According to leaks regarding the provincial budget, tabled as this paper goes to press Feb. 22, the Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation (ampdc) will not receive a requested $2 million in funding as the government severs its financial ties to the body after bestowing a final $300,000 for operating expenses.

Against the backdrop of the provincial government’s efforts to leave the business of being in business, the Alberta industry had been developing a privatization plan for the AMPDC, with a year of transition in 1996/97 where the government would contribute $2 million to fund the corporation while private investors were sought.

The ampdc contributed about $1.8 million to Alberta film projects last calendar year. As of this year, the ampdc had committed all but about $800,000 of its original fund. Anticipated lack of further support for the corporation or the privatization plan is viewed as tantamount to shutdown of the 15 -year-old entity.

‘How does a disaster of biblical proportions sound?’ says Josh Miller, vp of development for Regina’s Minds Eye Films, of the implications of the reported budget contents. Minds Eye operates an office out of Edmonton and in a Feb. 13 letter to Alberta premier Ralph Klein, Miller says Minds Eye had two projects on the slate for production in Alberta in 1996, Amazing Stories Studio, a half-hour children’s series and a tv movie, with combined budgets of $5.7 million. Without the backing of the ampdc, Miller says the projects ‘will not come to pass.’

‘Finds it odd’

Miller says he ‘finds it odd’ that the government is seemingly ignoring the plan. ‘As I understood it, it was developed in consultation with the economic development ministry on board. Our sense of it is that it was killed by Treasury.’ He also points to the migration of Ontario film projects to Saskatchewan in the wake of ofdc funding freezes last year, citing last year’s productions cbc/bbc movie Lyddie and youth series On My Mind, and the upcoming tv projects The Arrow and Broncos as examples. The value of the erstwhile Ontario projects totals $14.7 million.

John Taylor, vp operations at Telefilm’s Vancouver office says he was shocked by developments and says the disappearance of ampdc funding would remove an incentive for production in the province. ‘An ampdc investment is smaller than that from Telefilm but it’s an important piece of money in that it has a levering role in terms of putting all the pieces together,’ says Taylor. ‘If it’s not there my feeling is that productions would move to other provinces.’

Producer Andy Thomson, head of Edmonton’s Great North Productions, has said that Nelvana-co-produced series Jake and the Kid would relocate if the ampdc disappeared and stresses the long-term ramifications of the cuts. ‘The long-term effect is much more devastating because the 100 cast and crew that worked on Jake and the Kid will have to relocate if they want to work in the industry and suddenly we won’t have access to the kinds of crews we’ve been patiently developing over the last three to four years,’ says Thomson.

‘It will make it more difficult to attract co-production partners and it will be difficult for us to develop our own projects. It’s unbelievably short-sighted of this government.’ Taylor says another potential downside of the discussed decision would be that it may ‘set the wind blowing’ and precedents might be set for other provincial governments. A potential upside he says would be opportunities created for producers in other provinces. Taylor describes the administration and leadership of the ampdc until now as ‘first class.’

Douglas Macleod of Calgary’s Bradshaw Macleod and Associates says his company will look at any cost effective environment for future film projects. With cable movie The Song Spinner shot on location in Nova Scotia, Macleod says the company is already comfortable producing outside of Alberta. ‘The interiors for The Song Spinner were shot in Edmonton because the creative and entrepreneurial heart was there,’ says Macleod. ‘The financial participants were there, including the ampdc, the nfb and wic. Now we would have to rethink our options carefully were we to do another project like that.’ Macleod says an orderly transition period is needed while the industry looks for ways to involve the private sector in the film industry.

No word

Miller says there has been no word on what will happen to the equity stake the corporation has in a number of completed projects.

A news release from Alberta Economic Development and Tourism issued just weeks ago on Feb. 1 touted 1995 as ‘another big year’ for the provincial film and tv industry, during which film companies spent about $59 million in Alberta and created approximately 1,277 jobs.

Producers and other representatives of the film industry have been undertaking massive lobbying efforts, including a Feb. 14 meeting orchestrated by the Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association (ampia) between economic development minister Murray Smith and Alberta broadcasters. Phil Parks, owner of Calgary-based Interact Communications and a consultant to the province’s film and tv industry says negotiations are ongoing between senior representatives of the industry and key individuals within the government.