These are interesting times indeed as domestic producers prepare to congregate at Prime Time in Ottawa 2004, the annual powwow of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, Jan. 28-30.

The conference promises to get off with a whimper when the CFTPA announces the results of Profile 2004, its annual report on the state of the industry. Last year’s report revealed that in the 12-month period ending March 2002, the total volume of production in Canada, domestic and foreign, held at $5.1 billion, virtually the same as in the previous cycle. This came after several years of solid growth. The latest figure on the total value of annual Canadian production spending is $4.93 billion, according to Guy Mayson, CFTPA president and CEO (see story, p.22), representing a drop of 3.3%.

Playback’s own Annual Report on Independent Production showed indigenous production down 8% for calendar 2002 compared to 2001.

Data collected for Profile 2004 (for the timeframe of April 2002 to March 2003) will not reflect the negative impact of such factors as federal cuts to the Canadian Television Fund, SARS and the rising loonie.

Of late, the service sector has fared particularly badly. Service volumes throughout 2003 were down 30% to 40% in Ontario and 15% to 25% in B.C., according to Patrick Whitley, president of Toronto-based Dufferin Gate Productions and Temple Street Productions.

‘[Hollywood producers] are not making very many MOWs anymore, due to [the rise of] reality programming and the inability to sell these movies overseas, and that was a large staple of our work,’ says Whitley, who will participate on the conference Profile 2004 panel. ‘Then you can add up all sorts of other issues, such as SARS in Ontario.’

After the Canadian industry enjoyed a great decade-long run of foreign-location shooting, peaking in 1999 and 2000, Whitley believes everybody must face the fact those record volumes will not be repeated. He believes he is well-positioned to adapt to the new landscape, however, as the service offerings of Dufferin Gate are complemented by Temple Street, which coproduces the drama Queer as Folk and is rolling on the doc series Blueprint for Disaster.

‘Any producers who limit themselves to being dependent on the subsidy system are crazy, and anybody on the service side who is dependent upon the dollar is crazy,’ says Whitley, who is also co-chair of lobby group FilmOntario. ‘You’ve got to be a lot more imaginative and you’ve got to find the pluses and minuses in both sectors.’

The plight of the service industry in the face of the rising dollar and the anti-runaway rhetoric of California Governor Schwarzenegger will be addressed by a Prime Time panel consisting of Comweb Group president Paul Bronfman, Lions Gate Studios VP and GM Peter Leitch and Pete Mitchell, senior VP marketing at Vancouver Film Studios.

Last year was capped off with the news that Alliance Atlantis Communications, the perennial leader in annual production spending, was letting go of nearly half of its entertainment division, including top execs, shuttering Halifax’s Salter Street Films and for all intents and purposes folding its tent regarding domestic production.

AAC cited a ‘permanent downturn’ in international demand for drama in its announcement, although many don’t buy that perception.

‘Production is cyclical,’ says Mayson, who will present the Profile 2004 results along with his Quebec equivalent, APFTQ head Claire Samson. ‘Drama will always be a cornerstone of production schedules and there will be new life in drama to come.’

Mayson cites interest in Canadian production and copros at last October’s MIPCOM TV market as cause for optimism. Similarly, Whitley sees AAC getting out of the production game as no harbinger of gloom and doom.

‘There is an opportunity for other established companies that were nowhere close to the size of Alliance Atlantis to take advantage of the situation,’ Whitley says. ‘People looking for a Canadian partner will now start to look at some of the other companies.’

So what, then, is the collective mindset of the production community heading into Prime Time and a new year?

‘There is a lot of anxiety,’ Mayson acknowledges. ‘There is a lot of concern about whether there is a long-term commitment from government to help encourage both Canadian content and service production.’

Unless there is an intervention on the part of Ralph Goodale, the incoming minister of finance under Prime Minister Paul Martin, the CTF, one of the lifelines of homegrown programming, is looking to contribute $62.5 million this year, compared to the $100 million producers were accustomed to before last year’s cuts. But the PMO has already announced a capital-spending freeze.

For his part, Mayson believes the CTF can be restored to its previous size.

‘We intend to hold the Martin government to its commitment to putting the additional dollars back into the system – something they’ve gone on record as saying,’ he says. ‘We’ll be very active on that front in the next few weeks.’

Ironically, the CTF is sponsoring a session at Prime Time entitled 4 Ways to Fix Drama, involving Ira Levy, executive producer of Toronto’s Breakthrough Films and Television; Julia Keatley, executive producer of Cold Squad; Slawko Klymkiw, executive director, network programming, CBC; and Maureen Parker, executive director, the Writers Guild of Canada.

One fix many TV producers are looking for is a reversal of the CRTC’s 1999 move to allow broadcasters to fulfill Cancon requirements with less drama programming. Mayson also believes broadcasters can take it upon themselves to beef up promotion, marketing and licence fees for Canadian drama.

‘While the CTF [cuts] have put considerable pressure on broadcasters to improve their licence fees, they’re also getting more for those licence fees in terms of rights and windows,’ he says. ‘But we recognize that’s got to be a partnership of government, producers and industry.’

Broadcasters will have an opportunity to give their side of the story in a panel featuring a trio of president/CEOs: Corus Entertainment’s John Cassaday, CBC/Radio-Canada’s Robert Rabinovitch and CHUM’s Jay Switzer.

Considering the cash-strapped times, conference attendees will want to set their alarms for the Jan. 30 morning financing panel, featuring Sandra Macdonald, CTF president and CEO; Jacques Bensimon, government film commissioner and National Film Board chair; and Robert L. Soucy, CAVCO director.

And after hearing more about just how limited resources are, attendees can walk into Cheap TV or the Formats of Tomorrow, which will examine the likes of Train 48 and Trailer Park Boys as viable production models in the new economy.

Mayson believes Prime Time will set the tone for 2004.

‘It’s a good time for people to be coming to Ottawa, too, to put some pressure on the new government to take our issues seriously,’ he adds.

-www.cftpa.ca