After 10 years at the helm of British Columbia Film, its founder says goodbye to public sector politics and wrangling ­ but not to productionŠ

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As Wayne Sterloff gets comfortable in his new private-sector office at Baton Broadcasting in Vancouver this week, the last thing he will miss about his 10-year stint at British Columbia Film is his recurring role as The Heavy.

The founding president and ceo of b.c.’s first provincial film funding agency, Sterloff confesses he’s a mixed blessing to Canadian film, depending on which side of the issues you are on. If he has confronted you on the national stage, you probably think he’s a royal pain in your end credits. At home, b.c. producers think he’s a hero, a champion, a straight-shooter.

Sterloff says he has necessarily had to step on some t’es to change the oft-gloomy outlook of b.c.’s indigenous film community, both from this side of the Rockies and from the rest of Canada.

In counteracting pessimism, he’s rattled cages. But, in a moment of reflection and candidness, he concedes maybe too much to be entirely effective.

He admits to alienating people in power by constantly hammering their policies or actions that he considers biased toward Central Canada, and in that he has become a consistent voice of dissent in the Canadian film mosaic.

It’s a reputation he neither relishes nor shrinks from. It has simply come with the job.

Driving him, of course, is his unwavering passion for the creativity and energy of local filmmakers.

Sterloff calls himself a vociferous protector of b.c.’s producers, a community that he says has gotten short shrift from the government, Telefilm, the Canada Television and Cable Production Fund and pretty much anyone who thinks the sun rises and sets on the film companies of Toronto, Montreal or Los Angeles.

And repeating that message in the hallowed halls of Ottawa or Victoria or Alliance or Cinar has been a lonely challenge.

Only now, after a decade as the most influential person in b.c.’s independent film movement, d’es Sterloff think there is any momentum to carry on with the pro-b.c. messages and to stand up against the formidable efforts to quiet them.

It’s time for someone else to carry the big stick for b.c., the Vancouver native says.

And, in a surprise announcement late last month, Sterloff indicated how he would move on ­ by setting up camp as the head of independent production in the b.c. development office of Baton.

His mandate will be to scour b.c., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba for drama, documentary, variety and comedy programming. The shows he sponsors could air just on civt or gain wider audiences through Western Canada, the Baton network of 25 stations or the new Comedy Network.

For Sterloff, the Baton gig is a chance to do a lot more of what was most rewarding about B.C. Film: discovering new talent and giving filmmakers a leg up toward building viable, creative production companies.

Sterloff’s career began 31 years ago at the cbc working in junior positions in, for example, the art department. As he moved up the industry ranks, he directed drama and documentaries and he produced industrial films. In the 1980s, he was on the leading edge of computer animation with a project called Buzz Wray.

He then became a bureaucrat, eventually managing the four western provinces for Telefilm Canada.

It was in his role with Telefilm that he saw how disadvantaged b.c. was without a provincial funding mechanism. b.c. was falling far behind Ontario and Quebec in its volumes of indigenous production. So, after being invited to do so, he wrote the guidelines for B.C. Film in 1987, capitalizing on the provincial government’s upbeat and confident mood following a very successful Expo 86.

He took the job as president and ceo.

That, he says, was the first time the b.c. government began to seriously move away from the lumber and mining industries as priority job creators.

The original B.C. Film guidelines stressed the need to develop production companies and establish credible producers in the short term. Over the mid-term, Sterloff wanted to develop a writing base. Network-approved scribes were hard to find in b.c., he recalls. The initial three-year plan also strove to up the volume of homemade features from one every three years to one every year.

That first phase was successful enough to gain increased funding and renewed commitment from the provincial government for another three years.

Producers began to emerge such as Danny Virtue and Winston Rekert of Neon Rider. Stephen Foster became a force by producing both the feature and the series The Outside Chance of Maximillian Glick. Charles Wilkinson came to the fore as a writer/director of Matinee.

B.C. Film introduced an internship program for writers and directors as a way to further develop the labor force.

And, looking back over the decade, Sterloff says the application criteria has also evolved from draconian, interest-bearing deals that demand ‘first-tier recoupment’ to the far more liberal guidelines that invest in a production company’s cash flow rather than a specific project. (This latter development, of course, is what has Revenue Canada currently reviewing and, apparently, reducing the income tax rebates for cavco-certified projects.)

Most significantly, however, are changes in B.C. Film criteria that demand distribution be spread to more than one company so the producer has a better opportunity to recoup a portion of the lucrative back end of a project.

