Following the historic June 23 referendum in which the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, industries the world over have been scrambling to work out if they will be impacted by the fallout. In the case of the Canadian screen industry, the answer goes something like this: it’s too early to tell to what extent, but in all likelihood, yes.

Canada has long had strong coproduction ties with Britain and the E.U. (treaty and otherwise), the subsequent execution of which could be affected by the referendum’s result. Under the current treaty regulations, Canadian coproductions with any E.U. member country are entitled to use personnel from any other E.U. nation.

The foremost concern for Canadian companies doing treaty coproductions in Europe is this: if the free movement of labour between the U.K. and the rest of the E.U. is blocked, or no agreement can be reached, then U.K. producers, writers, cast, directors, crew and anyone involved in the production would technically be unable to participate in it. Both Telefilm and Heritage Canada declined to comment on the potential impact of Brexit to Playback.

That’s a particularly significant repercussion given the size and quality of the U.K. talent pool, Ken Dhaliwal, entertainment lawyer at Dentons Canada, told Playback Daily.

“One of the main selling points of doing a coproduction with any E.U. member state is having access to this greater pool of talent,” he said. “You cannot underestimate this in the U.K. – they have an incredible base of talent.”

John Weber, president and CEO at Toronto’s Take 5 Productions, agreed that this is a concern to any country looking to do coproductions with E.U. countries. Take 5 holds one of the biggest Canadian stakes in the game right now, with its highly successful series Vikings being a Canada-Ireland coproduction. It uses a number of British actors and one British writer.

“If the U.K. is no longer a member of the E.U., does that mean you can no longer use U.K. cast or writers on treaties with other European states? There will be a lot of people who want to get clarity,” said Weber.

Brexit could also put a strain on Canadian coproductions with other E.U. countries, as many crew members are brought in from Britain, added Weber. Especially in the case of Canadian coproductions with smaller European nations with less robust industries, it is common to use a significant percentage of cast and crew from the U.K. For example, X Company on CBC is a Canada-Hungary coproduction from Boat Rocker Studios and Pioneer Stillking Films, with two of its five-member lead cast British citizens (the other three – Evelyne Brochu, Dustin Milligan and Connor Price – being Canadian).

The entire casting process for certain shows could be affected if U.K. talent is taken out of the equation, said Weber.

“If you cannot use talent from the U.K., it would certainly change the creative direction around casting, and maybe even change your consideration around whether you want to produce in one of those E.U. countries,” said Weber.

“It won’t affect anything we have in production immediately,” he added, “but when they do extract themselves from the E.U., it absolutely will affect how we build our shows and our financing structures going forward.”

One potential upside for the Canadian industry is that U.K. producers may start to look beyond the E.U. for partners, said Cream Productions’ commercial director Richard Life, who is based in the Toronto company’s London office. Where it would previously have been advantageous to keep certain productions within Europe, this may no longer be the case once Britain makes its expected departure from the E.U.

“It’s prompted thoughts in people’s minds about where else may be a financing opportunity that they mightn’t have thought of before – and certainly Canada is one of those,” said Life.

As such, Brexit could also accelerate an already growing trend among U.K. producers who want to work with Canadian partners, added Life.

“There is an increasing interest from the U.K. in working with Canada, not least because of the favourable exchange rate, but because people have found increasingly that Canada is an interesting entry point into the North American market.”

In the short term, the relative weakness of the British pound could also be an attractive proposition. The U.K. is usually the most expensive production location in Europe, said Dhaliwal; however, the response of the pound still remains to be seen.

“It’s very much crystal ball gazing at the moment,” said Dhaliwal. “I wouldn’t be worried about anything being resolved in the next production cycle. It’s too soon to start worrying, because the reality is these things take a long time. If you’re in pre-production now for something coming up in six or eight months, I don’t think anything will be decided. That will be too tight of a timeline,” he said.

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