When the overhead lighting fixtures flickered out at Super Bowl XLVII last Sunday night, broadcast equipment specialist Larry Lavoie wondered half-jokingly who forgot giant back-up generators to prevent a power outage shown to a worldwide TV audience.

Lavoie, general manager of video and media production equipment supplier CinequipWhite, added the latest LED lighting, which draws little power and generates far less heat, means big generators can also be no-shows on film and TV sets these days.

“You finish your shoot, you pack up. There’s no heat there,” he told Playback about time-saving advantages.

The impact of fast-changing technology sweeping Canadian film and broadcasting was on show elsewhere Tuesday at William F. White’s annual Toronto technology showcase February Freeze.

Lavoie, general manager of CinequipWhite, pointed to next-generation removable lens cameras from Canon.

“They’re so small and portable, they allow you to get to places where the larger cameras just can’t get,” he said.

Now cinematographers can change on-the-fly, and cut down on the time necessary to set up shots.

That versatility is useful as the Canadian production sector is buzzing at the moment, even though Hollywood movie production is down in Vancouver, and Toronto is as yet without a tent-pole movie in 2013 to rival a Pacific Rim or Robocop like 2012.

Paul Bronfman, CEO of the Comweb Group, which includes William F. White, insists he’s just returned from a sales mission in Los Angeles, and the major studios are scouting Toronto for big budget film shoots in spring 2013.

“We’re still one of the few cities in the world that can handle a $100 million-plus movie, but it’s all timing,” he added.

Bronfman insisted the main sector driver remains Canadian production.

“As long as Canadian producers are continuing to grow, and their budget continue to grow, and the audience acceptance continues to grow, that’s the way it’s going,” he argued.

Vancouver is going through a lull, Bronfman said, but remains popular as a location for episode TV because of the quality of its studios, crews and talent and its proximity to Los Angeles.

But the city’s main challenge remains drawing the large feature films, whose producers keenly eye favorable tax credits as a lure.

Bronfman said locales like the U.K. and Louisiana offer film tax credits that apply to highly paid above-the-line talent.

That makes it difficult for rival locales like Vancouver and Toronto to compete as they target tax credits more at below-the-line spending, including crews and other local production expenditures.

Bronfman recalled recent tent-pole shoots in Toronto for the most part were without highly compensated stars or divas that insist on shooting in Los Angeles.

“They’re well-known stars, but certainly stars that will work according to where the producer and director want to make the movie,” he added.

Bronfman insists Vancouver has had a good run, and will come out of its current trough before long.

“They’ll come back,” he predicted.