A new study commissioned by the CFTPA, DGC, ACTRA Toronto and FilmOntario among others on the real effects of so-called runaway production is long overdue.

The study, International Film and Television Production in Canada: Setting the record straight about U.S. ‘runaway’ production, puts substantive figures to and underlines Playback’s position that the overall balance of trade in the film and TV market favors the U.S.

According to data compiled by Neil Craig Associates in 2003, the U.S. saw more than US$1.3 billion in net revenues from Canadian cinema admissions, sales and rentals of videos and DVDs, and broadcast licences. Between 1998 and 2003, the U.S. had a positive balance of trade of more than US$1 billion over dollars spent by U.S. producers shooting in Canada. Overall, Canada spent US$6.5 billion to be entertained by U.S.-based shows and films in that time.

The study also benefits by publishing some current numbers right up to October 2004. This takes into account the many shifts that have occurred in the last few months, such as the rising value of the Canadian dollar – the kinds of shifts that can make a data-based report obsolete before it even hits the street.

But while the study is filled with very useful stats, its publication unfortunately comes a few years too late. For one thing, the report goes to great lengths to counteract the popular notion that runaway production is destroying the U.S. production infrastructure, an issue first highlighted in 1999 by the Monitor Report.

Unfortunately, anti-runaway advocates, who regularly wave Monitor as proof that shooting north of the border is akin to taking food off the tables of hard-working U.S. crews, have by now so entrenched the idea in the American consciousness that no countervailing, made-in-Canada report can succeed in uprooting the belief.

In 1999, it was Hollywood unions that were carrying the banner. By 2004, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry had put their considerable clout behind the anti-runaway efforts, along with high-profile stars such as Tim Robbins and Ben Affleck.

Some will argue that the only production to actively pull out of a scheduled shoot in Canada to appease anti-runaway sentiments was Terminator 3 when aspiring gubernatorial candidate Schwarzenegger saw a chance to score political points. But, of course, we don’t really know how many producers and directors facing pressures to stay at home just don’t consider a northward trip in the first place. The only sure bet is $100-million-plus Hollywood blockbusters will always search for the best bargain, whether in Canada or Romania.

While the strongest factor drawing production to Canada continues to be the exchange rate followed by tax credits, the anti-runaway lobby is having an incremental effect that should not be ignored. The Canadian dollar is getting stronger by the day and aspiring production centers across Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S. are introducing competitive tax incentives. That is why the ‘unverifiable data, exaggerated economic multipliers and unsustainable conclusions’ contained in Monitor needed to be exposed.

Too bad it didn’t happen five years ago.