Big Chill in Hollywood North

Toronto's film industry still not out of its slump
But less interest by U.S. could be boon to independents

Charles Mitchell

A vacant lot in the Portlands has become a wasteland of discarded soda bottles, crumbled newspapers and unrealized potential.

Next year, at this site on the corner of Commissioners St. and the Don Roadway, ground will be broken on a new 550,000 square foot, $175 million, state-of-the-art film/television studio, a development many hope will revive Toronto's ailing movie and television business.

"There is no question a large production that needs multiple stages is at a disadvantage with the facilities that [Toronto] has now," said Ken Ferguson, president and general manager of Toronto Film Studios.

One of those whose future may hinge on the success of the construction is Chèrie Ouellet, an actor who has been working steadily in Toronto. Over the past few years, Ouellet has seen her level of auditions and jobs go from a boom in the late 1990s to a low point during the SARS crisis in 2003.

"I think (SARS) definitely had a huge effect on the film industry, but I think it's more or less like a volcano on top of the rumbling - like the rumbling of problems start but when the volcano erupts that's when you get the attention. I think SARS was the icing on the cake."

In 2004, the City of Toronto reported that Canadian film/TV production in the city has stagnated over the past five years. In 1999, the value of domestic production in the city hit $392.1 million and, in 2003, that figure inched up just slightly, to $392.2 million. U.S. projects coming into the city have seen a precipitous drop from a peak of $566.9 million in 2001 to just $333.3 million last year.

Figures like these worry Brian Topp, executive director of the Toronto branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and Film Ontario co-chair. Like Ouellet, Topp said the growth in the industry stalled for the past few years before hitting a low point with SARS in 2003. There doesn't appear to be any recovery from the slump, he said.

"When Paul Martin was finance minister he changed the rules of the game that made it a lot less attractive to put capital into this industry," Topp said.

In 1997, then finance minister Paul Martin eliminated the federal film production services tax shelters. Critics like Topp blame these changes for making Canada less competitive, enabling foreign countries to lure film and television projects away from the GTA.

A couple of years later, in 1999, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission relaxed Canadian content rules. The regulatory body changed the definition of what constitutes Canadian stories and programming, halting the growth of dramatic domestic projects, Topp said.

Then, toward the end of the 1990s, provinces with more lucrative provincial tax credits started to compete for productions. Although the McGuinty provincial government has promised changes, all other Canadian provinces have more lucrative provincial tax credits than Ontario does. As a result, toward the end of the 1990s, jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia and British Columbia started to compete for productions.

In addition, there was also the collapse of movie-of-the-week business as U.S. networks focused on inexpensive, reality-based programming.

In the wake of all this adversity, Topp points to the rising Canadian dollar for making U.S. production in Hollywood North additionally unattractive.

"So you had a perfect storm gathering around the Toronto film industry, so if you really look over the last four or five years the miracle is we were able to hold our volumes in the face of those circumstances," said Topp.

Another problem is that in recent years U.S. writer and producer guilds have protested against "runaway productions," a term used to describe Hollywood film and TV projects that leave the country for such places as Canada. As a result, some American cities have started becoming more friendly to film and television productions. Recently, Mel Brooks opted to shoot the big-screen version of The Producers in New York City rather than in Toronto.

Nevertheless, Topp said he does not feel the runaway production campaign has had much effect on U.S movie and television endeavours in Toronto, saying location decisions usually come down to money.

"At end of the day, film locations are strictly bottom line driven decisions," Topp said.

Deputy Mayor Mike Feldman agrees the film trade here is in a slump but said he believes business is already rebounding.

"I do have faith that the industry will be coming back and coming back strong," said Feldman, who is a member of the Economic Development and Parks Committee and the Film Liaison Committee.

Whether the industry bounces back or not, some experts see a silver lining in the current situation. Charles Zamaria, a television and radio arts professor at Ryerson University, said the present state of affairs creates a great prospect for the independent Canadian producer, because lack of U.S. competition means lower costs for facilities and crews.

"So, for the independent producer in Canada, they may have more opportunity than they had before," Zamaria said.

One of those independent producers is James Johnson. Two years ago, Johnson graduated from university determined to start his own production company. While working for a talent agency, he came across a precocious little boy named Daniel Cook whom he felt should be starring in his own TV show instead of auditioning for commercial work. After bringing aboard a couple of former classmates, Johnson formed Sinking Ship Productions.

"It was hard to keep convincing people that this is gonna work, that this is gonna be wonderful, but once we started production it just exploded," Johnson, 24, said.

It was initially difficult to acquire funding, Johnson said, but once the pilot was shot the production company had immediate interest.

Those networks however, wanted experienced producers, so Sinking Ship partnered with Toronto-based Marblemedia and now its show - a reality-based kids program called This is Daniel Cook - is broadcast on Treehouse and will debut on TVO in the fall of 2005. The series has also piqued plenty of interest south of the border.

Another independent producer and actor who is vying for that kind of success is Steve van Diest, 24, who formed Tiburon Films several years ago. Like others like him, he works part-time outside the industry to pay the bills and is concerned about the future of the performers in the acting trade.

"I'm extremely worried. It's very difficult. You can't pursue this career for a long time and you keep getting kicked down and, after a while, you try something new and jump into a new industry. But if enough people do that, though, it might be hard to keep the art going," van Diest said.

© 2004. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or republished or redistributed without the prior written consent of the copyright holder.

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