Most would agree, I think, that 1995 has been a year of contradiction in commercial production. Feast or famine – which makes it pretty typical.

We’ve had a month or two when it seemed the whole agency creative community had taken a sabbatical (together probably), and then we have had some when it seemed everyone was shooting in the same three- or four-week period, putting an incredible strain on the top freelance/supplier infrastructure that we depend on so much to be there for us any day out of 365.

The late summer was typical of this, certainly in Toronto and Vancouver, where the resourcefulness of many a production manager was tested to their utmost limits. Montreal, too, enjoyed something of a pre-Referendum rush, possibly due to last-minute scrambling and monetary fears, boosted by the odd ‘meaty federalist bone’ for those agencies with government accounts.

And then, the Referendum in Quebec was not the only one that kept us speculating. Would Don McLean succeed in his attempt to buy out the Labatt/Interbrew interest in The Partners’ Film Company – Yes or No? Turns out he did, and I suspect a lot saw that as a positive thing for the industry at large; speculating that the bottom line would take on a different meaning for Partners’, and then the competition could loosen the rope around their necks a little.

Some too thought there might be a stampede of talent out of the Partners’ corral. But it seems Don has been successful in keeping the gates shut so far, and I can assure you that markups have definitely not returned to the 30% range!

So has anything changed? It’s still early days. There is a sense that the load has been spread a tad more evenly around, but I think that started a couple of years back when companies like Avion opened their doors.

But look out for one thing. The wolves are circling, and they have u.s. bucks in their wallets. If there was ever a reason for having ‘big-business interest’ in a relatively small commercial production industry, it was that it kept outside competition at bay. There was no way they wanted to play on the unlevel playing field that some of us had become accustomed to.

Now, however, the Canadian dollar is getting increasingly tiresome for some of them, fostering the ‘If you can’t beat it, join it’ thinking; and as importantly, Canadian creative continues to excel, providing the wonderful nursery bed that it does for their directors.

So more international producers and directors have sought to forge alliances and partnerships with Canadian companies, or locate their production here. This would certainly bode well for suppliers and subcontractors.

Rumor has it that during the first week of October, there were 10 different productions working out of the Pacific Palisades Hotel in Vancouver! Seven of them were foreign. Yup! Thanks to our dollar, good production support, and oh hey, thanks too to the ubcp. (Has actra woken up to smell the canola?)

But overall, what has 1995 meant to the Canadian production and editorial post-production companies?

My suspicion is that they are not necessarily doing as well as they appear. They might claim to have been busy, and perhaps they have. On and off. Chances are, though, that several of them have been making deals to split fees or markups that any accountant would call crazy, and as we all know, the rub-off from reduced margins is less funds for r&d, new talent development or new equipment.

However, technology continues to propagate and blossom in the post-production services sector, as does the talent that evolves with it. But if Flame is passe, Inferno new, is Hell next?

The temptation to use these kinds of tools has become irresistible, and more and more production dollars are ending up in the post supplier’s pocket, 25% more since 1992, according to Lesley Parrott’s survey (Playback, Nov. 6).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitter, just concerned. No one would have a problem if clients’ production budgets were increasing proportionately, but from where I sit, I don’t see that.

So the squeeze gets tighter, and the net result has been a proliferation, for some companies, of longer shooting days, as two-day shoots get packed into one 24-hour period.

This has led to reduced earnings for directors and producers alike. Cameramen and technicians, too, face the choice of less income, or regular domestic conflict combined with exhaustion. The grumbling starts, and then comes the demand for rate increases. In a vicious circle, the squeeze gets even tighter, and I fear it is a continuing trend.

But if Canadian clients did not open up their cheque books in 1995, they did open up to more dynamic and entertaining creative. Whether it was from the need to cut through the sheer clutter of programming choice, or more progressive thinking at the agencies (and I think both), we’ve seen some great boards, and some great spots got produced this year. Too bad my company didn’t do them all.

humphrey carter is executive producer at Derek Van Lint and Associated, Toronto.