Michael Schwartz is president and executive producer at Avion Films, Toronto.

The one good thing about writing an article about the previous year is that it’s finished, over, and never to be experienced again.

I think my colleagues would all agree that this was one of the more unusual and difficult years that any of us have experienced in a long time. Is there any specific reason? There are certainly many theories. For one, an economy which is far too strong raises the question: Why make new spots when everyone is buying anyway? (Nothing like a good recession to get things going.)

Also, clients are throwing money at alternative, so-called ‘new economy’ venues hoping they’ll be the first to get it right. Ultimately, the ‘eureka’ moment will occur when the Internet ‘converges’ (sorry but I had to say it) with that old-economy delivery system known as television. Albeit, it will not function in the same manner – but at least everyone will understand it. And how about all the content that needs to be produced so that those ‘streamers’ out there will have something to stream?

When the local industry kicks in, in a consistent manner, we’ll all be a lot happier. Yes, we are all thankful for the roadhouse work this summer, and yes, we are all thankful that we no longer have to hear ‘That’s not how it is done in New York (or in l.a. or Columbus, Ohio)’ day in and day out. That’s not to say we don’t appreciate the work, but the word ‘eh’ never sounded so good.

So, with all that behind us, I’m looking forward to what I think will be a terrific year where all of our young Canadian directors will be first in line in the minds of all great Canadian creatives everywhere. A year where no production company will have to bid against six other companies on projects which they have to invest in. A year where the first words out of every agency producer are, ‘We have no budget problems.’ A year where cost consultants do all the right things for the right reasons. And, of course, a year where my new Internet startup goes public (within the next three weeks) and I never have to worry about any of the above – ever again.

So let’s all go forward and have fun because we’ve all said that when it stopped being fun, that’s when we’d get out, right? Hello? Anybody out there? *

-www.avionfilms.com