Four months ago, Karen Thorne-Stone assumed the newly created post of Toronto film commissioner. As the city’s former executive director for economic development, she was no stranger to the production industry’s lead role in the municipal economy, but nonetheless she was charged with some formidable challenges. Chief among them was finding a way to rejuvenate a production center that had been perhaps the hottest spot for offshore Hollywood production at the beginning of the decade, but which had faded considerably due to increased competition from within Canada and around the world.

The head of Toronto’s Film and Television Office recently spoke to Playback about her job so far.

Playback: Why did you want to be commissioner?

Karen Thorne-Stone: In [economic development] I certainly had… the chance to work with the industry and be instrumental, I think, in establishing the mayor’s [Toronto Film Board], and in having council formally recognize this industry as a priority for Toronto and put the corresponding policy directions in place. When the film commissioner position was created earlier this year, it was an exciting opportunity for me.

PB: How are you addressing the factors contributing to Toronto’s production slowdown – the lingering fallout from SARS, the high Canadian dollar, and the lack so far of a megastudio?

KT-S: My objective is to ensure that Toronto is and continues to be the best place in the world to make a film. That means promoting and protecting that brand at City Hall, in Toronto’s neighborhoods and in our business community, and obviously at Queen’s Park, in Ottawa, the U.S. and abroad.

That role includes… helping Toronto’s businesses and neighborhoods to understand the impact and the importance of this industry and the productions on our economy. It means developing a strategic marketing plan… and sector strategies to help us respond to emerging competition, and [it means advocating] for policy changes that ensure the industry not only is sustainable in Toronto but continues to grow.

PB: And how do you intend to do that?

KT-S: I think it’s… early in the year to assess the true impact of the competition, and the Canadian dollar in particular. There’s no question, anecdotally, that we have seen some decline in our production levels [compared with] 2005, but the good news for us is that Toronto has a lot more to offer than being a discount location. We have unsurpassed crews, locations, talent and technical support, suppliers and quality of life. We have a new film studio complex coming online [FilmPort, to open in 2008] which will obviously bring significant benefit both in terms of infrastructure and capacity for Toronto.

The other thing is for us to be looking both at foreign and domestic activity… We know that a strong foreign [business] helps us to sustain high-quality local Canadian productions. We’re lucky in Toronto that we have probably a 50-50 split. Since the domestic is not affected by that [rising] dollar… it’s also a good opportunity for us to… focus on strengthening that domestic industry.

PB: What kinds of things are you doing?

KT-S: It’s important to realize I’m only [four] months into this job. My immediate priorities and those of the film board are to assess our competitive position and to determine what actions we can take to contain and reduce costs. We’re exploring alternative funding strategies to… support not only production, but development, marketing, distribution – all elements of the chain.

We know other jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada are offering fairly significant tax incentives that have a negative impact on Toronto. So our goals are to… put innovative financing models in place to level the playing field… In order for us to succeed, that’s going to require that all the partners come to the table.

The city has made some significant strides in… streamlining access and permit issues – one-stop shopping – [and] eliminating costs for all city services, except where there’s direct cost recovery. But there are no incremental fees. We’ve pegged the dollar at $0.78 [for service productions] and stopped the impact of the [rising] Canadian dollar on services the city provides.

We’re looking at the province, the federal government and even the unions and guilds to play their part. The [Ontario Media Development Corporation] has a role to play in terms of scouting support… but also in terms of financial tools.

We’re looking for [the federal government] to realign its regional policy so Toronto is recognized as the cultural region that it is. The federal government provides [producers] incentives based on defined regions, and Toronto is not currently [recognized as] a region… And then, obviously, [we want the feds] to protect Canadian content regulations.

PB: It might be hard for you to argue Toronto is a region, although B.C. has done so.

KT-S: Our efforts to strengthen the industry in Toronto are focused on exactly that. We’re not looking to take business away from other jurisdictions.

PB: What is Mayor David Miller’s role vis-à-vis the TFTO?

KT-S: The mayor and his office have been very strong supporters of the film industry. The mayor has established the Toronto Film Board – in fact he co-chairs it – and that provides a mechanism for industry input and advice to city council.

PB: Is Toronto Film Studios’ FilmPort project on track?

KT-S: The studio is on plan and… I’m hopeful we’ll see groundbreaking late summer or fall. [Along with helping Toronto attract blockbuster Hollywood projects, FilmPort will] provide a ‘campus’ kind of environment… not only for the studios, but where suppliers and ancillary services can all be co-located on Toronto’s… new waterfront.

We are working to enhance [the existing studio] district at the same time the FilmPort development is going on. [On July 25] at council they adopted a strategy to ensure we continue to protect and enhance the south and eastern area where the studio district is, and to ensure it remains an employment area [without] residential encroachment. We’ll look at a community improvement plan to provide incentives for new construction or major renovations… to ensure the kind of businesses that go in there are compatible.

PB: Have you promoted Toronto in L.A.?

KT-S: Not at any events. I did have the opportunity to participate jointly with the… OMDC in a trip in May. We visited a number of studios and producers to get a sense of how they were feeling about Toronto… and what we could do to encourage more production to come here, [to find out] what was in the hopper, and to say ‘thank you’ to those that have been bringing work to Toronto. The Film and Television Office staff continue marketing efforts at various trade shows.

PB: What do the American studios want from Toronto?

KT-S: They think Toronto is a great place to do business. We have the highest quality crews and scouting services… The two major pieces of communication that I heard back were ‘costs are an issue – we’re watching the Canadian dollar closely’ and ‘studio space is an issue.’ They’re anxious to see FilmPort come online.

PB: Do you tell the OMDC that producers want Ontario to resume making equity investments, on a permanent basis?

KT-S: Those kinds of policy issues are very much part of my mandate. Myself and the film board… are working on an overall strategy for Toronto, so I can’t say that I’ve been banging on doors just yet, demanding major policy shifts. But certainly we try to influence policy, advocating for the needs of Toronto with the other levels of government. I expect our strategy will be completed by September… Then we will be out aggressively looking for some policy changes.

Another emerging priority [revealed by] this strategy work… is the issue of skill development and strengthening the labor force – ensuring we maintain the quality and the reputation of filmmakers and crew in Toronto, and that we… improve on it.