Alberta is sometimes overlooked by potential clients and agencies who are scouting locations for commercial shoots – and many Alberta-based producers cannot understand why this is so. While major centres like Toronto and Vancouver often win out, Alberta, the meat in the sandwich that is Canada, isn’t one to cry. Producers say they are happy where they are and that business is booming – for now, anyway.

Apple Box Edmonton executive producer Missy Geffen reports business has been good over the winter and Frame 30 owner Michael Hamm and White Iron senior producer Simon Dekker concur. White Iron recently wrapped a spot for the Alberta and Prairie Ford Dealers through Young & Rubicam West. Dekker directed. The spots were for Ford’s Winstar and F150 pickup trucks, and Dekker says it was only natural to get an Alberta commercial house to do the job.

‘[Albertans] must buy at least 25% of the pickup trucks sold in the entire country, so it’s definitely a good place to do a truck ad,’ jokes Dekker.

Frame 30 saw out the last millenium with a year-long 20th anniversary celebration. Hamm, who bought out his partners to become the sole proprietor of Frame 30 in 1985, has just shot a new spot for the West Edmonton Mall, which, he admits, was a little tricky to shoot. It involved a stylishly dressed woman attached to a bungee cord dropping from the sky. Filmed against a green screen, the job required a lot of production and much post work, which was completed at Studio Post.

According to Dekker, a post job like the one done for Hamm’s West Edmonton Mall spot is becoming less of a problem to do in-province, because Alberta is developing an ‘increasingly strong post infrastructure.

‘We are seeing more Avid houses coming online and some great effects houses – with ours being one of them,’ he says. ‘We are in the process of testing digital technology and interface between analog and digital filmmaking.’

All is not exactly magical for Alberta commercial makers, however. Apple Box’s Geffen, who also oversees company activity in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, reports that although the company is having a bankable January and February, she anticipates a definite downturn for all Alberta commercial houses in the coming months.

‘I have some great concerns about the Prairies,’ Geffen admits. ‘We are seeing the merger of many companies and Alberta is turning out to be the loser in some of these situations.’

She explains: ‘When you look at the merger of Telus and BCTel – previously Telus would do a lot of work in Alberta. Whether it would be an Alberta production company or not, that whole issue aside, at least it was shot in Alberta. A bit of Telus business is still here but the bulk of the work is being done in b.c. now. We are seeing shrinking potential in the Prairies right now, and I’m sure this is just the beginning of these kinds of things.’

As a point of interest, Frame 30’s Hamm hints at some recent work for Telus, but could not elaborate.

Geffen also worries about the creative people she has worked with being hit with the same merger/progress plague the Alberta prodcos are facing. For her, the alarm sounded loudest when Shaw’s advertising went under agency review. She says she hasn’t a clue whether Shaw, which has traditionally explored many Alberta advertising avenues, will stay with Alberta creatives or head to a major centre.

She says it is a shame some clients end up founding new creative relationships elsewhere in the country given the creative work being churned out of Alberta currently.

‘We get to see a lot of top-notch creative and a lot of our directors comment to me that a lot of their best work comes out of the Alberta market,’ says Geffen.

Getting directors to Alberta is not a problem, say the producers. All three houses have strong affiliations with various production houses from across Canada. White Iron has strong ties with The Partners’ Film Company in Toronto; Apple Box, of course, shares its directors amongst its three offices (the other two being in Toronto and Vancouver), and Frame 30 reps many directors for Canadian West Coast work as well, including Hamm himself.

Dekker says Alberta’s varied terrain attracts many foreign and out-of-province creatives for shooting.

‘We have everything but the ocean,’ says Dekker. ‘We can really imitate a lot of different types of terrain, and the crews here really know how to work in the mountains and rig themselves up for the difficult stuff.’

Hamm says another advantage to shooting in Alberta is the all-important cost factor. He cites a recent TV Guide campaign he shot as an example.

‘They flew Jerry Stiller out here from New York for us and [the production] was still about $60,000 cheaper to do here than it would have been in Toronto – and it was a nice-looking spot,’ says Hamm. ‘We are between a third and 50% of what the major centres cost.’

Dekker sometimes worries about misconceptions foreign clients and agencies may have about the province.

‘I’m a bit of a booster because I’ve chosen to make my career here,’ he admits. ‘Having worked in Vancouver, Toronto, l.a., I know what being at an international level means. It’s not like clients would come out here to Alberta and some yokel is standing at the airport with a Betacam to do their commercial. We do productions at all levels.’