Saskatchewan - Some top-shelf talent has been tapped for the Minds Eye Entertainment mini-series The Englishman's Boy, which began shooting on July 31 for CBC.

The 2 x 120 - based on the Governor General Award-winning novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, who also wrote the script - has attracted the likes of Michael Therriault (Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story), Remy Girard (The Barbarian Invasions), Don McKellar (Childstar), Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci's City Hall), R.H. Thomson (Human Cargo), and newcomer Michael Eisner, who appears in the titular role. John N. Smith (Prairie Giant) is helming.

"I think it's the whole package that has attracted [the players]," says producer Kevin DeWalt. "It's the book, which has sold almost a million copies worldwide, it's the director, and I would hope that Minds Eye is somewhat known out there. When you add all of that together with CBC as our broadcast partner, we seem to have attracted a who's who."

The $11.5-million project - with parallel stories taking place in 1920s Hollywood and 1870s Montana - was greenlit in January, just before the CBC's regime change and move away from "big ticket" dramas. DeWalt says the Ceeb has remained supportive of the mini, to be delivered in the spring.

Funding for Boy is from CBC, CTF, tax credits and worldwide distribution through Minds Eye International, which may be replaced by a deal with an outside distrib at some point during production. The shoot should last about three months, says DeWalt, and will take place entirely in Saskatchewan.