Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures, in a joint venture with Paladin, another Los Angeles-based company, has set up a duo of production support companies in Toronto and Vancouver.

Paramount Paladin in Vancouver and Paramount Production Support in Toronto were established to service the equipment rental needs for productions of Paramount and other Viacom holdings, Showtime and Wilshire Court in Canada.

The Vancouver office, headed by Jay Grandy, has been servicing productions for about five months and the Toronto operation, run by Jan Madlener, has been in operation providing lighting and grip services to productions, including Paramount’s Harriet the Spy, for about six weeks. The company is also reported to be servicing New Regency’s Bogus. Madlener could not comment on other planned productions.

Paramount Producton Support and Paramount Paladin have also established a business arrangement with William F. White, an established equipment supplier with offices in Toronto and Vancouver as well as Alberta and Quebec. The arrangement is such that White is the preferred supplier in situations where Paramount cannot meet all of the equipment needs on a production.

According to Allan Gregg, president of Viacom Canada, Paramount/Viacom, in agreement with Paramount counsel has decided to put the entity up for Investment Canada review.

Gregg says that while it is arguable whether the companycan be deemed a cultural industry, and therefore reviewable, a formal application for review is being made ‘to make sure we’re not offside in any way.’

‘If the business is decided to be non-reviewable, we will be a viable business where we would seek customers and market share just like any other Canadian company,’ said Gregg.

‘Part of Viacom’s mandate is to get a larger global penetration of all its assets across the globe,’ he says.

Gregg says that Paramount counsel is of the opinion that the business is likely to be non-reviewable. However, if the operation is reviewable, ‘we’ll live with whatever undertakings we agree to in terms of its operation,’ says Gregg.

He also says that there are no plans to officially acquire another existing production services operation.

A source at PS Production Services says Paramount Paladin took over two Viacom productions formerly handled in Vancouver by ps.