Canadian production studio facilities largely look for longer-term projects to fill their stages, and rarely have trouble doing so. Ongoing television series or feature films are always welcome tenants at virtually any Canadian studio for the security of having something occupying a studio for months at a time.

So where does that leave the indigenous television commercials that need a place to be produced?

For many studio owners, spot production is much like what commercials are to television programming: they fill the gaps and generate much-needed revenue.

According to studio owners and commercial representatives, there are always places within many studios for commercial production; it just may take a bit of digging to find them.

Still, in each of Canada’s three regional production centres – Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal – despite a slow economy and stiff competition locally, a handful of studios have emerged as the go-to facilities for commercial production.

In Toronto, Canada’s largest commercial production market, there are a number of places spot producers know to call, including Lakeshore Studios, Showline Harbourside Studios and @Wallace Studios.

According to Lillyann Goldstein, @Wallace’s VP of marketing, commercial production accounts for approximately 50% of overall business at the studio, which has recently housed work for CIBC, Mazda, Ford, Abtronics, Disney, IBM, and more. Goldstein says she really enjoys the relationships @Wallace has forged with commercial producers and believes any production can only benefit the Toronto industry.

‘[Commercial producers] are very professional and they keep the crews busy, so that when TV shows and movies come to town we have many experienced and professional crews,’ says Goldstein. ‘It evens out the lulls in TV and film shooting. The crews and the supporting businesses need to keep busy in order to ensure that there is a long-term industry ready and able to handle business coming to Toronto.’

Steve Mirkopoulis is the VP of Toronto’s Cinespace Studios, as well as the president of the Ontario Film and Television Studio Owner’s Association. He says many OFTSOA members are very thankful for the commercial business and do all they can to keep their facilities attractive to spot producers.

‘Some of the members go to great lengths to attract the commercial business and they really operate top-notch facilities for commercial productions,’ says Mirkopoulis. ‘They have really gone after the commercial market and they have really nice facilities with cycs, electric grids, silent air-conditioning and great sound characteristics that are really suited for the commercial production industry. They do not ignore commercials in favor of films and television shows.’

Still, says one Toronto-based commercial production representative, while there are certainly many studios that welcome their business, some facilities are less than accommodating.

‘I think commercials are kind of secondary to some of these studios,’ says the source. ‘It’s too bad, because we supported them when it was quiet in the long-format world for a long, long time, and now when we need a little bit of assistance to try to get into these places, [some] are not overly accommodating.’

The biggest issue currently facing the Toronto studio industry is the well-publicized coming of a new one-million-square-foot studio facility, said to be the largest in North America. According to Terry Comeau, senior VP of HOK Canada, the architectural firm behind the new tentatively named Shoot City Studios, the facility will not be a threat to existing Toronto studios whose bread and butter is commercials.

‘It will be a large facility with a wide variety of applications for the soundstages and broadcast studios,’ says Comeau. ‘There are existing soundstages in Toronto that are used for commercials and relatively small features, so our studio will not compete with those facilities. We want to look at longer-term relationships and larger feature films.’

She says, however, that the stages will be flexible and commercial productions will be welcome if the space and time is available.

Mirkopoulis says Toronto is very competitive with Montreal and Vancouver in terms of studio quality and space, even though Vancouver studio owners have received assistance from their government in the creation of several new stages.

In terms of studios available for commercial production in B.C., Burnaby’s First Light gets raves.

Ben Kikkert, First Light’s GM, takes the local commercial production industry very seriously, saying anywhere from 60% to 85% of the studio’s business is generated through spots. Even other studio representatives like Peter Leitch of Lion’s Gate Studio (which does some but not a lot of spots) cite First Light as the go-to.

Kikkert says the glowing reviews and endorsements have a lot to do with the studio’s attention to convenience and detail.

‘We try to give commercial producers as much as possible on site,’ says Kikkert, whose recent business includes Mattel, Jaguar, Hasbro, Hyundai and Telus. ‘We have a production office on site, and we rent out production equipment, so if [a shoot] is both in the studio and on location, we can help with that. We have selling features like green screen and a hard-wall cyc, which also adds value to the product.’

A Vancouver-based commercial delegate agrees that First Light is a ‘great studio’ to shoot spots at, adding that Burnaby’s Annex Studios is good as well. In the source’s experience, Annex has been open to bending a few financial rules for the benefit of the Canadian ad industry. The delegate also mentions Lions Gate for similar reasons, although space is usually hard to come by there.

‘I don’t know how it is in other places, but commercials are a pretty tight-knit thing here,’ says the source. ‘A lot of the people really know each other, and if you’re doing a Canadian job they help out a lot. A few of the major studios here aren’t too friendly for commercials and their security measures are way too tight for blowing in and blowing out within three days with a mass filtration of people.’

Benoit Hogue is the executive VP of the Moli-Flex White Group in Montreal, owners of Cine-Cite Montreal and Studio Saint-Paul. According to Hogue, the Moli-Flex stages are very commercial-friendly, and in the past year the studio group has been working with existing clients as well as forging new relationships with producers like Cinelande and Soma.

Hogue says they are flexible and also bend a few rules to help the promotion of a Canadian brand. He says, however, that he is becoming increasingly dependent on his long-form business because of the commercial slowdown, and he is seeing a number of disturbing trends developing in the French-language market, not only for his studio but the Quebec industry.

‘We are seeing some accounts that are going back to Toronto and more international or Canadian commercials using voiceovers [negating the need for a distinct French-language campaign with a brand],’ says Hogue. ‘More and more often commercials are put on air for Canada that are just adapted for the French part of the Quebec market. It’s a long-term trend and I don’t think it will change.’

