Now, with 15th anniversary celebrations underway, the Toronto production company is setting its sights on future growth opportunities as it moves into development on its first adult series and looks to the prospect of opening an animation studio.

The current operation is a far cry from Cambium’s beginnings when fresh from York University film school, Arnie Zipursky, chairman and executive producer of Cambium, and classmate Bruce Glawson (no longer with the company), both with a keen interest in music programming, started up shopÉ

That was thenÉ

Having spent time with young nieces and nephews listening to their favorite tunes, such as Sharon, Lois and Bram recordings, the ambitious duo was inspired to produce a music special for kids.

With funding from doctors and dentists looking for a tax write-off, they shot one day of Sharon, Lois and Bram: The Young People’s Theater on a budget of $44,000. Within six months the show was a hit, selling to broadcasters like cbc and tvontario and eventually evolving into 65 episodes, five years of production and the beginning of Cambium Productions.

Since then Cambium’s list of kids’ show credits has grown to include Eric’s World, the first Canadian children’s sitcom of its kind and winner of an Award of Excellence from the Children’s Broadcast Institute in the u.s., and animated series Nilus The Sandman with Vancouver animation house Delaney and Friends, as well as music specials showcasing Canadian talent, such as a Colin James special now in development for Global.

ÉThis is now

Cambium is moving into primetime drama with City Cab, a coventure with Toronto’s Lawrence S. Mirkin Productions (coproducer of Eric’s World), licensed to wic and German broadcaster ProSieben

‘We were looking for a different franchise than doctors, lawyers and cops and we thought cabs; everybody has a story about a cab driver,’ says Larry Mirkin, coproducer of the series, which be lensed at around $1 million per one-hour episode. ‘By following the lives of the characters who drive the cabs the show will tell what is happening in our world in a very entertaining way.’

With one script complete and more on the way, the City Cab team hopes to begin production on 13 hours of the series this summer.

As to overall production strategy, according to Zipursky, Cambium will be focusing increasingly on international coproductions and is presently investigating the possibility of a treaty coproduction on an animated project with Korea. Presales will also be a bigger focus.

Among other new avenues of production, Cambium is currently in development on two docs: one on the 10th anniversary of The March of The Living in which they will chronicle a journey from Poland’s concentration camps to Israel, and a one-hour special on Israel’s 50th anniversary from a Canadian perspective, both directed by Fern Levitt.

Tooning up

Based on the popularity of a half-hour one-off at mipcom, Cambium and Toronto-based 3D animation software company Catapult Productions are in development of 26 half-hours of Monster By Mistake.

Cambium is also in production on an additional 26 half-hours of Kit & Kaboodle with Montreal’s Cinegroupe for Radio-Canada and cbc airing September ’98, which, to Zipursky’s knowledge, is the first Quebec/Ontario animation coproduction. Also on the cartoon front Cambium plans to open its own animation studio; the Canadian locale is yet to be determined.

Following the recent success of their half-hour animated made-for-video Christmas special The Littlest Angel (which has sold 300,000 units for the 1997 holiday season), Cambium and Delaney are developing an Easter special and working on ideas for a number of feature films.

Releasing it all

Aside from the plethora of projects in development, Cambium Releasing, established in 1993, has extended its catalogue from what was once made up almost exclusively of Cambium product to more than 300 hours of programming, including 30 hours of cbs/abc After School Specials, animation, documentaries, lifestyle, drama and movies.

Zipursky says they will spend the next couple of years focusing on expanding the international distribution side of the business.

Cambium Releasing sells to over 140 countries, hitting the major as well as the not-so-major territories like Kuwait and the growing markets of Asia and Latin America.

‘It was kind of a strategic plan for us to develop the Asian and Latin American markets,’ explains Rita Carbone Fleury, senior vp of Cambium Releasing. ‘We have been very aggressively going after these markets and in a lot of cases working with the broadcasters or output buyers directly.’

This past summer, David Piperni, Cambium’s international sales director, traveled to Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong to further develop relationships and as a result managed to place a number of programs in those territories. In addition, 30 hours of After School Specials have been sold to Latin America.

Cambium’s strong presence in those markets made the company an attractive choice for u.k.-based Mayfair Entertainment, initially a feature film distribution company, which was looking to move into the realm of television.

Forming what they dubbed a ‘strategic alliance’ in April, the two companies shared booth space at mip-tv and mipcom.

Zipursky says they were approached by Mayfair to work with them on certain territories. In terms of the future, they will keep an eye out for any projects that would make sense for them to work on together, but ‘that is really the extent of the alliance,’ he says.

Next up:

merchandising, the greatest power in the universe

Still untouched by Cambium is the vast field of merchandising, and while it is an area the company has explored, Zipursky says they plan to enter this game with some ‘strategic positioning’ and to steer clear of flash-in-the-pan, ‘get as many lunch boxes out there as possible’ types of promotions.

As opposed to doing a massive launch, Zipursky says they will go about it quite carefully focusing on auxiliary markets. Cambium recently signed with mca audio through The Tanglewood Group to release a soundtrack of Nilus and several book publishers are interested in the product. The plan is to do something similar with Kit & Kaboodle.

Music still a priority

Zipursky continues to fit Cambium’s critically acclaimed music specials into the company’s agenda.

‘It is really a passion of mine to produce music programming and I think it is really important that we showcase Canadian talent across the country,’ he says. ‘I think it is very important that Canadian broadcasters and agencies get behind these shows.’

When the artist doesn’t already have a worldwide presence, the musical portraits are at times a tough sell internationally, but since Cambium is the distributor they make them a priority, says Zipursky.

Carbone Fleury says the onslaught of niche channels has opened up new markets and there are opportunities for this type of programming. The Holly Cole Trio, My Foolish Heart (1992) was placed on u.s. jazz specialty Bent on Jazz, has been titled in Japanese and sold on laser disc in Japan.

On the distribution side, Cambium is picking up American-produced music programming for the international markets as well.

Looking back over the last 15 years, in terms of how the company has grown and the opportunities that have opened up to them, Zipursky says things have never looked better. ‘It has been a tough grind, and it is very competitive, but Cambium has managed to become a player in the international markets, which has really enabled us to take advantage of the opportunities available. It is still a great business to be in.’