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Here's the article from the Yellowknife newspaper. Buffalo Airways operates many DC-3s, DC-4s, C-46s, and L188s, as well as many smaller types all over Canada's north.
Airline focus of reality show pilot
Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, February 22, 2008
YELLOWKNIFE - After viewers worldwide tuned in to Ice Road Truckers, a series filmed in and around Yellowknife, the NWT has become a lot more interesting to film and television producers.
The latest attempt at getting the Northern city on TV is a project by Omni Films, a film company out of Vancouver. Last week, director Lionel Goddard was in Yellowknife at Buffalo Airways filming the pilot episode that, if successful, will turn into a series about the airline.
Lionel Goddard of Omni Films shoots footage of mechanic Curtis Dyson at Buffalo Airways on Wednesday. - Laura Power/NNSL photo
Mikey McBryan of Buffalo Airways said the series is expected to have the same tone as a show like American Chopper, and will be geared towards an American audience.
"We got the exact dynamic here, like it's eerie how close it is," he said.
Buffalo Airlines, which flies regularly between several towns within the NWT, uses older, rare airplanes such as DC-3s and DC-4s, which McBryan said are "basically obsolete except for in Alaska and Northern temperatures."
The vintage 1940s aircraft fly better in lower temperatures, making it possible for the Northern airline to fly low in the territory. Though they are of interest to many people, McBryan said the filmmakers want to concentrate on the people at the airline.
"They're interested in the people, like the physical people who actually have the guts and the ability and the drive to actually operate these aircrafts," he said.
Goddard, after spending some time filming last week, said the characters of the airline employees - who come from all over - will make people want to watch the show.
"We think that once people meet the crew of this airline they'll just fall in love with it like we have," he said.
He also said the program will be able to teach Canadians about what goes on in the North.
"People have no idea what type of work is going on here," he said. "The rest of the country has become a very safe and secure world but up here, life still happens."
Now that the pilot episode is being produced, the next step is to get broadcasters in both the US and Canada interested in the show, said Goddard. But he predicted that the show will be "an easy sell."
"We think it's got all the ingredients of an exciting series," he said.
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well with the public, too, because of the dangerous nature of the profession (and we know how the public loves to watch dangerous stuff on TV). Reality shows are the rage right now, which might also help.
