An endangered locations library will stay in business for at least another year, following an injection of cash from the Ontario branch of the Directors Guild of Canada.

DGC Ontario has put an unspecified amount into the Digital Locations Archive, following an ‘eleventh hour deal’ with owner Absolute Support Services. The online database was set to close on Oct. 1, due to lack of funds at the Toronto-based equipment renter. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Absolute boss Paul Kenyon says the guild came to the rescue because ‘they thought that the film industry was heating up, and they’d heard from their membership [who] didn’t want to see the resource go away.’

The database contains 700,000 photos — helping directors and producers scout locations in Ontario. The physical library was shut down in April, due to a sharp decline in film and TV production in the province.

The online version stayed open, but since the spring has shed a number of photographers and has been unable to grow its library, Kenyon tells Playback Daily. The library is managed full-time by Stephanie Astin, who will continue on under the new agreement, along with two part-time contract photographers.

‘With the funding, we’ll be very busy adding photos to the database,’ adds Kenyon, pointing out that production volume has picked up this year, versus a dismal 2007/08.

Kenyon had a previous offer from Toronto-based location broker Content, though he expressed concerns at the time that such a deal would lead to higher prices for the industry. Absolute also tried to strike a deal with the Ontario Media Development Corporation, but was turned down.

Absolute is taking a wait-and-see approach until next October. Kenyon says it’s ‘anybody’s guess’ whether the database will remain open.

‘We’ll either put it back on the auction block, or if the industry improves significantly, it may factor back into our business plan going forward,’ he says.

The DGC did not return calls for comment.