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| Industry | Television production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983; 42 years ago (1983) |
| Founder | Michael Donovan Paul Donovan |
| Defunct | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) |
| Fate | Shut down; operations taken over byAlliance Atlantis |
| Successor | Halifax Film Company |
| Parent | Alliance Atlantis (2001–2003) |
Salter Street Films was a Canadian television and filmproduction company based inHalifax, Nova Scotia.
Salter Street Films was founded by brothersPaul andMichael Donovan in 1983. Paul was trained as a director at theLondon Film School; Michael graduated fromDalhousie University’s Law School and started as a producer of Paul's film projects. Salter Street Films was named after the street inHalifax, Nova Scotia, where Paul and Michael had been living.
The company started life with early problems. Its first major feature film wasDef-Con 4 (1985), which eventually became profitable, but other films such asGeorge's Island (1989),Buried on Sunday (1992), andPaint Cans (1994), though critically acclaimed, were money-losers. The company's salvation turned out to be thesci-fi TV seriesLexx,[1] which was a hit in Germany, 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 online.
Concurrently, the Donovan brothers found success with the satiricalThis Hour Has 22 Minutes becoming a hit onCBC Television as well as other TV series such asCODCO,Emily of New Moon,Made in Canada,Blackfly, children's TV seriesPirates, and a TV specialTalking to Americans. These shows found homes on the CBC as well as other Canadian networks and cable channels. Salter Street also created thestop motion-animated preschool TV seriesPoko, which is still in production. In 1994, it has a 20% interest in The Popcorn Channel, which was rumoured to be on the air in the first quarter of 1995.[2] In the 1990s, it meant to mine European co-production with four telefilms, which were planning on to be in production in 1995.[3]
Based on their reputation for political satire, U.S. documentary filmmakerMichael Moore approached Salter Street to produce his projectBowling for Columbine. Michael Donovan agreed and arranged financing in Canada and Germany. The documentary won both the Anniversary Prize at theCannes Film Festival and theOscar forBest Documentary Feature Film.
In 2000, a year after the Donovan brothers had taken the company public, Salter Street was awarded the broadcast license forIFC by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. This potentially lucrative award, combined with Salter Street's reputation as a content-provider, attracted interest from the powerful media corporationAlliance Atlantis. Alliance bought Salter Street from the majority shareholders the following year.[4] Paul and Michael Donovan remained on as producers.
In 2003, two years after the purchase, Alliance closed the operation, transferring Salter Street's ongoing TV productions to Alliance.Paul Donovan has continued as an independent producer and director. In May 2004, Michael Donovan formed the Halifax Film Company with all of the former Salter Street employees. In 2006, Halifax Film merged with Decode Entertainment to form DHX Media (now asWildBrain). DHX sold the studio in 2018 to IoM Media Ventures and was rebranded to the Island of Misfits.
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