As Playback was looking to close the issue you are holding, we received the sad – but not unexpected – news that we had lost our good friend and colleague, Leo Rice-Barker. Leo finally lost a valiant two-year battle with cancer at age 56, in effect silencing one of the strongest voices that this publication – or the Canadian film and TV industry, for that matter – ever had.

To those who have been regular readers of Playback, Leo needs no introduction. To the rest, Leo was Playback’s Montreal bureau chief, and had been affiliated with our publication for nearly all of its 19-year history. Plainly put, to many in the Quebec industry, Leo was Playback.

Leo’s contribution to this magazine cannot be overestimated. Not only was he charged with reporting on a big and vibrant production center, but he was also our go-to guy for the most important industry stories, regardless of geography. For example, he closely tracked the landscape-shifting merger between Atlantis Communications and Alliance Communications, as well as the behind-the-scenes shenanigans at Cinar. For latecomers such as myself, his reports on these subjects vividly illustrate the issues, players and overall significance at play, and there was no better source of information.

Leo was probably best known for his capacity to make sense out of the most mind-numbing legalese of regulatory codes, funding guidelines, and corporate year-end reports. He could tell you what ‘sale and leaseback’ really meant. But more than this, he had a real passion for excellence in films and TV programs. He told me he felt a closer connection to the filmmakers than the suits. One of his most treasured experiences, he confided, was interviewing David Cronenberg in a limousine on the way to a film premiere.

He had a keen interest in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, which led him to take on articles outside of his usual bailiwick, keeping him more than busy, but he would have it no other way. And so our magazine was also blessed with Leo stories on a range of subjects from cinematography to post-production. No other Playback writer – and doubtfully few journalists anywhere – could hold a candle to Leo’s output. Between 1993 and 2003, for example, Leo contributed a staggering 1,500 stories to Playback, and still somehow managed to also get his byline in our sister publications realscreen, strategy, KidScreen and Boards. His productivity, and, more importantly, his understanding of the business, were peerless.

Leo’s last active issue was Nov. 24, 2003 – for which he filed his standard six stories – after which he left us on sick leave. Ever hungry to jump back into the role he loved so much, he filed one last story in January of last year on the announcement of the Prix Jutra nominations. Although his name barely appeared in our pages for the past couple of years, Leo still played a key role behind the scenes. Mostly, he would give us an earful when he thought we missed something noteworthy in his beloved Quebec.

We’ve often joked, here in our main office in Toronto, that for a new staffer, the baptism by fire was one’s first phone conversation with Leo. If you were in it for a minute, you were in it for an hour. No doubt being the only occupant of our office in Montreal – recklessly chain-smoking amid piles of Playback copies stacked from floor to ceiling – could sometimes be lonely for him. He had a knack for keeping you on the line, especially when you were sweating over the tightest deadline. Often he put himself in an adversarial position with the Toronto office, being the mighty defender of Quebec content in our pages. Leo could be a prickly pear, but he would also recognize it, pull back, and be the sweetest guy imaginable.

The last time I spoke to Leo, a few weeks ago, the effect of his illness was apparent, but much of his characteristic fire was still burning. He hadn’t missed reading one issue of Playback from cover-to-cover since his leave, and lately had expressed excitement over all kinds of projects he was hoping to embark on as soon as he could. Leo was such a force of nature that it was somehow unimaginable that he would ever leave us.

And, in a sense, he never will. Much of Playback staffers’ knowledge of the film and TV industry can be attributed to Leo’s wisdom, insight, and the invaluable backlog of stories he penned. Leo Rice-Barker lives on in the pages of Playback, and in the hearts of all who knew him.