Kirk Shaw likes the view from the top. His Vancouver-based Insight Film Studios has now scaled the terrain of independent production in Canada and, after nearly 20 years in business, can finally stake claim as the country’s largest prodco. Its film and TV budgets surpassed $178 million in 2007.

‘In many ways, 2007 was the year of Insight,’ says Shaw, cofounder and CEO of Insight. ‘It’s the fourth consecutive year of production volume growth up 20% over the previous year.’

Insight productions hosted stars such as Ashley Judd (the feature drama Helen), Kim Basinger (the thriller While She Was Out), and Michelle Pfeifer and Ashton Kutcher (the thriller Personal Effects) on Vancouver sets and locations last year.

And despite predictions that the sky is about to fall on B.C.’s industry because of the strong Canadian dollar, Insight is running full tilt, boosting the province’s domestic film and TV business.

‘I’m busy,’ Shaw tells Playback. ‘I’m making 12 movies in the next 60 days, and they’re all in Vancouver.’

Nonetheless, ‘the dollar is a real challenge,’ Shaw continues. ‘However, since Insight finances its own productions, we can alleviate some of the currency exchange’s impact. We’re lead financiers in the production, so we haven’t been hugely impacted by the strong Canadian dollar. However, when I convert [production dollars] to Canadian, there is less to spend, so we reduce days, extras, locations.’

To Shaw, it’s all about creative financing and calculated risks. ‘We don’t rely on one model – we’re always looking at alternate ways, many of which are new to us, to make a production work.’

One of the key ways Shaw has kept production costs down has been to keep his shop non-union, including its 140 full-time staffers and a permanently contracted production crew of around 300 professionals.

‘We couldn’t do this otherwise,’ Shaw told Playback in a previous interview. ‘We’d be out of business, and a lot of people would be unemployed. We may pay slightly less [than unionized productions], but people know that they will have long-term, steady work.’

But not everyone is sold on the approach.

Last year, IATSE Local 891 was actively targeting Insight productions for union certification. Today, Shaw says that ‘IATSE is a little less aggressive since the government opened up a review…earlier this year,’ adding that ‘we are trying to work with IATSE – we’re having discussions with them and plan to work on some projects with them.’

Budgets on Insight projects generally run between $2 million and $11 million. ‘The $2-million films are usually presold, but the higher-end budget ones are not always sold – we’re taking a calculated risk.’

A recent risk was producing the sitcom Under One Roof, starring rap artist and reality TV regular Flava Flav. ‘This is a real rarity for the Canadian production industry: a live-to-tape situation comedy. It opens up a whole new business side for us, producing sitcoms in Canada. We’ve proven we can do it for a lower cost, and we’ve a talented pool of local Canadian actors.’

Insight has also invested $1 million into its post-production facility, which Shaw boasts ‘is the equal of any HD post facility in North America. This investment has allowed Insight to streamline production a great deal, which allows us to stretch the budgets further than previously thought possible. We can write, shoot, edit and deliver a two-hour made-for-television movie in four months using in-house equipment and staff.’

The prodco also recently launched its own distribution arm, Insight Film Releasing. ‘Now we can keep some of the distribution fees within the company,’ Shaw explains. ‘It’s already broadened the company’s revenue base, as we are able to reap the benefits from preselling and distributing our own productions.’

The shop has certainly come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1990 as an audio-tour prodco for museums and art galleries.

‘This year, Insight management is putting in place key elements needed that will set the company onto a new, expanded growth path – a path that will launch Insight as an internationally branded, much larger media and entertainment production company,’ says Shaw. ‘In terms of projects, I’m reticent to provide titles and actors’ names, since things change so quickly. However, we will produce seven or eight feature films as well as over 15 made-for-TV movies [in 2008]. We are working toward larger and larger productions with higher-profile actors.’