For location scouts, pictures speak louder than words, which is why they source potential shoot sites by researching location libraries’ digital pic archives. But Donna Zuchlinski, manager of industry development at the Ontario Media Development Corp, insists seeing is believing.

So the Ontario production support agency last week hosted a three-day tour of Toronto film and TV facilities for foreign producers.

Zuchlinski said the VIP tour aimed to introduce mostly U.S. indie film and TV producers to industry stakeholders, local soundstages and post facilities, as well as tax credits and other subsidies on offer to foreign location shoots.

She added that assisting Hollywood producers to shoot in Ontario calls for far more these days than making the numbers work.

“The landscape has changed and now it’s all about who has the best package,” she told Playback Daily.

The last OMDC VIP tour in 2008 featured production execs primarily from Hollywood studios and networks, and showcased the then newly launched Filmport studio on Toronto’s Portlands, before it was rebranded as Pinewood Toronto Studios.

This year’s tour included 11 reps from mostly indie producers, including Summit Entertainment, CBS Films, River Road Entertainment, Focus Features and Sony Screen Gems. Most had not yet visited Toronto or shot on location in Ontario.

The three-day tour encompassed the Showline, Pinewood Toronto Studios and Cinespace Studio complexes, the Deluxe and Technicolor post facilities, and varied locations in Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Falls.

The American execs also met with local players in production, post, visual effects and interactive digital media, and heard about the latest developments in Ontario’s stereoscopic 3D production sector.

Zuchlinski said laying the ground for future foreign location shoots in Ontario takes time.

“It’s all about introducing them to the locations and personnel, so that we’ll be top of mind when they have a future project in mind,” she explained.