Symposium ’94: At Warped Speed

At Warp Speed, the Star Trek-inspired banner for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Symposium ’94, proved an appropriate moniker: American ‘Big Time’ was all too common at the three-day forum. Aside from a pitching workshop and two new-media sessions, Canadian producers complained there was no real news and too many lofty, big-buck ideals from our friends to the south.

The opening address featured Jeff Berg, head of International Creative Management, the mega American talent agency with 150 agents and many of the biggest Hollywood names on its client list. With attendance of agents at the festival on the increase (seven or eight icm reps at the fest this year), Berg’s presence was not altogether a surprise.

Berg said Toronto the ‘cultural center now has the opportunity to become a (film and tv) trade center,’ but did not elaborate on how to do it. He also advised Canadian filmmakers to ‘find a way to examine what could be a coherent export program,’ and then let the ball stop there.

Berg emphasized content over both carrier and technological means for motoring on the infobahn. He said the overriding threat of the looming ‘technological scramble’ is a loss of quality concepts and suggested independent producers assist new carriers such as telcos with programming content. PC

Key notes: the minister and the mogul

day two’s keynote address was a double-header, with Canadian Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy first up to bat.

Dupuy came with good news for arts and culture groups which had protested crtc approval of the Bravo! and Arts et Divertissement specialty channels earlier this summer: a task force has been established to review alternative programming services.

Members of the six-person task force include Louise Baillargeon, president of l’Association des producteurs de film et de television du Quebec, Keith Kelly of the Canadian Conference on the Arts, and Allan King, president of the Directors Guild of Canada.

In his address, Dupuy hinted at a public review of regulations for direct-to-home satellite distribution. He later made it official. ‘We must be certain that the relationship between cultural products and technological change remains consistent with the spirit and objectives of the Broadcasting Act,’ he said.

Dupuy also said a number of film and tv-related reports will ‘soon’ be released: the much-anticipated secor review of the National Film Board and Telefilm Canada, a study on fiscal measures designed to attract investment in the Canadian film industry, and a report on suggested changes to the Copyright Act, which should be at the draft stage this fall.

Turning to the matter of Viacom’s buyout of Paramount, currently under review by Investment Canada, Dupuy said negotiations are taking place between his office and the u.s. media conglomerate. The Viacom decision, he said, requires a cultural as well as a financial assessment.

Daniel Johnson, executive director of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exhibitors, reminded Dupuy of his January pledge to Canadian producers that he would not ‘rest in peace’ as long as screen time for Canadian productions remains at the 3% level.

Johnson wanted to know if the crtc is looking at applying Broadcasting Act quota regulations to the big screen.

Dupuy replied he has three options: to negotiate with major American companies ‘to make progress’ (as with Viacom), to negotiate ‘with other foreign interests,’ or to legislate.

Showtime ceo Tony Cox, who has a vested interest in Toronto’s production community (namely a $50 million slate of mows to be shot here), focused his keynote address on the info highway and product.

According to Cox, there is room in the 500-channel universe for brand networks and monthly subscription services.

He sounded a warning that the value of feature films will decline in the face of video-on-demand and pay-per-view. The alternative, he told producers, is to produce original product because it is cheaper than licensing the top-notch features and diminishes dependence on ‘over-exposed studio product.’ PC

Can-Mex, a spicy combo

when Canadian and Mexican producers got together at the Canada-Mexico session to discuss the pros and cons of cross-border productions, an exchange of promotion from the south and complaints from the north took place.

While Canadian producers agreed there are bonuses to shooting in Mexico (the value of the peso, good crews), they were quick to note the problems: antiquated communications systems, harsh union stipulations and bureaucratic delays.

Producer Jorge Sanchez (who offered a hurried case study of the Can-Mex coproduction The Garden of Eden) said all that’s needed in order to overcome these problems is a good partner in Mexico.

On average, Mexico produces 70 films a year. It has six national channels, two national cable companies, two educational channels, and about 50 local cable companies.

The Mexican Institute of Cinematography (imcine), a funding agency that’s closer to the National Film Board model than Telefilm Canada, has three funds, one of which will finance up to 35% of a coproduction.

There are no distribution regulations in the Canada-Mexico coproduction treaty outside of a standing rule that says a Canadian distributor must handle distribution in Canada. Mexico has no measures equivalent to Cancon.

Ignacio Duran Loera, head of imcine, advised Canadian producers ‘to kill the notion of making a big feature on a low budget’ by shooting in Mexico.

Peter Katadotis, interim head of Telefilm, said there is discussion underway on many Canada/ Mexico feature film coproductions to be shot in Canada (one of which is Telefilm-supported) and he hopes to see more television coproductions.

‘In order for this treaty to work, we require reciprocity. So we want to see some Canadian majorities with Mexican investment,’ said Katadotis.

Michael Hirsh, chairman of Nelvana, said the Toronto-based producer, which has an international sales agent in Mexico City, is ‘tentatively’ looking at Mexico for coproductions. PC

Stock exchanges

the Public Eye, a session on the process of going public, was hushed on public companies’ private strategies and policies. Nevertheless, general advice poured forth from panelists Micheline Charest, ceo of Cinar; Jay Firestone, vice-chairman of Alliance Communications; Michael MacMillan, Atlantis ceo; Charles Falzon, president of Catalyst; Stephen Takacsy, Malofilm vice-president of finance; Michael Hirsh, chairman of Nelvana; and Jon Slan, ceo of Paragon.

Key points to getting a public company running smoothly are a solid management structure, conservative revenue projections and careful management of growth, they said.

The panelists agreed that product is everything, whether it’s Cancon, international merchandising-based or not. Hirsh, MacMillan, Charest and Firestone spoke of the need to compete in the international marketplace with a wealth of material.

