Ontario Premier Bob Rae left his lumps of coal at Queen’s Park and delivered a special stocking stuffer to Ontario producers this Christmas: renewal of the ofip program.

As of April 1, the ofip program will be renewed for three years (an extension of the previous two-year term), and the annual $14 million allocation remains unchanged.

At a Dec. 8 press conference to announce the ofip renewal, Rae pronounced the six-year-old film and television cash-rebate program ‘a runaway success,’ considering the estimated $1.23 in tax revenues generated by each ofip dollar spent.

Given the program’s past performance, Rae estimates the latest $42 million ofip allocation will result in 6,000 new jobs (the program created about 2,000 jobs for fiscal 1993/94) and will inject $350 million into film and television production in Ontario over the three-year renewal period.

According to the ofdc’s submission for renewal of ofip, each dollar spent on the program between 1992 and 1994 supported $8.30 of production in the province.

Following the 1988 implementation of a Quebec tax-incentive program and federal reduction of the Capital Cost Allowance from 100% to 30% the same year, ofip was created in 1989 to encourage high Cancon film and tv productions in Ontario. The program is administered by the ofdc.

In its application for renewal of ofip, permanent status and a demand-based funding allocation were at the top of the ofdc’s agenda. It didn’t get either.

‘I think people should know by now that we want the program to continue,’ Rae told the press gathering. ‘One of the reasons we are having a continuing review process is if something goes slightly wrong in the program – if we don’t think it’s producing the number of jobs it’s supposed to or the productivity is not essentially located in Ontario – then it’s important for us to be able to adjust it.’

Culture and Tourism Minister Anne Swarbrick says upcoming federal plans for funding had an impact on the decision for temporary status. ‘The federal government may be making some changes to their support of the film and tv industry so we want to also retain the ability to be flexible ourselves in the face of whatever changes they may make.’

While members of the industry, such as Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters head Dan Johnson and Alliance ceo Robert Lantos, agree permanent status would be preferable, the issue played second fiddle to news of the renewal.

‘Clearly it would be nicer if it was made permanent,’ says Johnson, ‘but at this point the industry will accept the renewal with gratitude.’

Alex Raffe, who joined the ofdc as ceo in November, speculates the request for demand-based funding was not on the table for long. ‘Even in the best of times, government doesn’t like demand-based funding. But I think in this fiscal environment we do have to take the existing money as a vote of faith,’ she says.

ofip’s renewal paper estimates that with final 1994 Ontario production figures expected to total about $400 million, there will be an $11 million increase in demand for ofip funding in ’95.

‘The pressure on funding will continue to increase, and I think that will cause us to re-evaluate our priorities,’ says Raffe. ‘If there is not enough for everyone, we can either say first come, first served until it runs out, or we can spread it differently so it is there all year. Let’s face it, a seasonal fund is not optimum.’

Alliance takes full advantage of the $2.75 million ofip cap, says Lantos, and the renewal means his company can continue to produce shows like Taking The Falls (and in the past, e.n.g.), which he says are high-risk, 100% Canadian programs.

‘Without ofip,’ he says, ‘these kinds of productions would make less economic sense for a bottom-line-oriented company such as ours.’

Lantos points out that it’s not only large companies that stand to benefit from the program. ‘(ofip) is even more important to smaller companies who do not have an international distribution infrastructure which would permit them to presell their product in the u.s., in Europe or in the Far East. Consequently, (they) rely far more on financing available at home, and that’s what ofip represents. ‘

ofip has consistently asked provincial government officials to secure approval as early as possible to allow producers to plan productions around the ofip allocation. Last time around, the decision came in January; this time it came a month earlier.

Steve Ord, vice-president of Atlantis Films, says the timing of the decision is crucial. ‘I think what’s very beneficial about the announcement is that it came in December when Atlantis and other production companies are planning next year’s production slate. By knowing this today, it will benefit our decisions in terms of shooting in Ontario.’

In 1994, between April 1 and year-end, ofip was tied to $16.7 million of Atlantis production budgets, and in the past two-and-a-half years has funded over $43 million in production.

Two months ago Raffe joined the ofdc to lobby for federal government support of the film and tv industry. What she has heard on Parliament Hill makes her all the more grateful for the renewal. ‘(The federal government) was reviewing every sunset program that they have with a view to axing them,’ she says.

The usual annual review process is underway at the ofdc, adds Raffe, but there are no plans to amend ofip as yet.

Johnson and his cafde colleagues are interested in having the ofip requirement of an Ontario-based distributor expanded to encompass all Canadian distributors. ‘We are certainly in favor of eliminating the interprovincial restrictions and we think that change is in the cards,’ he says.

The ofip renewal process entailed consultation from Nordicity Group, Informetrica (an economic consultation firm in Ottawa), Toronto-based Omnia Communications (which wrote the final report), and what Raffe calls ‘a very intense effort,’ which involved three months of steady government lobbying by ofdc staff and Ontario producers.