Since Doug Dales founded Toronto-based PS Production Services in 1972, he and his team have opened offices in Halifax and Vancouver, with affiliated facilities in Winnipeg, and, most recently, Regina. Today PS is firmly entrenched as a top gear provider across the land, renting out the latest wares from the likes of Arri, Cooke, Zeiss, Moviecam, Mole-Richardson, LTM and Kino Flo.

But the key to the supplier’s success in this very competitive business has always been something less tangible.

The consensus among PS general managers across Canada – those with the most direct contact with clients – is that despite the U.S. making fewer films and the somewhat effective ‘anti-runaway production’ campaign going on there, the company is keeping pace in the market because of its ability to maintain relationships and remain versatile. While PS’ reach is broad, each local operation remains small and able to turn on a dime.

‘Our size allows us to adjust and tailor our services to the needs of crew and producers in the ever-changing Canadian film industry,’ says Michael Drabot, GM and part owner of PS Prairies, which encompasses both Winnipeg and Regina.

He adds that the supplier’s edge over some of its competition ‘has been a long-term commitment to, and relationship with’ Canadian producers.

‘We have tried to maintain a very professional yet personal [rapport] with our customers and I think that goes a long way,’ agrees PS Atlantic GM Rob Riselli.

Ultimately, though, it is the gear that makes or breaks an equipment supplier. With the reliance of the production sector on big-budget productions heading north from Hollywood, PS has had to stay on top of the latest trends, supplying such leading-edge gear as the new Arriflex 435 Advanced plus the latest in motion-control systems.

But the supplier has also come to prove itself as an industry innovator. For example, company technicians created the PS Power Distribution system, a CSA/UL-approved set and location power distribution/grounding system that was one of the first of its kind in North America. Such innovations have been essential to keep PS in line with its rivals as the industry has evolved around them.

It also allows the company to take on any project, whatever the budget, genre or special requirements.

PS Vancouver GM Jeff Ramsay points to the diversity of projects PS has serviced over the years. From a West Coast Hollywood import like The Santa Clause 2 to an indigenous Newfoundland feature such as Rare Birds, PS has worked on every level of production throughout English Canada.

For the past several years, PS VP operations Rae Thurston has served as Toronto GM after having joined the company in March 1994. (He will be succeeded in that post this month by John Whish.) In the past year, PS Toronto has supplied gear for features including Universal Pictures’ Honey, GFT Entertainment’s Absolon and Crime Spree, and Alliance Atlantis’ Foolproof, in addition to other features, series, MOWs and a few commercial spots, thanks largely to its deal as exclusive supplier for The Partners’ Film Company. Although Thurston admits the production scene overall isn’t as hot as it was a couple of years ago, PS Toronto has had enough on its plate to keep it humming along.

‘PS… has developed a very good group of loyal customers, without which [it] would be just an average company,’ says Thurston.

On the East Coast, Riselli has signed off on the film gear for high-profile, locally shooting projects including The Shipping News, K-19: The Widowmaker and Trudeau.

‘While the marketplace is smaller than that of Toronto and Vancouver,’ says Riselli, ‘we have adapted to be a very mobile operation, in the sense of providing service to productions that can be as far as two days away by vehicle.’

In the West, Drabot has seen a balance of indigenous and foreign productions come through his facilities. Over the past few years, the Prairie office has supplied equipment for Canadian features such as Twilight of the Ice Nymphs and Inertia, as well as MOWs, music videos and series, including productions for virtually all of the major U.S. networks.

To Drabot’s mind, what sets PS’ Prairie outpost apart is the more intimate nature of the facility and the production region in general.

‘We work with the unions, the producers, the training organizations and we support the development of the film industry,’ he says. ‘Also, we have been dealing with production companies that started at the same time we did and our relationships have been great.’

With the new Regina location and its 4,000-square-foot sister facility in the ‘Peg, PS’ accessibility in the Prairies continues to strengthen the company’s overall position.