THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240278
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 52 lines
New Dominion Pictures Inc., the Beach-based producer of TV documentary series, is branching into a new field: drama.
The company's president and majority owner, Tom Naughton, said in an interview Monday that New Dominion recently signed an agreement to co-produce a dramatic anthology series called ``Ghost Stories'' that will be syndicated internationally next year.
``It's a big step for us. It's something we haven't done before,'' Naughton said of the agreement with Santa Monica, Calif.-based All American Television Inc., makers of the internationally syndicated drama ``Baywatch.''
``It's either grow or quit,'' he said. ``There's nothing in between.''
The workload involved with the series and with three other shows New Dominion is producing for cable TV is forcing the company to relocate. It is leaving quarters in an Oceanfront branch of Crestar Bank for a bigger building in the Oceana West Corporate Park.
New Dominion plans to move into the 12,000-square-foot former Furmanite America Inc. building in December. It has an option to purchase the building, as well as a planned 10,000-square-foot addition that will include a small soundproof stage. Naughton said New Dominion's work force, now 28, will grow to about 35 by April 1 as it swings into full production of ``Ghost Stories.'' In addition, he said, the series will employ dozens of other locals in acting and off-screen jobs.
Most of the series' filming and all of its post-production work will be done in Hampton Roads, he said. The plan is for 22 one-hour shows in the series' first season.
``Ghost Stories'' isn't 100 percent assured, he said, noting that the series hasn't been aggressively pitched yet to critical buyers of syndicated programming. But given All American's success with ``Baywatch,'' particularly overseas, where it is the highest-rated show in some countries, Naughton said he is highly confident.
New Dominion's first series, ``Archaeology,'' premiered in 1992 and ran four years on The Learning Channel. That led to several other series for that channel and its sister cable network, The Discovery Channel. This year, New Dominion is producing 13 half-hour episodes of ``The Quest,'' about scientists' search for answers to strange phenomena, for The Learning Channel. It is also making 13 one-hour episodes of ``The New Detectives,'' based on the effort of forensics experts to solve murders and other mysteries, for The Discovery Channel.
And Naughton said his company is producing four one-hour shows on dinosaurs for another cable network that he declined to name. If the company's current growth rate continues, New Dominion's revenues could hit $16 million next year, he said. by CNB