In this special report, Playback steps back to look at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the issues surrounding production in Quebec. Included are interviews with producers, distributors, funding agency managers and service providers on a range of topics including the benefits and trends of production in Quebec, the simmering conflict between domestic and location interests, developments in deal-making, acquisitions and coproductions with European partners, and the lay of the land at WFF. Stories by Leo Rice-Barker.

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The apftq, which has just over 100 production company members in Quebec, recently pulled out of promotion group Initiative Quebec.

apftq chairman Andre Picard says the producers have played a helpful role, but the situation has evolved to a point where the top technicians ‘are being put on retainer’ and location costs in some cases have gone through the roof.

City of Montreal film commissioner Andre Lafond agrees the growing presence of u.s. and coventured shoots in Quebec has created ‘an expansion problem,’ but he says a backlash isn’t the answer.

‘Let’s assume we kick everybody out. We still won’t get more Quebecois productions,’ he says. ‘It’s a new situation and we have to manage it very intelligently.’

Current u.s. feature action in Quebec this year includes Waking the Dead (egg Pictures/PolyGram), Where the Money Is (Scott Free/PolyGram), Isn’t She Great (Universal Pictures) and The Bone Collector (Universal), the latter representing an estimated $60-million injection in Montreal’s economy.

Lafond says Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque is a major production industry supporter.

‘I don’t want to be political, but the mayor is personally involved in the development of the industry and he follows this almost on a daily basis.’ Bourque played a key role in bringing the Brian De Palma shoot Snake Eyes (Paramount) here in ’97, he says.

As far as promoting the city is concerned, Lafond says the positive experience of Snake Eyes played a ‘flagship’ role in bringing in new studio movies.

More coventures

Coventures with Montreal partners are arguably even more important for the development of the industry than location shoots.

Coventure highlights in ’98 include tv series from Telescene Film Group (The Hunger ii, Student Bodies), Filmline International (Jules Verne), a $30-million-a-year investment, Productions La Fete (Family) and Cinar Films (Shelby Woo, Sci Squad, Lassie ii.)

Other Quebec production highlights this season include two domestic tv series, Rose Films’ Juliette Pomerleau and Productions sda’s Omerta iii, the Richard Attenborough feature film Grey Owl (Transfilm/Allied Filmmakers), Eye of the Beholder (Filmline), Dead Ahead (Allegro/ Turner), Babel (Allegro/Ima Films), Time At The Top (Taurus 7/Showtime) and SOF Special Ops Forces (Simpson/Brickheimer), an action series syndicated by Rysher.

Initiative Quebec

Jean-Charles Tremblay, a board member and founding president of Initiative Quebec and president of sound studio Groupe Marko, says the city’s leading post houses are investing millions of dollars in major upgrades. ‘Everybody is perking up their operations, adding studios,’ he says.

Tremblay says the promotion game ‘is like a locomotive.’

First, the city had to win credibility as a major shooting center, he says, and eventually benefits will flow to all sectors.

While the first to benefit have been services like the laboratories, technicians and studios, providers such as Marko and some of the other editing services are starting to see results.

‘We are far along on the food chain, but if you don’t start with the shooting, I doubt if you’re going to come here only for the post,’ Tremblay says.

Tremblay agrees coventures are especially important because the posting is done in Montreal.

iq has some 20 members including technical services houses (AstralTech, Covitec, Metaphore, Modulations, Marko, Locations Michel Trudel, etc.), location promotion agencies including Bureau du Film – Region Quebec (Quebec City), film unions including the stcvq and actra, representing English-speaking talent, and legal (Heenan Blaikie) and financial advisors including the Royal Bank.