Paul Donovan (writer)

Paul Donovan is a Canadian television and film writer, director and producer best known as the creator of the science-fiction TV series, LEXX. He co-founded Salter Street Films (SSF) with his brother Michael Donovan.

Donovan was born in Canada on June 26 1954. He grew up interested in science and film, and earned a B.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University, and graduated from London Film School. The IMDb credits "South Pacific 1942" as the first film he directed, and in 1983 the Donovan brothers founded Salter Street Films, a television and film production company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Salter Street Films was named after the street in Halifax where 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 the science fiction series "Lexx", which was a hit in Germany, Russia and Eastern 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 the Internet. Fans of "Lexx" nicknamed Donovan and the show's other main writers, Lex Gigeroff and Jeffrey Hirschfield, "The Supreme Beans".

Concurrently, the Donovan brothers found success with the satirical "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" becoming a hit on CBC 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 the Stop motion children's show "Poko".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 in Canada and Germany. The documentary won both the Anniversary Prize at Cannes 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 Canada by the CRTC. This potentially lucrative award, combined with SSF’s reputation as a content-provider, attracted interest from the powerful media corporation Alliance 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.

Michael Donovan has formed the Halifax Film Company with many of the former Salter Street employees. Paul Donovan has continued as an independent producer and director. In 2006, he created a new Canadian minseries, a period political drama called "Conclave" set in the 15th century. The show stars Brian Blessed and features former "Lexx" star Brian Downey as a scheming monk. Downey has been a regular in Donovan's work since the '80s, dating back at least to "George's Island" in 1989.