In Toronto, @Wallace’s Goldstein has also felt the slowdown, mostly following Sept. 11, saying ‘a percentage of our business attributable to commercial production has decreased.’

In Vancouver, however, First Light’s Kikkert says he also saw a dip in activity following Sept. 11, but business picked up and stabilized the next month. *

-www.wallacestudios.com

-www.whites.com

In Toronto, Canada’s largest commercial production market, there are a number of places spot producers know to call, including Lakeshore Studios, Showline Harbourside Studios and @Wallace Studios.

According to Lillyann Goldstein, @Wallace’s VP of marketing, commercial production accounts for approximately 50% of overall business at the studio, which has recently housed work for CIBC, Mazda, Ford, Abtronics, Disney, IBM, and more. Goldstein says she really enjoys the relationships @Wallace has forged with commercial producers and believes any production can only benefit the Toronto industry.

‘[Commercial producers] are very professional and they keep the crews busy, so that when TV shows and movies come to town we have many experienced and professional crews,’ says Goldstein. ‘It evens out the lulls in TV and film shooting. The crews and the supporting businesses need to keep busy in order to ensure that there is a long-term industry ready and able to handle business coming to Toronto.’

Steve Mirkopoulis is the VP of Toronto’s Cinespace Studios, as well as the president of the Ontario Film and Television Studio Owner’s Association. He says many OFTSOA members are very thankful for the commercial business and do all they can to keep their facilities attractive to spot producers.

‘Some of the members go to great lengths to attract the commercial business and they really operate top-notch facilities for commercial productions,’ says Mirkopoulis. ‘They have really gone after the commercial market and they have really nice facilities with cycs, electric grids, silent air-conditioning and great sound characteristics that are really suited for the commercial production industry. They do not ignore commercials in favor of films and television shows.’

Still, says one Toronto-based commercial production representative, while there are certainly many studios that welcome their business, some facilities are less than accommodating.

‘I think commercials are kind of secondary to some of these studios,’ says the source. ‘It’s too bad, because we supported them when it was quiet in the long-format world for a long, long time, and now when we need a little bit of assistance to try to get into these places, [some] are not overly accommodating.’

The biggest issue currently facing the Toronto studio industry is the well-publicized coming of a new one-million-square-foot studio facility, said to be the largest in North America. According to Terry Comeau, senior VP of HOK Canada, the architectural firm behind the new tentatively named Shoot City Studios, the facility will not be a threat to existing Toronto studios whose bread and butter is commercials.

‘It will be a large facility with a wide variety of applications for the soundstages and broadcast studios,’ says Comeau. ‘There are existing soundstages in Toronto that are used for commercials and relatively small features, so our studio will not compete with those facilities. We want to look at longer-term relationships and larger feature films.’

She says, however, that the stages will be flexible and commercial productions will be welcome if the space and time is available.

Mirkopoulis says Toronto is very competitive with Montreal and Vancouver in terms of studio quality and space, even though Vancouver studio owners have received assistance from their government in the creation of several new stages.

In terms of studios available for commercial production in B.C., Burnaby’s First Light gets raves.

Ben Kikkert, First Light’s GM, takes the local commercial production industry very seriously, saying anywhere from 60% to 85% of the studio’s business is generated through spots. Even other studio representatives like Peter Leitch of Lion’s Gate Studio (which does some but not a lot of spots) cite First Light as the go-to.

Kikkert says the glowing reviews and endorsements have a lot to do with the studio’s attention to convenience and detail.

‘We try to give commercial producers as much as possible on site,’ says Kikkert, whose recent business includes Mattel, Jaguar, Hasbro, Hyundai and Telus. ‘We have a production office on site, and we rent out production equipment, so if [a shoot] is both in the studio and on location, we can help with that. We have selling features like green screen and a hard-wall cyc, which also adds value to the product.’

A Vancouver-based commercial delegate agrees that First Light is a ‘great studio’ to shoot spots at, adding that Burnaby’s Annex Studios is good as well. In the source’s experience, Annex has been open to bending a few financial rules for the benefit of the Canadian ad industry. The delegate also mentions Lions Gate for similar reasons, although space is usually hard to come by there.

‘I don’t know how it is in other places, but commercials are a pretty tight-knit thing here,’ says the source. ‘A lot of the people really know each other, and if you’re doing a Canadian job they help out a lot. A few of the major studios here aren’t too friendly for commercials and their security measures are way too tight for blowing in and blowing out within three days with a mass filtration of people.’

Benoit Hogue is the executive VP of the Moli-Flex White Group in Montreal, owners of Cine-Cite Montreal and Studio Saint-Paul. According to Hogue, the Moli-Flex stages are very commercial-friendly, and in the past year the studio group has been working with existing clients as well as forging new relationships with producers like Cinelande and Soma.

Hogue says they are flexible and also bend a few rules to help the promotion of a Canadian brand. He says, however, that he is becoming increasingly dependent on his long-form business because of the commercial slowdown, and he is seeing a number of disturbing trends developing in the French-language market, not only for his studio but the Quebec industry.

‘We are seeing some accounts that are going back to Toronto and more international or Canadian commercials using voiceovers [negating the need for a distinct French-language campaign with a brand],’ says Hogue. ‘More and more often commercials are put on air for Canada that are just adapted for the French part of the Quebec market. It’s a long-term trend and I don’t think it will change.’

In Toronto, @Wallace’s Goldstein has also felt the slowdown, mostly following Sept. 11, saying ‘a percentage of our business attributable to commercial production has decreased.’

In Vancouver, however, First Light’s Kikkert says he also saw a dip in activity following Sept. 11, but business picked up and stabilized the next month.

-www.wallacestudios.com

-www.whites.com