New digital products and technologies are driving the ability of filmmakers to do more with less.

That’s the message from the February Freeze, the annual pre-NAB Toronto trade show, this year at the William F. White International headquarters in Toronto.

“[New technology] adds to the efficiency of production,” Larry Lavoie, GM at Whites Digital Sales and Service, told Playback Daily as around 30 film, broadcast and live entertainment industry suppliers showcased their latest wares.

That includes labour, time and cost savings.

An example is new LED lighting, which use less electrical power than traditional HMI studio and location lighting systems. And being cooler than blistering-hot HMI lighting systems, LED lighting is safer and faster to take down and transport.

In addition, a LED lighting kit for remote location work enables a filmmaker to avoid a bright glare and spread the lighting more evenly for a documentary look.

“You don’t get that interview-style lighting like they have on CNN,” Lavoie said.

Access to the latest screen-based products and technologies comes as the lower Canadian dollar is expected to produce increased foreign location shooting here, especially by American producers.

“We could experience an uptick,” Paul Bronfman, Comweb Group chairman and CEO, said Tuesday.

Bronfman last month met with studio and production heads in Los Angeles, and heard sudden interest in added cost savings from shooting in Canada after years in which bean counters factored in the American and Canadian dollars at par.

“All in all, the Americans have definitely noticed,” he insisted.