Vancouver: u.s. film veteran Larry Sugar has joined the employment roster at The Vidatron Group's entertainment division in Vancouver.

Sugar - who has 25 years' experience in the feature film and television industry and has relocated to Vancouver - will assist in the development and financing of feature film and television projects and the expansion of Vidatron's international distribution presence. Sugar will also be instrumental in establishing the Vancouver Stock Exchange-traded company's new film studio.

According to Vidatron president Tim Gamble, Sugar started his career as an entertainment lawyer with Twentieth Century Fox, went on to finance, produce and/or distribute 200 feature films, cofounded the American Film Market and, most recently, worked on the family-film series Contemporary Classics. Sugar has held high-profile jobs at Republic Pictures, cbs, Weintraub Entertainment Group and Lorimar International.

Vidatron is cofunding The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc., a feature-length family film before cameras in Vancouver and destined for the Showtime television network this fall.

The fourth installment of Sugar's Contemporary Classics, Zenda is a new version of the classic novel Prisoner of Zenda and features a young boy who inherits a computer company and is kidnapped by an evil uncle.

The series is produced by Sugar Entertainment for financial partners Showtime and Hallmark Entertainment. Vidatron will own the Canadian rights.