trained as a director at theLondon Film School ; Michael graduated fromDalhousie University ’s Law School and began as a producer of Paul’s film projects. Salter Street Films was named after the street in Halifax where Paul and Michael had been living.The company began life with early problems. Its first major feature film was "
Def-Con 4 " (1985) which eventually became profitable, but other pictures such as "George's Island" (1989), "Buried on Sunday " (1992) and "Paint Cans " (1994), though critically acclaimed, were money-losers. The company's salvation turned out to be thescience fiction series "Lexx ", which was a hit inGermany ,Russia andEastern Europe . This Canadian-German co-production went on to become a lucrative money-maker through international sales and was one of the first shows to develop a cult following almost exclusively through theInternet .Concurrently, the Donovan brothers found success with the satirical "
This Hour Has 22 Minutes " becoming a hit onCBC Television as well as other series such as "CODCO ", "Emily of New Moon ", "Made in Canada ", "Blackfly", the children's series "Pirates " and the special "Rick Mercer's Talking To Americans ". These shows found homes on the CBC as well as other Canadian networks and cable channels. Salter Street also created theStop motion children's show "Poko " which is still in production.Based on their reputation for political satire, American documentary film-maker
Michael Moore approached Salter Street to produce his "Bowling for Columbine " project. Michael Donovan agreed, and arranged financing inCanada andGermany . The documentary won both the Anniversary Prize atCannes and the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.In
2000 , a year after the Donovan brothers had taken the company public, Salter Street Films was awarded the broadcast licence for the Independent Film Channel by the CRTC. This potentially lucrative award, combined with SSF’s reputation as a content-provider, attracted interest from the powerful media corporationAlliance Atlantis . Alliance Atlantis bought Salter Street from the majority shareholders the following year. Paul and Michael Donovan remained on as producers.In
2003 , two years after the purchase, Alliance Atlantis closed the operation, transferring Salter Street's ongoing television productions to Alliance.Paul Donovan has continued as an independent producer and director. Michael Donovan has formed the
Halifax Film Company with many of the former Salter Street employees.
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