While Montreal’s commercial producers report clients are not expanding their advertising budgets, they say the problem is made worse by internationally induced demands for increasingly sophisticated work.

It’s a counter trend in a market where producers are routinely asked to perform miracles, with the money squeeze exacerbated in light of the current ‘Global Village and Internet’ mind-set, says Michel Raymond, president of La Fabrique d’Images and sister operation S.W.A.T. Films. ‘Everyone has the word `international’ on their lips these days.’

Michel Sarao, president of Figaro Films International, says each and every dollar on commercial shoots is being squeezed, with the consequence ‘there’s very little room for experimentation.’

Sarao says he loves his job, but the mounting pressure has caused many people to leave the business.

Cinelande president Andre Viau says the market for his company is strong, ‘but the biggest problem we have is budgets. So we’ve learned in the past few years to work with the budgets the agencies are giving us. They’re spending less money and doing more commercials.’

All the houses are competing for young talent in response to tighter margins.

Sarao says money has always been super tight here, ‘and the response has to be new creative (minds), younger directors with talent.’

Raymond says evaluating the proliferating number of f/x boards is an expensive and time-consuming task. And while the concept might suggest a $1 million shoot – and has already been sold to the client – the reality is that only a fraction of the budget is available. ‘The production house loses their shirt and everyone is a loser,’ he says.

Jacques Langlois, president of Jet Films, says commercial producers in Montreal are confronted with a number of obstacles, the first being the performers guild, Union des Artistes. Langlois says uda is in a monopoly position, adopting policies which seriously undermine the sector’s international potential.

Other irritants, says Langlois, who’s also head of the apftq commercial sector, is the resurfacing of too many lower-budget, badly dubbed spots on French tv, like in the ‘good old days,’ along with the re-emerging exodus of big-budget commercial assignments to Toronto and its galaxy of Yankee name directors. Sarao adds much of the newly sighted dubbed material actually hails from the u.s., not Toronto.

Producers on concepts

Langlois says the main trends in concepts for tv commercials in the Quebec market continue to be humor, special f/x shoots, used a lot for beer and car advertising, and ‘human stories’ or vignettes.

‘Humor, subtle and not slapstick, remains a dominant trend, but storytelling with real actors is making a comeback. People in agencies are very much influenced by feature films, with more and more money being spent on special effects, unfortunately,’ says Viau.

And there’s a consensus among producers that far too much Canadian advertising is simply bland.

‘We have strange laws here and it’s very difficult for creative people because they are not allowed to say or do things,’ says Raymond.

‘For instance, for beer, in England and in Canada, the kinds of things allowed are worlds apart. It’s very sad because we end up doing bland, stupid stuff, whereas in England they make an art form out of it.

‘And now we’re seeing a smorgasbord of special effects all over the place, and sometimes the lack of creativity is being covered up by this multitude of dreamlike and far-out images. You’d think a lot of the agencies are running on acid.’

Sarao says there are no strong or emerging creative trends, except perhaps for the fact that ‘people are going to play it safe, meaning they want their production dollar’s worth.’

A basic issue facing producers in this market is the ongoing concentration in both the broadcasting and service sectors.

Covitec Group has now acquired Sonolab, Centre de Montage Electronique and Supersuite, the latter two the city’s main suppliers of post services on commercials. Otherwise the service sector includes Buzz, associated with La Fabrique, and AstralTech and Hybride Technologies, both of which have digital film-to-transfer units.

In commercial broadcasting, Videotron may well end up owning both French-track tv networks, leaving ad agencies with only one door to knock on, says one producer.

And in the equipment rental sector, ‘Locations Michel Trudel is getting bigger and bigger and bigger,’says another.

‘It’s like that with uda – one choice in talent, one choice in equipment rental, one choice in studio, and soon one choice in post-production. It’s not the best.’

Jet’s Langlois has another viewpoint. He says over-concentration could invite new competition including properly capitalized entries from outside the Quebec market.

