Parker Jefferson is executive producer at The Ace Film Company, Vancouver.

Double zero on the West Coast was a very busy year. For The Ace Film Company, in terms of billings, it was the best one since we started in 1988, and this growth trend appears to be continuing. The main growth seems to be in production service work, but the volume of locally generated work has at least been stable for the past few years. This, after a significant decline in the ’90s.

On a personal level it was, hands down, the best for me. For most of the first half of the year, I was actually getting paid to pursue two of my greatest passions, skiing and fly fishing. From my Lotus Land-born perspective, it just can’t get any better than that! I’m optimistic about the future, but there’s a good chance it may never get that good again.

Here in Hollywood North, it is not just about commercial production. Most of the film business is u.s.-based episodic, mows and features. The whole business is growing, and I think commercial production here is growing disproportionately, particularly the service business. You might say commercial production in Vancouver has grown from a total afterthought to being a small part of the business. I spoke with Jane Charles Shaw at Apple Box Productions, and we agreed the volume of local work has stopped its decline. This, in spite of the sputtering economy here on the Left Coast.

The sag strike certainly had an effect on the volume of work done here, and the major beneficiary of this year’s windfall was the large and talented group of local producers and pms who have specialized in production service work for several years now.

Working quietly, well under the radar of any trade publications, these freelancers have built up a very large service business, and are largely responsible for introducing many of our u.s. colleagues to the benefits of shooting their commercials in Vancouver. This all started in the ’80s with toy commercials and has steadily grown to the point where I would bet the total billings from this group outstrips all the work done by the local production houses.

Over the past five years, Ace has ventured cautiously into the production service area, and we have found it to be both interesting and rewarding. This year, our billings from this work nearly doubled, but not as a result of the sag strike. We have developed clients and contacts in five major Asian markets, and we now are getting a steady flow of projects from the Western Pacific region.

Much of this work is location-driven. We do a lot of ‘snow jobs,’ where our specific skills for doing big things in alpine environments are required. Most of this work is very high-profile stuff in Asia, with big star power. It gets noticed and this seems to lead to more work through word of mouth.

We also have developed some regular u.s.-based clients that like to come here a couple of times a year. They figure if they have more than three shoot days, they can come here, shoot with us and save their clients at least 20%. And I thought it was for my grilled salmon and Cuban cigars.

I guess the next question becomes: is Vancouver becoming the North American equivalent of South Africa for commercial production? Maybe, but if it is, I won’t fight it.

All this growth does come with a price, literally. Crew rates keep creeping up, any talent with experience is double scale, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has bumped location fees through the roof. The trouble finding experienced crews has been well documented, but that situation is improving. Oh, and if any experienced film craftspeople are reading this, you’re needed, please move here. It doesn’t rain that much in the summer, there is no humidity, and with any luck you will get enough work in a few months to totally burn out.

Everybody seems to want to get into the biz. Our offices are across the hall from the Directors Guild of Canada, so we count our resumes in inches. Just last week, as I clamped down on my decaf cappuccino fluoride treatment, my dentist leaned in and told me he has an agent, and has been picking up some parts in episodics for middle-aged Asian businessmen or bad guys. He doesn’t have time for cattle calls, but if any of my Asian clients are looking for talent…

Just another day in Lotus Land. True, true. *

-www.acefilm.com