Finders keepers

In the true spirit of a resource-based economy, and one which only really sings when the gods of export are smiling, Canadian filmmakers are learning that survival means resourceful use of self and crew, getting it made and making it sell.

Often, they learn this very early on. When Playback correspondent Ian Edwards hosted this year’s ‘reflect on your life’ Vancouver production roundtable, short filmmaker Ryan Bonder, whose first feature DayDrift is at the Vancouver festival, reflected on survival realities:

‘We did this feature partly out of our own pockets, but we also had private investors. Without a distributor or broadcaster, we went to Plan b, which was to scale down the production and hire people who were resourceful.’

And, when Playback asked about competing for crews, locations and services when the city is booming with greenback-fueled service work, Ken Hegan, who’s producing a new series for the new Comedy Network, hit an ironic note:

‘A friend of mine was joking that the best way to watch a crappy movie is to wait long enough and they’ll film one on your floor. I respect the money that the Americans bring in and the experience they give to crews in town. It just gets tricky when we are trying to book post-production space and we get pushed aside by the money hose.’

But since Canada pushes so hard to attract foreign producers, there’s no point looking imported gift horses in the gold-toothed mouth. Glen Lougheed, who has his own Comedy series, Slightly Bent, in post-production, found a Great White North compromise with a view to eventual export potential:

‘We do have a service culture here and, for our show, we were able to find people who were lower on the [service production] rung, but had tons of skills and tons of eagerness. We pushed them up into higher positions and said, ‘Okay, it’s time for you to perform.’ It wasn’t about money for them; it was about moving up. The same with me making Canadian television. I’m not making a huge living, but it’s more about building reputation and a catalog of production that I can start shopping around.’

Lougheed’s looking to the future – and pondering survival and potential profit – in much the same practical manner as established filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici of Toronto’s Associated Producers. The company’s new deal with u.k. producer Yorkshire Television recognizes that if too many fish grow up and stay in the same small pond, eventually none get enough to eat. ‘There’s less and less money locally for everybody,’ he says. ‘The appetite has grown, but the bucks have shrunk.’

Of course, this phenomenon isn’t restricted to b.c. or Ontario. Government funds are oversubscribed from sea to sea and in both official languages (see Telefilm Que. Story, p. 6).

Fortunately, young up-and-comers like Vancouver documentary producer Trish Dolman recognize what’s needed to get going today and keep going tomorrow. Said Dolman, at the roundtable: ‘We need to cultivate more independent companies. My goal is to create a mid-sized company with a group of really talented people. There is a lack of qualified independent producers in this town….For me, looking at international partners is one way and we also have to find a way to get the private sector more interested.’

Today, with the unsinkable influence of tv, producers and directors will be forced to make more box-office hotshots, exorcise the p-word (profit) from the darkest corners of their secret souls, and bask in the green glow of international cash flow.