MacMillan suggested that in the next round of free trade talks with the u.s., the Americans might play hard ball with Canada because of the success of some Canadian productions. He advised Canadian producers and production companies ‘to create strong entities that will compete head to head’ with the u.s.

Independent producers in the audience expressed concern that the public companies will become self-supplied.

MacMillan responded that Atlantis depends on independents because it is ‘not capable of producing enough interesting projects’ on its own.

Firestone said government incentives are an essential part of remaining committed to producing Canadian product. American studios, he said, ‘have raped the system. We wouldn’t want to become one of them.’

In closing, moderator and RBC Dominion Securities analyst David Dvorchik of Montreal gave a resounding thumbs-up to the public companies, saying, ‘The industry appears to be very well-placed for a good future.’ PC

All roads lead to ROM

rom Wasn’t Built in a Day was another panel that turned into a bit of a which-horse dilemma for producers who are seeking access to the burgeoning and increasingly sophisticated cd-rom arena.

The Americans on the panel – moderator Stewart Bonn, who heads up Electronic Arts’ newest production group, Advanced Entertainment; Sony Imagesoft’s senior producer, Mary Ann Norris; and Propaganda CODE executive producer Jonathan Wiedemann – discussed the game market, while the Canadians – John Lowry, chair and ceo of Discis Knowledge Research, and former Apple Software Development Group manager Richard Wah Kan – pitched the advantages of the educational pc-platform market.

While the new 32-bit entertainment systems (such as 3DO) have finally provided a viable publishing platform for film producers to introduce their product in a different media, the rigors of this increasingly competitive market could discourage them.

Norris and Wiedemann are producing the Johnny Mnemonic interactive title scheduled to launch early next year. Said to be unlike anything ever done before, the title took slightly less than a year and $2 million to produce. Achieving the non-linear vision, with its numerous directional story options, entailed creating a 120-page script.

Wiedemann said the creative challenge with interactivity is maintaining the story line and music coherence when the audience has the power to leap about through time and space. In the case of Johnny Mnemonic, it also meant independently shooting a completely different production – different actors, props, costumes, scripts, etc. Which left producers in the audience wondering why bother acquiring rights to a film property if the production process is so incompatible.

While there was room in the traditional cd market for non-licensed product, heightened competition has resulted in a battle for shelf space, and producers will need something to boost title recognition.

Panelists from Discis said the pc-based platforms installed base, currently 10 million in North America, has greater penetration potential and will exceed the combined cartridge base by 1995/96.

Discis is now expanding from book publishing into alliances with film and tv producers. One of Discis’ newest products, Jewels of the Oracle, an educational game, cost a few hundred thousand dollars and took eight people nine months to produce.

While Jewels of the Oracle is unlike the full-motion, live-action Johnny Mnemonic, Lowry pointed out there’s a lot less risk and expense involved in producing a cd-rom for the Mac-and pc-base platform. And, he added, the non-violent ‘edutainment’ titles that typically retail for less than the cartridge titles, win the hearts of educators and parents.

Lowry warned producers keen on the cd-rom market not to deviate from their paths and not to work for hire. MM

Test-imonials to audience research

testing 1 2 3 was sparsely attended, not surprising said moderator Kevin Tierney of Les Productions la Fete, Montreal, since ‘they put us up against the best party of the festival.’

While the market-testing savvy of experts such as panel member Joel Roodman, vice-president market development for Miramax Films, was of keen interest to Canadian producers in the audience, the reality of scale for Canadian feature film budgets and releases made a lot of this dead-accurate audience-mining a cunning but moot point.

According to Terry Rushbrook, director of research for the Media Consulting Group, Toronto, the price tag for a single professional audience research test in a single market is $8,000 to $10,000.

While perhaps less forensic, the informal testing, as outlined by producer Christine Vachon, seemed to strike a chord with many in the audience. As did the u.k. experiences of British Film Institute production head Ben Gibson, a member of the executive committee of the European Film Distribution Office. Informal testing with a target audience (no friends, please) just before the fine cut is the way to go, he said.

Gibson said testing is being done both informally and formally in the u.k. One thing that’s being looked at is how audiences in different European countries relate (efdo has funding to get films to cross ec borders).

Gibson said the big question in testing is, ‘What are you going to do after that?’ He pointed out that low-budget films often can’t afford to redo the score, etc., and that in the middle level, while the money may be there for revisions, delivery is typically tight, making a reshoot almost impossible. Gibson did point out that the digital non-linear editing tools have freed up a lot of the ‘what if?’

If it’s a question of reaching the right audience, Gibson said improvements in screenwriting at the concept stage have decreased the ‘get to the story’ gap. MM

Licences to print money?

the Beyond the Box Office panel featured some pretty big players in the licensing arena: Walt Disney’s Jim Rayburn, The Brockum Group president Norman Perry (whose clients include the Rolling Stones), Viacom Consumer Products general manager Nancy Bassett, Nelvana creative director Kim Cleary, and Heather Mitchell, a lawyer for Breakthrough Films. Lawyer Robert MacFarlane moderated.

If you’re interested in licensing, get used to dealing with lots of lawyers, and maybe even the rcmp, the audience discovered. Rayburn, vice-president and general manager of Disney Canada, spends a lot of time seizing tractor trailer loads of contraband Mickey Mouse merchandise.

Timing is key. You have to be working preproduction to make sure the merchandise will be on the shelves prior to a film’s launch to take advantage of premium tie-ins (there were 28 tie-in programs across Canada for the Lion King launch).

Mitchell’s advice for wannabe licensers: ‘Get on tv first.’ She said Breakthrough’s success in attracting a swarm of licence suitors to Dudley the Dragon was a matter of ‘persistence, timing and luck.’ MM