Today, B.C. Film offers the Applied Support Program and the Market Incentive Program, a streamlined approach to assisting first-timers and veterans, respectively. The Applied Support Program ­ the descendant of the Next Wave program that generated David Hauka’s Impolite, Brett Dowler’s Cyberteens in Love, Mina Shum’s Double Happiness and Lynne Stopkewich’s Kissed ­ rewards freshman filmmakers who have good ideas.

The Market Incentive Program rewards more experienced filmmakers that have been able to presell their projects, however, the grant is not tied to those projects. Rather, the money can be used to buy equipment, hire staff, develop new scripts and finance production.

As a result, revenues in the b.c. film economy are increasing dramatically, says Sterloff.

Over his 10-year tenure, he has supervised B.C. Film’s investment in more than 400 hours of production including 525 episodes of 39 television series. He directed investment in more than 200 productions including 36 features such as the defining titles Double Happiness that sparked interest at the Sundance festival in 1996 and most recently Kissed, which caused a stir at Cannes’ 50th anniversary.

The recent features by Shum and Stopkewich have been personal highlights for Sterloff. The risk and the reward have been great for both films, and both times the filmmaker has been right with the content and understanding her audience.

Sterloff also points to the multicultural aspects of the b.c. industry.

Hardly a political correctness-driven sort, he is nonetheless impressed by the diversity of cultures and talent that have emerged with the assistance of B.C. Film. Gender balance, too, has been an unexpected bonus that has developed in the b.c. industry. In 1996, he was honored as a lifetime friend of the Vancouver Women in Film association.

But he feels he’s not been successful in changing some of the pessimism in b.c. ­ that without baby-sitting from Toronto or l.a., local filmmakers just can’t make it. He runs up against that mind set again and again.

It’s a tough human dynamic to conquer, he admits, when giving in to the status quo and acquiescing to the Central Canadian bias are the easier routes. Dismantling, he stresses, is easier than building.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and the federal government fail, he maintains, to recognize that Canadian content is more than a single central voice.

But with the likes of Carrie Hunter, Crawford Hawkins, Michael Chechik, and Alan Morinis taking on the local cause, Sterloff feels more comfortable exiting.

At Baton, he looks forward to being able to invest more into the young talent he has worked to foster for 10 years.

‘I’ve learned that I have an incredible level of trust in our creative artists,’ he says, reflecting back. ‘Producers with few credits would come in and pitch me. And I’ve never let a good idea go. God, has that paid off.’

They say:

-In his role with British Columbia Film, Sterloff was a tireless, uncompromising son of a bitch you can’t help but admire. We had our moments, but we shared our successes too, thanks to his collaboration ­ Double Happiness, in particular. Just as Wayne was leaving, we were working together on corporate programs to help small companies. We will continue with his successors, where he left off. I’ll probably live to regret saying it, but in a kind of way I’ll miss him.’

­John Taylor, director of Western Operations, Telefilm ­ Western Canada

-‘Wayne has been able to expose the inequities b.c. producers face and reflect that to the rest of the country. And he’s helped to put us in a great light so that we’re a growth industry ­ within our own borders and within the international markets.’

­Helena Cynamon, Vancouver producer, Forefront Entertainment

-‘I’ve appreciated most his integrity, his absolute consistency. He calls a spade a spade and he’s someone who genuinely cares, not just about the industry but the people he’s working with. And I can always count on him for a good lunch.

­Carrie Hunter, executive director, B.C. Motion Picture Association

-‘Wayne has been completely committed to promoting and supporting b.c. producers. And he has really made a difference in fighting on our behalf for money from Victoria. It’s tragic that B.C. Film lost $1 million of its budget just last month. It would have gone sooner if it hadn’t been for Wayne. New Views was also his baby. Without it, Double Happiness wouldn’t have been made.’

­Stephen Hegyes, Vancouver producer, Double Happiness, Drive, She Said

-‘He has understood the dynamics of the industry like no one else. His real value is knowing b.c.’s role in the Canadian industry, the macro picture. A lot of producers owe a lot to him.’

­Arthur Evrensel, Vancouver entertainment lawyer, Heenan Blaikie

-‘Wayne Sterloff has been a highly effective voice on behalf of b.c. filmmakers over the past 10 years. He has made an enormous contribution on behalf of the province and b.c. and our dynamic film industry.’

­Jan Pullinger, B.C. Minister Small Business, Tourism & Culture

-‘No one has been more committed or worked harder at building the indigenous production and creative community in b.c. He was really creative in using the resources he had to achieve maximum benefits.’

­Dale Andrews, executive vice-president, WIC Entertainment

-‘Wayne has been a dedicated advocate for b.c.’s indigenous film and television industry. Through his leadership at British Columbia Film, he has been instrumental in influencing national policy to the benefit of the b.c. industry.’

­Corrie C’e, acting executive director, CTCPF Licence Fee Program