Paul Donovan (filmmaker)

Paul Donovan is a Canadian television and film writer, director and producer best known as the creator of the science-fiction TV series, LEXX. He co-founded Salter Street Films (SSF) with his brother Michael Donovan.

Donovan was born in Canada on June 26, 1954. He grew up interested in science and film, and earned a B.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University, and graduated from London Film School. The IMDb credits South Pacific 1942 as the first film he directed, and in 1983 the Donovan brothers founded Salter Street Films, a television and film production company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Salter Street Films was named after the street in Halifax where Michael had been living.

The company began life with early problems. Its first major feature film was Def-Con 4 (1985) which eventually became profitable, but other pictures such as George's Island (1989), Buried on Sunday (1992) and Paint Cans (1994), though critically acclaimed, were money-losers. They also produced A Switch in Time, but the distributor's title change to Norman's Awesome Experience made the unique time travel comedy, in which language barrier is fundamental to the story, sound like a knockoff of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, as both films were released in 1989. The company's salvation turned out to be the science fiction series Lexx, which was a hit in Germany, Russia and Eastern Europe. This Canadian-German co-production went on to become a lucrative money-maker through international sales and was one of the first shows to develop a cult following almost exclusively through the Internet. Fans of Lexx nicknamed Donovan and the show's other main writers, Lex Gigeroff and Jeffrey Hirschfield, "The Supreme Beans".

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