Considering Canada’s dwindling funding pool, it’s potentially good news for producers in search of backers that the rise of Turner, Showtime and the like are creating an appetite for content on u.s. cable. There isn’t ever going to be a way to finance high-end, one-off drama productions solely in this country, and with the demand for content increasing down south, it’s theoretically more possible to sell them, say broadcast execs.

But before anyone gets too excited by the Captive Heart scenario – produced by CanWest Global in simulcast with cbs, which absorbed the majority of the $6 million price tag, kicked in promotion and made for an mow bound for recoupment – the development powers at cbc and the private networks caution that a needy foreign market isn’t liquefying the usual nightmares associated with coproduction or making cobbling funding together a simpler process.

Captive Heart, which aired April 14 North America-wide, and will likely draw a profit, can’t be considered a prototype for making money on a clearly Canadian story, says Loren Mawhinney, national director of Canadian production at CanWest.

‘It was unusual in that Global was the active partner who optioned the creative and then went out to find the producer and the u.s. end user. But it’s an anomaly, not a trend.’

CanWest is series-oriented, developing only four to six mows throughout the year, which won’t change despite a profit margin on Captive Heart, says Mawhinney.

‘We’re not in the business of competing with our Canadian suppliers and do only four to six mows a year. But at the same time, we’re sentient beings and if we see a good story we may consider doing it again.’

Arthur Weinthal, vp entertainment programming at ctv, points to Due South and the Alliance-produced Harlequin Romance mow series running on cbs as examples that u.s. distribution of Canadian-produced work is becoming ‘more possible.’

‘But at the end of the day, the financing is what it’s all about. We need partners and it’s becoming more possible to get them, but you run the risk of having the Canadianism diluted. If you want to be a producer in Canada, drama still isn’t the smartest move.’

cbc exec Jim Burt says funding cuts are propelling a renewed emphasis on coproductions, but says particularly with the u.s. broadcasters, an international partner still wants to know you’ve got the Canadian funding in place before making a move, and even then, problems are inherent.

Case in point, cbc’s nixing a proposed simulcast with abc on the Kicking Horse Productions-produced Legend of Ruby Silver because the u.s. net wanted to air it in a Saturday night slot and hnic wasn’t a movable entity.

A more accessible foreign market isn’t making it much easier to access foreign partnerships, Burt concludes.

‘Production is definitely trending towards finding coproduction partners, but that’s part of the nailing down of financing, which isn’t getting any easier. Creative thinking to finance drama is a growing trend, particularly with so much Telefilm money going to series and children’s programming. We’re looking for any strategy we can find, and there may end up being as many strategies as there are productions. ‘