Apple Box Productions has been shuttered after it was unable to prove itself a viable money generator for parent company CanWest Global.

According to a CanWest spokesperson, the Winnipeg-based media company tried without success to find a buyer through the early part of 2003, and once those options were exhausted, the decision was made to wind down operations.

‘Primarily, the commercial production industry has been kind of lukewarm so as a result financial expectations weren’t being met,’ says Chris McGinley, general manager, Alberta, for Global Television Network.

‘Unfortunately with the bleak economic climate of the commercial industry, combined with the fact that it was a non-core business operation, the decision was made to not continue.’

Hans Dys, ABP’s long-time head, when contacted, said he could not comment due an agreement with CanWest, beyond saying, ‘I was surprised, very much so.’

But in a open letter published in this issue of On The Spot (p. 8), Dys says that ABP ‘succumbed to a corporate world that doesn’t judge a business by anything but a general ledger. Passion, conviction, longevity are simply swiped by the stroke of a pen. For many people in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto, Apple Box Productions was their livelihood and it was a shock as it all came to an end on April 10.’

The closure comes after a tumultuous year for the production house. ABP saw its three top executive producers, J.J. Lyons, Clare Cashman and Jane Charles-Shaw, along with head of sales Cheryl Munroe resign last spring to form The Park City Film Company. At the time there was speculation that the prodco’s days were numbered as CanWest, dealing with a multi-billion-dollar debt, was looking to shed non-core assets.

The prodco’s top director, Randy Diplock, also left to join Park City in December.

According to Diplock, CanWest, which acquired ABP as part of its purchase of WIC Western International Communications’ assets in July 2000, never really knew what to do with its ownership of a commercial production house.

‘I’m not sure that CanWest really had a sense of what our end of the business was really about. So I think that was a bit of a problem,’ he says.

The decision to close the operation was announced through a posting on ABP’s website. It reads: ‘It is with sadness that we say good-bye.

‘Apple Box Productions has enjoyed twelve wonderful years… In the last year the economic environment has been highly competitive and sadly volatile in Canada, beyond our wildest imagination…’

The closing results in the layoff of 10 full-time employees and frees the prodco’s roster of directors to pursue new representation.