Studios are busy, camera package suppliers are busy, production service companies are busy, and all are making investments to enable their businesses to grow and hopefully prosper. Where’s the traditional Canadian doom and gloom?

Well, there are a few things in the wings that bode inauspiciously for the service and supply sectors.

Thing one. The unlevel studio playing field. Real studios, which invest a lot of private money into their facilities (not to mention pay taxes) find themselves in competition with: Crown corporations which don’t pay income tax; facilities that are not up to code; foreign companies which have sweet deals in terms of real estate breaks; and now, the cbc.

Which leads to thing two. Due to government cutbacks, the cbc is now fully in the production service game, adding a strong new competitor to the market for a wide array of production and post needs. A step which was anticipated by the post-production industry group its back when the Broadcast Centre was just a proposal, and their qualms were answered by assurances that direct competition was not in the cards. There was also outcry over a lab originally planned which ended up not being built.

When the cbc made its first public foray last year into the private sector territory, via its audio venture, its and spars met, letters were sent to Perrin Beatty and subsequently to Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, saying, essentially ‘work with us’ with a plea that the services be fairly priced. This was prompted by fears/tales of facilities being outbid by the cbc, at ‘considerable underpricing.’ There was no response, and now in an ear-to-the-ground sort of way, they’re facing the competition with less audible umbrage than such possible actions engendered almost a decade ago.

Many who will be alarmed by the competition from the cbc’s fully stocked, high-end arsenal of goodies (which range from studios and sets, to special effects), will also understand the dilemma of the cash-strapped pubcaster and realize the inevitability of the step. The key will be to see how the very saturated market will respond. bbc’s solution to a similar dilemma when they wanted a cash infusion from the industry to pay for an expensive Neve Capricorn console came up as an example of a good approach. When structuring pricing, they agreed to use the same accounting practices as the private sector, thereby integrating their facilities constructively with the community.

The conundrum is that the same company who is a potential client is now also a competitor. Only time will tell

And one last thing in the doom vein. Many believe bottom lines are still waiting to see the greatest impact of announced government-coffer production funding cutbacks trickle down and hit the fan.

However, there is still optimism on the summer horizon. Such as windows for new shows on new channels, doors open to new competition in the delivery streams, and the rumor that specs for the new film/tv production fund (the Sheila fund) will materialize before air-conditioner season is over.