In the B.C. film community, Peter Leitch has a reputation for being a savvy businessman, an articulate spokesperson for the local industry, and super nice guy. In his mind, these attributes aren’t dichotomies; they go hand-in-hand with success.

‘We are all very interdependent on each other,’ says the 54-year-old president of North Shore Studios and Mammoth Studios. ‘From facilities to equipment suppliers to crew, we all have to work together to provide great value to clients,’ he explains. ‘If we don’t have business coming to this province, I’m out of work, so being engaged in the industry helps my company.’

With a degree in commerce from the University of British Columbia, Leitch started his career as an accountant. In 1987, he joined Cannell Films as a controller, and eight years later took over management of its North Shore Studios. (The current owner of North Shore/Mammoth is Bosa Developments.)

A numbers junkie, Leitch confesses that one of his hobbies is ‘playing around on the stock market’ – an environment not much different than the volatile and unpredictable film and TV business. And making the right decisions, according to Leitch, involves taking calculated risks based on historic knowledge.

One of B.C.’s biggest gambles is its reliance on a low Canadian dollar to lure American studios north and ultimately keep the industry’s large crew base working and vast infrastructure running at capacity. This concerns Leitch, because an industry’s fortunes can’t be left up to the random chance of a fluctuating dollar.

‘We don’t expect the dollar to increase dramatically in 2009, so we should have a fairly decent year, but we can’t rely on the low dollar alone, as it is going to creep up there again in the next five years,’ he warns, adding: ‘Last year, with the dollar at par, we saw that we could survive, but it wasn’t great for business. There’s too much competition from U.S. states.’

Diversifying the local industry is critical. But rather than focusing on increasing indigenous production alone, Leitch suggests that the best strategy is growing B.C. production companies with the capability to produce for the world market. He applauds the fact that the province has announced it will allow foreign investors to finance B.C. production companies without making them ineligible for the domestic tax credit.

‘As long as the management is here, wherever you can get the dollars isn’t as relevant as it once was,’ he says.

Many provinces have increased their tax credits over the last couple years. As a result, the federal government is paying out less because it deducts the provincial rebate before calculating the value of its tax credit. Leitch would like to see this ‘grind’ eliminated as another means to increase Canada’s desirability as a place to shoot.

‘We have to keep our eye on the ball and continue to make changes to stay competitive,’ he says. ‘Once the tide turns and you start to lose business, it can be a quick fall. You are only as good as your last project.’

Soft-spoken and quick to smile, Leitch exudes patience and calm – which stands in marked contrast to the stressful, fast pace of the production world he inhabits.

This demeanor has served him well in a business built on relationships. Leitch attributes much of the success of the studios he heads to the fact that customer service is top priority – and he doesn’t get too comfortable in his office at North Shore.

‘It’s easy to sit here and make phone calls, but instead I meet with clients in the studios and get a sense of how things are going,’ he explains. ‘You have to stay engaged with your clients, win them over every single day. In many ways, we are in the hospitality business. Just like a restaurant, if a customer has a bad experience they won’t come back. We depend on repeat business, so we can’t afford that.’