‘We are not putting our eggs in the same bag. We work with Supersuite, with cme, with Hybride Technologies,’ says Viau.

Business continues to grow

Langlois says business at Jet continues to grow 15% annually, but it’s harder for new directors and houses trying to launch.

Shooting levels are holding their own at La Fabrique, but keeping up means the house has to do more, as well as develop new business in the u.s. and Europe, says Raymond.

Viau says the mix of ‘young directors, seasoned film pros and great ideas’ works to solve the money-crunch problem. ‘We’re not shooting one 30-second in two days now. Everybody knows what they want.’ Viau says the house now has 15 staff directors.

Sarao says Figaro is doing good business, looking at as many as 15 pitches for February and March.

Commercial budgets in this market peak in the $400,000 range for a campaign of one or two spots. There may be as few as a dozen of these assignments annually. On intermediate shoots budgets go from $200,000 to $300,000, while the majority of shoots are priced in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Many spots go for less.

Recent highlight shoots at La Fabrique include a Coca-Cola pool for Marketel from director Jacques Fournier, an Alcan corporate shoot from director Jean-Michel Ravon for pnmd, a Labatt Ice from Jim Donovan and an Aero shoot from director Karim Waked for Marketel (Waked recently returned to the agency sector with Bos). The house also shot a Rothmans Canada spot in South Africa with New York director Adam Kimmel.

Senior La Fabrique shooters include Marc S. Grenier and Jean-Francois Pouliot (‘Monsieur B.’ for Bell Canada). Alain Desrochers and Daniel Jaros are mainly active with s.w.a.t., which Raymond says is looking to compete with Jet.

Major shoots out of Jet include spots for General Motors and Cossette, Hydro-Quebec, and Kellogg for RTA Publicite, all directed by Sylvain Archambault; the Microsell ‘Fido’ launch from Bos and director Roger Gariepy; a high-profile gm ‘water-bombing plane’ spot from French action director Gerard Pirez; and a Banque National pool for agency LG2 from Christian Langlois and Herman Weeb, a new, multitalented staff director with Jet.

Jet has active talent and business ties with houses in Paris, Toronto’s Radke Films, and Milk and Honey, a new company with offices in Prague, Moscow and Montreal.

Recent highlight shoots out of Cinelande include a new gm job for Cossette with busy director Jean Marc Piche, who is also doing the new Provigo campaign for pnmd; a Richard Ciupka spot of kids downing fries shot for McDonald’s and Cossette for both Montreal and Toronto; an MSSS-Quebec spot for Marketel and a Canada Post campaign for Publicis-bcp from director Charles Biname; and a Christian Langlois 60-second ‘masterpiece’ for Videotron out of bcp.

Other directors on staff include Erik Canuel, the only young director to win an assignment on Telescene’s The Hunger, French ex-pat Olivier Austin, who is also a cinematographer, Francois Girard (five days in San Francisco for Pages-Jeunes), Lynn Charlebois and James Di Salvio, who shot the Danone comedy spot with Michel Courtemanche for sjv/y&r.

Cinelande has exclusive Quebec and European representation for Bronwen Hughes and Euro tabletop director/dop Robert Golden, and has working agreements with Avion in Toronto and Harmony Pictures in l.a.

Figaro’s busiest shooters include Claude Brie, who did a Mike’s spot for sjv/y&r and the Tim Horton ‘Kids Love Story’ commercial for Groupaction/jwt; Martin Ouellette, who shot a Bell business affairs spot for Cossette; and Frederic Lafleur, a new director who did Molson Dry for bcp and Nickels Restaurant for Tam Tam.

Senior directors include Jean-Claude Lauzon, who shot a l’Italiano ‘Godfather’ bread spot for Weston and the new Labatt 50 spot for Palm Publicite Marketing, Glenn Bydwell, who recently shot Figaro assignments in Chicago and Vancouver, and Cosimo Cavallaro, ’96 director of the year at the PCM Coq d’Or Awards. Cavallaro recently shot a Standard Life spot in the Arizona desert for Montreal agency Armada Bates.