The Manitoba production community is currently facing the growing pains that always accompany an industry attempting to expand its volume and grow its infrastructure. Production and post companies have established themselves and are now working on two fronts: aiming to keep production volume stable, while also looking to expand their activities and move to the next level.

Manitoba’s production volume dropped slightly in fiscal 1999 to $35 million from a high last year of $48 million. Of this total activity, indigenous production accounted for $28 million in 1999 as compared to $35 million in fiscal ’98.

Manitoba Film and Sound’s Carole Vivier attributes the lower activity to the usual bumps and bruises that accompany a growing industry, as well as last summer’s Pan Am Games, which meant that many shoots that would have landed in the province went elsewhere.

Optimistic about the industry’s current prospects, she notes that whereas Manitoba’s production industry used to be based around only a few companies, the province is now seeing a proliferation of small production companies. With aptn’s new base in the province, the aboriginal filmmaking community has new opportunities, she says, and the French-language producers, such as Rivard Productions, are growing steadily.

Buffalo Gal Pictures’ Phyllis Laing has been producing in the province for a number of years and also notes a good mix in the type and size of production companies. ‘A number of new producers have risen in the ranks, new production companies are forming and there’s a variety of producers doing different things,’ she says. ‘That’s quite healthy.’

Still, there is much work to be done to build sustainable production companies that can achieve stable production levels year after year.

Manitoba Film and Sound’s priorities over the coming year include working towards the addition of a rural bonus on the tax credit to spread production across the province, particularly during the busy summer season; and a post-production tax credit.

Many producers note that not enough of the post work is being kept in-province and an incentive would help grow what is already a successful and developing industry, particularly in light of Frantic Films’ recent Emmy Award nomination for its post work on Storm of the Century.

Audio post is also an expanding business. DeCapo Productions has done original music composition, recording and production for more than 35 commercials since it opened its doors a little over a year ago, as well as music recording for cd-roms and multimedia, and is now expanding into music, soundtracks and audio post for film and tv.

MidCanada Production Services’ Kevin Dunn has also recently expanded the company’s audio division with new sound recording and arranging operations as well as opening an Internet division. The company is also currently service producing Sound Venture Productions’ new children’s series The Toy Castle.

Dunn says commercial production is another growth area in the province that needs a push.

As marketing chair of Manitoba Motion Picture Industries Association, Dunn says the industry is looking at a commercial production procurement policy to keep the commercial production business in the province.

Expanding the corporate capacity of Manitoba producers is on the agenda at the mmpia.

‘Producers here need a better understanding of the business side of production and how to deal with banks and structure their companies,’ says mmpia executive director Richard Horne. ‘Over the next few months, we will be working with other organizations to try to figure this out. We want to find ways to position Manitoba production companies in the best place possible to do business.’

Andrew Koster, executive producer at Credo Entertainment, says that the industry needs still more producers, and particularly more aggressive producers.

‘Few people here have taken an entrepreneurial stand, setting up production companies. I would welcome more of that. Others have a more artisan approach – producing to direct.’

Finding the cash flow to finance development is the most difficult aspect for smaller production companies, says fellow Credo exec producer Jamie Brown. Particularly optioning the rights to marquee-value properties is often beyond most companies’ financing.

‘It’s a slow process to grow a company – you have to take little steps. We need more access to capital for development and distribution.’

Putting together the last 15% of financing to greenlight a show is also where the smaller companies run into trouble. ‘A public company can say we have a cash flow, our releasing division will buy world rights and the show gets made,’ says Brown. ‘Meanwhile, at a smaller private company you have to try to sell off every last territory to find that final 5%.’

That’s why it’s important that Credo has initiated a distribution division, continues Brown, although such a venture takes a long time to build.

Finding ways to get more producers to market to develop international partnerships is another avenue to growth which mmpia is targeting. To spur coproduction opportunities, mmpia has developed a u.k.-Ireland Trade Mission that will offer six producers the chance to immerse themselves in the u.k. and Irish film and tv markets and team up with potential partners.

Brown, one of the mission participants, also notes the importance of making trips to l.a. He met with Creative Artists Agency recently and says they had no idea Manitoba had a tax credit without any Cancon requirements, despite all of the province’s marketing effort. caa has now brought a series proposal to him that is in an early discussion phase.

In its ongoing marketing efforts, mmpia is set to launch its website, which will feature membership profiles and production opportunities in the province.

mmpia is also working on an economic impact study analyzing the film and tv industry’s economic spin-offs on the province. This will be the first such study since the introduction of the tax credit and equity program.

Crew training remains an on-going effort in Manitoba. Film Training Manitoba is celebrating its first anniversary as a separate organization from mmpia. While the past year’s efforts were centred on training new entrants to the industry, the coming year will be focused on upgrading the skill set of existing crew, says executive director Valerie Shantz.

In the fall, four projects shot at once. Although some crew were brought in from out-of-province, for the most part, the films were crewed locally.

Manitoba Film and Sound is planning to take steps to ensure the mentoring of new crew. Vivier says that the guidelines are being strengthened so that when the agency participates as an equity investor in a project, it will insist that a minimum number of local trainees are placed on the project (not including those involved in the deeming provision) and will look for a minimum number of Manitoba directors placed on a series it invests in.

All agree that a healthy amount of service production is important to grow the crew base in the province. However, Brown says he has had difficulties trying to bring low-budget projects to shoot in Manitoba. While Ontario and British Columbia unions and guilds will sometimes sanction a non-union shoot for half the rates on low-budget projects, the unions and guilds will not allow non-union shoots. He says as a result, he has lost a number of projects to the u.s. or Vancouver, where the rates made the financing possible.

Developing above-the-line talent – writers, directors, producers – will be a big push in the upcoming year.

Manitoba Film and Sound has recently introduced a low-budget feature film program to foster new talent and mmpia Film Training Manitoba, The Winnipeg Film Group and the National Screen Institute are looking at a co-ordinated training initiative for above-the-line talent.

Buffalo Gal Pictures has also been very active on this front and made a successful business out of attaching itself to a variety of emerging local writers and directors and helping them get their projects made. The company’s slate includes an upcoming documentary project with Paula Kelly (The Notorious Mrs. Armstrong) and another with Jeff McKay. Laing says the company will also continue its highly successful work in inter-provincial coproductions, including an upcoming documentary series with Sound Venture Productions.

Credo has also been taking a similar role. For example, Brown is exec producing Kanadiana, a first feature from Jon Einars-Gustafsson.

‘It is particularly hard on newer filmmakers,’ says Paula Kelly. ‘As a community, we need to develop a pool of producers who will be committed to working with talent that’s here – that has to be reinforced.’

The production industry has also set its sights on landing a high-profile dramatic series to push the local industry to a new level.

‘A few years ago there weren’t any prime-time series in Vancouver,’ points out Koster. ‘So it is possible. But opportunities have to be made. And if we do get that opportunity, we have to capitalize on it and develop local writers and story editors and directors. Our crews are top notch – we have developed our technical areas but we need to work on these other areas.’