Norflicks Productions Ltd. - Corporate Profile
Norflicks has been a successful independent Canadian television production company since its incorporation in 1985. Led by its president and founder, Richard Nielsen, Norflicks has earned a reputation for creating high quality, entertaining television. Richard was President and CEO of Nielsen-Ferns International from 1972 to 1980, and Chairman of Primedia Productions from 1980 to 1985. During his career, Richard has won three Anik awards for best Canadian television program of the year. With Nielsen-Ferns, he produced, among others, A Third Testament for Time-Life Films and the BBC; The Newcomers/Les Arrivants, the Irish episode of which was nominated for an Emmy; and The Wars, a feature film which won three Genie Awards.
Norflicks’ co-production with Germany , Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace, a television feature for PBS and Citytv, won the Golden Nymphe Award for Best Television Movie at the 2000 Monte Carlo Film Festival. Norflicks has also produced two other MOWs, Balls Up! (in 1998), starring Brent Carver, Albert Schultz and Torri Higginson, and Labour of Love, starring Maury Chaykin. Norflicks’ very first production was the highly acclaimed dramatic children’s series, The Little Vampire (1985), a co-production with Polyphon of Germany and Southern TV of the UK , which became a ratings hit worldwide. The company also brought Rod Beattie’s highly successful one-man play to television (CBC) in the half-hour comedy series, Wingfield (1998 - 2001).
Norflicks’ war documentaries have won popular and critical acclaim around the world. This is perhaps most evident with the success of No Price Too High (1995), a six-part series chronicling Canada’s involvement in the Second World War, which has aired on Bravo!, Canal D, PBS and History Channel (UK), and was featured in CBC’s 1998 tribute to World War II, Canada Remembers, along with another Norflicks’ documentary, Battle Diary: A Day in the Life of Charlie Martin. In 1999, Norflicks produced the three-part series, Far From Home: Canada and the Great War, which has been broadcast on Bravo! and CBC. Norflicks also produced Remembrance: Memorial to an Unknown Soldier, a one-hour documentary honouring Canadians who fought in the major wars of the 20th century and have no known graves. The five-part documentary series, Seapower to Superpower (2001), for History Television and the Discovery Channel (Canada and Europe), examines how the quest for control of the world’s oceans has been the most important military reality of the past 400 years. Test of Will: Canada in Korea (2002) for History Television and Bravo!, completes the Norflicks trilogy on Canada at war. In 2006, Norflicks produced The Saviour of Ceylon, the story of Leonard Birchall, a Canadian Squadron leader who was shot down by the Japanese in the Indian Ocean, and was dubbed "the saviour of Ceylon " by Winston Churchill for his actions.
The company has also made its mark in the world of religious programming with programs such as an hour-long film for RKO on the Poverty Pilgrimage instituted by Pope John Paul I, and An Ark for Our Time and Images of Love, Words of Hope (1988), as well as Knowing Eternity, 25 1/2 hour programs on the Gospel of John (Knowing Eternity; Knowing Ourselves; and Experiencing the Mystical), which feature Jean Vanier, one of the world’s most respected religious figures, and the founder of L'Arche Communities.
In addition to its strengths in the areas of drama, war documentary and faith-based programming, Norflicks is widely known for making programs that bring Canadian history to life. In 2000, Norflicks produced People’s Poet: New Brunswick’s Alden Nowlan, a documentary on one of the country’s greatest literary talents who rose from the poverty of rural Atlantic Canada to win acclaim across North America, for Vision TV, Access TV/Canadian Learning Television and Bravo!. Norflicks is also expanding into new media, having co-produced a CD-ROM version of No Price Too High with City Interactive in 1998 and having recently developed a new educational web site with Telefilm Canada called Online from the Great War. With many projects currently in development, including Hitler's German Foes, the story of the Sudeten Germans who fled the Czech Republic during WWII and eventually ended up in Canada , Norflicks is continuing its success and building on its reputation as one of Canada ’s foremost independent production companies.