***Broadcasting of this series begins on Sunday June 18, 2000,***
***by CBC (The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)***

(CBC "Secret Adventures" Link)

"Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, The" (1999)

Production Company: Talisman Crest Ltd (Britain) 
in association with Canada's Filmline International

An adventure series with the premise that many of Jules Verne's most-famous novels were based on actual events he experienced. The first season has the show traveling the globe and landing in Napoleon's Paris, Russia, India, East Africa, Egypt and in the United States during the Civil War.
Jules Verne and his Characters are confronted by the wicked League of Darkness which stalks Europe and the New World in the company of the undead, demons and hostile extra-terrestrials (Thats what one review says!..Andrew).

22 One Hour Episodes Completed

Episodes were shot in Sony's HDCAM(R) format with the Sony HDW-700 High Definition video cameras - making this the first TV series shot specifically with high definition TV in mind ("true HDTV" 1035-interlace format). (The HDW-700 digital widescreen high definition camcorder is a full RGB 2 million-pixel CCD camera with 10-Bit 74.25MHz DSP processing of the RGB video. The camcorder was designed as a one-piece highly mobile and robust field acquisition system. It is supported by the HDW-500 studio VTR with enough versatility for all HD editing and post production demands. The camcorder uses Sony's BCT series HD half-inch metal particle tape. The standard small cassette allows 40-minutes recording in the camcorder. The HDW-500 VTR can record two hours on the standard large cassette)
Pierre de Lespinois, executive producer for Talisman Crest Limited, said, "Using the HDCAM format also allowed us to review scenes immediately, reducing hours of down time, unnecessary re-takes and lag between shooting and content confirmation associated with film production. The immediate peace of mind knowing you got the shot is priceless. "In one instance, we set a stunt man on fire and barely captured the shot. Shooting with film, we could not have known if we had the shot, but reviewing the footage on a monitor nearby, we knew we could dispense with the time, expense and risk of a second take." (source: BUSINESS WIRE 30/08/1999)
Digital visual-effects production and post-production were provided by The Voodoo High-Definition Studio (Voodoo HD), under the direction of Richard Ostiguy and William Kendal.
"Funds for the series came from FlashPoint (UK) and Film Line in Canada and German TV and homevid distributor Helkon Media, and Classic Media Distributors. With a budget of $1.2 million per hour show, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne is an ambitious production that combines period settings, science fiction and special effects, and is gadget-and gizmo-heavy, which appeals to financers and toy manufacturers alike...." (source: VARIETY 04/10/1999 P59)


Full Cast and Crew

(Base information provided by "Internet Movie Database"
and supplemented by research by Andrew Nash)
Creator/Executive Producer
Gavin Scott
Director/Executive Producer
Pierre de Lespinois
Executive Producers
Neil Dunn
Michael Huffington
Richard Jackson
Nicolas Clermont
Co-Producers
Richard Lalonde
Michael Mullally
Co-Executive Producer
David Forrest
Episodes Directed by:
Tom Clegg
Pierre de Lespinois (also Executive Producer)
Eleanor Lindo
David McLeod
Gabriel Pelletier
Mark Roper
Ian Sharp
Jean-Marc Vallée
Main Cast (in alphabetical order)
Michel Courtemanche (Passepartout) 
Chris Demetral (Jules Verne) 
Francesca Hunt  (Rebecca Fogg) 
Michael Praed  (Phileas Fogg)
Additional Cast (in alphabetical order)
Nigel Bennett (Jacombe-Hyde, in episode "The Black Glove of Melchizadek")
Pascale Bussière  (Princess Adrianna)
Caroline Dhavernas (?)
Patrick Duffy (Duke Rimini)
Michael Moriarity (?)
Tracy Scoggins (Commander of the Underground Mole)
Original music by
Nick Glennie-Smith
Cinematography by
Yves Bélanger 
Pierre Gill 
Daniel Villeneuve (Director of Photography) 
      (Personal "Secret Adventures…" Website)
Film Editing by
Jean-François Bergeron 
Yvann Thibaudeau 
Production Design by
Normand Sarazin 
Costume Design by
Ginette Magny 
Makeup Department
Nathalie Trepanier (makeup artist: second unit) 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michelle Benoit (third assistant director) 
Pierre Gill (second unit director) 
Sound Department
Sylvain Arseneault (sound recordist) 
François Grenon (boom operator)
Special Effects
(Pyrotechnic effects by Intrique Productions) 
(Digital effects by IceStorm Digital Studios(a Montreal-based visual effects and post-production company).
Ice Storm Studios is a subsidiary of Flashpoint Ltd. (UK))
Patrick Bergeron (digital compositor) 
Philippe Desiront (digital compositor) 
Meinert Hansen (visual effects design) 
Jacques Levesque (digital compositor) 
Sébastien Moreau (digital compositor / post-effects artist) 
Christian 'NiromX' Morin (assistant digital compositor)
Stunts
Mark Ryan (I) (Swordmaster) 
Other crew
Eric Aubin (second assistant camera) 
René Boisclar (video technician)
Josée Francis (assistant location manager) 
George Jardon (post-production supervisor)
William Kendall (executive director of post-production)
John Poisson (visual effects producer)
I have searched the web (Oct, 1999) and found the following links related to the Digital Television production of:

"The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne"

 Links:
http://www.pubzone.com/pubzone/stories/voodoo_vern.html
http://www.intergraph.com/ics/vpr/1998/jv_rlsf.asp

excellent pictures and series info on these ones:
http://www.aei.ca/~davil/Francais/jvlong.htm
http://www.flashpointuk.com/Layout/TV%20Productions/jules_verne.htm
http://www.cinescape.com/links/tvjulesverner.html
http://www.club-culture.com/cinema/julesver.htm

and episode guides:
http://www.dimensionsf.com/J_Verne.html

Back to Back to Main Page of Jules Verne Collecting Website Collecting Page.

Unless indicated otherwise, Images copyright Andrew Nash 2002, 2000
Interlog version, Updated May 30, 2000