‘It is much more about the deal than the talent.’

An ironic comment one would think coming from a talent agent who’s job it is to marry topnotch writers, directors and actors to the creative.

Yet the stakes have risen for the role of talent in striking the deal as international presales and American and u.k. partners become a bigger piece of the financing pie and distributors focus on foreign box-office receipts, now making up more than 50% of revenues.

Distribution companies are demanding actors they can bank on to generate ratings and fill seats overseas, says Lynn Kinney, president of Toronto-based talent agency Credentials.

‘If a director whose films sell well in Japan is up against someone far more talented but without much foreign clout, we know it is the director that can be relied on for international sales that will land the deal,’ says Kinney.

As an example, Lisa King of Vancouver’s Northern Exposure Talent Management Group points to Donnelly Rhodes, currently cast in DaVinci’s Inquest. He was a regular on Soap and Danger Bay, which had huge international appeal, and is now considered an actor who brings in foreign sales. Many producers keep a list of Canadians who are top bets for foreign distribution, King adds.

Placing Canadian talent on Canadian shows involving American broadcast partners is a challenge, says Kinney. American broadcasters want ‘a comfort factor,’ meaning the actors, writers and directors must be well known to u.s. industry types. For example, one of Kinney’s directors had over 200 hours of episodic tv under his belt, but to be considered for a u.s. network tv movie, Kinney had to come up with 18 references from American’s in the u.s. film and tv industry.

King says Canadian producers often fail to promote local talent when hammering out deals with American partners.

Producers often look first to Canadians living in l.a. to fulfill their Cancon casting requirements, she says. American casting directors are hired weeks before their Canadian counterparts, and often by the time the Canadian casting director gets the breakdowns, the top five roles have already been cast in l.a., explains King.

As a result, she says, it has become increasingly important for Canadian actors to have u.s. representation in order to be aware of some of the roles available to them.

Furthermore, says King, the impetus to stay in Canada just isn’t present under these conditions.

‘Canadian producers have to sell their people harder down in l.a.,’ says Talent Group’s Lawrie Rotenberg. ‘Vancouver has been more effective than Toronto in getting their actors in American films. They are going to l.a. and preselling their talent before l.a. comes here.’

To deal with ‘what is becoming a very gray border,’ Lesley Harrison, president of Harrison Artist Management in Toronto, is launching a partnership with l.a.-based Jeff Alpern (a 15-year veteran of the William Morris Agency), and The Alpern Group. Harrison and Alpern will work both sides of the border to seek out opportunities for their shared client base.

As numerous Canadian prodcos set up u.s. offices, American and Canadian agents have been fighting over whether certain movies have come out of the Toronto or l.a. office. Often a Canadian was being hired for a Canadian project by an American agent.

Atlantis and Alliance are among the Canadian companies which now stipulate in their u.s. breakdowns for Canadian projects that it is their policy to deal with Canadian agents if the client has Canadian representation.

Plight of writers

The landscape over the past few years has fostered a healthy crop of directors, but many agents say writing talent has not had the same opportunity to develop their craft. In the case of industrially Canadian projects, many American companies fulfill their Cancon requirements when partnering with Canadian producers by tweaking the content, hiring a Canadian director and actors, but the story creative has already been driven from the u.s. It is often difficult, says Kinney, to get Canadian writers on these story teams.

‘Unless there is some clear mandate to involve Canadian writers in the story department, they will continue to be left out and will not pick up the necessary experience,’ says Kinney.

‘The Americans I work with say Canada has great directors, but they really do not know anything about our writers working in primetime,’ says Kinney.

An increasing number of writers are taking on the role of producers of their own shows.

‘It’s all about keeping some level of creative control and a stronger position to fight for the series,’ says Lesley Harrison at Harrison Artist Management

With less money available for development, writers are also becoming producers to access a wider array of funds, adds Vancouver agent Richard Lucas. More of his time is now spent seeking out opportunities to create projects that fit the market, liaising with broadcasters to find out the style and types of shows they require for upcoming seasons, finding writers that suit the bill, and working with them to strike a deal.

Roughly 40% of Harrison’s work involves taking writers and their projects straight to broadcasters, as opposed to matching writers with prodcos.

The recent moves towards further integration of production companies, distributors and broadcast networks has a potential upside for these writer/producers, says Harrison. The possibility could be open to work with the conglomerates as exec producers, have access to their funds, the weight of a broadcaster backing them and a navigator through the international market.

On the flip side, however, Harrison questions how much creative autonomy the smaller producer will retain and whether many projects will get lost in the vast development corridors of the giant companies.

Regional issues are also coming into play when it comes to casting. Halifax agent Lara Cassaday says many producers shooting in Nova Scotia look to cast in Toronto before considering local talent.

‘Part of it is the clout of saying you hired in Toronto, it’s that big city lure, and many producers are unaware of the talent available in the Atlantic provinces and don’t even look for it.’

For example, Pit Pony lead Jennie Raymond is from Halifax but was cast out of an agency in Toronto, says Cassaday. ‘We could have attached her to the project way ahead of time if they had come here first.’

An overwhelmingly echoed remark is that more Canadian producers and broadcasters need to take chances on new talent.

‘It all stems from fear,’ says King. ‘Producers and broadcasters do not trust their own ability and creativity. They have to be told what is hot by the u.s. networks.’

She points to a director straight out of film school who was given an episode to direct by Stephen Bochco. ‘I tried to sell him in Canada but it was difficult. Producers were scared because he had only directed one show – even though it was for network tv.

‘Our producers need vision and creativity and guts,’ she continues. ‘There is too much playing it safe here.’