Kydd wades into Falcon Beach role
Nova Scotian stars in O.C.- like drama

YOU'VE JUST shovelled the driveway for the third time today, so what better way to relax than by checking your brain at the front door and dreaming about summer?

That's what the producers of Falcon Beach are hoping you do this weekend. The two-hour Canadian production will premiere Saturday at 8 p.m. on Global.

ACTRA Maritimes member Jennifer Kydd and Steve Byers on the set of Falcon Beach.

The Falcon Beach crew got to stay practically on location while the cast was put up nearby during the shooting week.

'On the weekends, we were in Winnipeg, and during the week we stayed in this town called Gimli,' Kydd said. 'We were slightly isolated, which was interesting, but we got along so well with each other anyway that we were our own company. It was nice to be in that beach kind of town, but we didn't really get to take advantage of it.'

Given the number of characters in their late teens and early 20s, parents who may not be as squeaky clean as they first appear, and a cool soundtrack comprised of Canadian stars such as Sloan and Sam Roberts, Falcon Beach is going to get plenty of comparisons to The O.C., the clever Fox drama that has parlayed its built-in youth appeal to a wider viewership.

Kydd said the show's creators were coincidentally tuned in to the same wavelength as those other guys. 'Apparently they came up with it before The O.C. even aired and then The O.C. came out and they're like, 'Damn it!' '

'It's good because in Canada we don't really showcase summer. We have it but we kind of forget. It's easy to forget, but it's nice to have a show that's about Canada in the summer,' she said.

'And it's kind of for an audience that Canada doesn't really have anything for right now. There are in-between shows - shows for a bit older and maybe for a bit younger.'

Originally from Head of St. Margarets Bay, Kydd has been in an episode of the Billy Ray Cyrus series Doc as well as Zoe Busiek: Wild Card. She's also had parts in the television movies Martha Inc. and Heart of a Stranger.

With her career still in the early stage, she said she doesn't want to reveal her age because she thinks some casting directors may not consider her for certain parts. 'With my voice, I can play older, but I look younger than I am. It gives me a wider range.'

Falcon Beach, a co-production of Manitoba-based Original Pictures and Toronto-based Insight Productions, is part of the Global Labs, a new Global Television initiative designed to develop shows. While the end of the movie may sew up a plot strand or two, there are plenty of loose ends that could be explored in a future series.

Kydd's hoping they get the go-ahead.

'I don't know how much of it is actually what everybody thinks versus funding, because we're in Canada. I don't really know how that works,' she said. 'I know that they find out in May. I'm sure, obviously, if there's a really good feel about it, it obviously helps. We'll just keep our fingers crossed, I guess, because they are great people to work with, so it would be awesome to do it again.'

'It was really fun - great crew, great producers and director and the cast, of course, we got along awesome. We hung out 24/7.'