It’s business as usual. That’s the message Corus Entertainment wants to send to the film community after cutting 53 jobs and shutting down the creative affairs office at Movie Central in Vancouver last week.

‘The closure of the Vancouver office in no way means that we are making any changes to our commitment level. We won’t be on the ground out there, but we will make sure the production community gets the kind of attention they are used to,’ MC’s director of programming Erica Benson told Playback Daily. Benson will be taking over for Shelley Gillen, who lost her job as the director of creative affairs at Movie Central.

‘Shelley Gillen has been tremendous in the industry in terms of advocacy with western producers and we are going to continue to do that,’ says Benson, responding to an outcry from Western Canada’s production community over the loss of Gillen.

‘Most of the comments I’m getting from producers reflect shock and disappointment. There are no other broadcasters besides Citytv working in feature film with western development offices,’ says Tara Walker, the head of the Manitoba Motion Picture Industry Association. Walker says her members fear that they will have to start from scratch with Movie Central now.

But Benson maintains she’s got solid contacts out west. ‘I’m pretty familiar with the western-based production community. I’m no stranger to them and I’m not a neophyte when it comes to features or drama series.’

Prior to her tenure at Corus, Benson worked as the director of Canadian independent production at Astral Media’s The Movie Network. In 2000, she joined Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting and worked in various positions, including as VP of programming for Life Network and Discovery Health Channel. As the director of original programming for Showcase, she was responsible for the development and production of the first season of Trailer Park Boys. Benson also worked at CBC and at the Canadian Television Fund.

Although she says Corus will continue to invest in features, Benson was unable to specify how much cash was available or how many projects the company had financed in the past. ‘It varies every year. Production timelines vary considerably. We make a commitment and it gets to air. There is no way of quantifying that in a way that it makes any sense.’

This spring the radio and cable broadcaster reported that it earned a net income of $29.6 million (or $0.68 a share) for the three months ending May 31, up from a profit of $23.2 million ($0.54 a share) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $197.6 million, up 9% for the same period last year.

In September, it released financial targets for 2008, which are slightly higher than in ’07. In fiscal ’08, Corus expects free cash flow between $90 million and $110 million and consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of up to $260 million. The company will report results for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31 on Oct. 25.