As we head into a new year and more uncharted territory in the media landscape, Playback is asking leaders from sectors across the industry to weigh in on what they think 2015 may hold for their companies and the world of Canadian film and television.  In the second story in our series, we speak with Vancouver-based Thunderbird’s VP production Alex Raffé. 

What do you anticipate to be the biggest changes to your business in 2015?

Thunderbird has been expanding rapidly, so one of our challenges this year is to integrate the new businesses and create synergy and collective forward momentum as a group of companies. As we head into turbulent regulatory and commercial times we will need to be very sure of our core strengths and be prepared to expand our partner base and be very creative in our deal-making.

Can give us some examples of the kinds of creative solutions you’ll be pursuing? 

I wish I had a roadmap for creative solutions to dealmaking!  The capacity of the existing broadcast system is changing –  we now have new and different partnerships, unthinkable a few years ago.  So finding ways of sharing the costs of making high-end productions, for example, is increasingly going to look attractive to the buyers  – shared windows, conventional and digital partners. Everyone has rapidly changing needs, audiences and resources and we have to be responsive to that. The dream of one-stop shopping for a show may still happen, but I’m not gambling on it happening very often.

What trends will drive changes to your business in 2015?

I think we are all holding our breath to see what the CRTC outcomes are on the Let’s Talk TV hearings. There are many implications, obviously, for all our businesses depending on the results. In economic terms, finding a way to marry the relative rigidity of the protected Canadian market (and its subsidies) with “the me-now-here” demands from the consumer base is going to drive the business in the short term.

Any thoughts on how you can reconcile consumer demands and the protected Canadian market?

You cannot stop the market.  Technology and attitude are all you need to access content from anywhere, anytime.  If we can’t find a way to satisfy that demand then consumers will find someone else who can.  But it is fairly amazing what talent we have in Canada and I think we are fast learners. If our regulated landscape shifts in the next little while, we’ll adapt.

What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenge?

Finding the best project and bringing it to market with the right partners for the right price. Same goal as always, it is just that the players, the markets and the rules are all changing.

What do you see as the most significant opportunities?

Is it too trite to say the same answer as for the challenges? So much change is taking place, and there is so much speculation, but in the end it will all come down to having the most desirable content possible at the right price – and being accessible to and sought after by the right audience – so being responsive and in tune with our consumers.

What kind(s) of content would you say has the most “legs” right now? 

I hardly know how to answer that – taste and fashions change so fast.  We are all digging down to support the delicious new ability to watch entire series at a time thanks to our digital cousins, so meaty, complex and colourful series are great right now – but check back in six months and it will have morphed again.

What changes to your business or strategy do you anticipate making in 2015? 

I’m not sure about new hires, location changes and so on, but I do think we will look to international partners for joint ventures more than we have in the past. We have diversified sufficiently over the last year that we are looking at many sectors and business niches that we hadn’t focused on in the past. We can probably be described as being in “eyes wide open” mode and changes will result from that outlook and our ability to seize new opportunities as they arise.