Northern exposure

Nine Canadian film commissions will be heading to ShowBiz Expo in New York Jan. 6-8 to try to woo more production north. Commissions from b.c., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will all attend.

According to Gail Thomson, executive co-ordinator location promotion and services at the ofdc, financing of the individual booths is being sponsored by Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

‘It’s the second year out for us,’ says Thomson, referring to Canadian partipation at Showbiz Expo. ‘We are committed in the short term to seeing if the show is going to work for us, and you can’t tell that by going once. If the audience we want to reach is not being drawn to it, we will reconsider,’ she says.

The commissions are focusing on the commercial production sector, broadcasters such as hbo which are based in New York, and some feature film companies such as Tribeca.