‘It’s a matter of economics. We’re small. In order to survive, we have to give people something they can’t get anywhere else.’

The City of Toronto must step up in support of its production studios. Not just some, but all.

Playback’s annual 10 to Watch list, featured in this issue, is heartening in how it demonstrates the wealth of young talent in this country, and yet somewhat unnerving when one considers what may lie ahead for these promising artists.

In this issue, we feature a special report on Production in Ontario (p. 27), tracking the remarkable resurgence that the province’s feature film service sector is currently enjoying. It’s a good news story. We also have a tribute to producer Don Carmody (p. 15), who has enjoyed spectacular success making movies in Toronto and elsewhere.

No producer straddles Hollywood and Hollywood North on the same scale as Don Carmody. On one hand, Carmody can boast of producing the most commercially successful Canadian film ever, Porky’s (along with writer/director Bob Clark), as well as having produced other top Canuck grossers Johnny Mnemonic and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Meanwhile, he has also played gun-for-hire on numerous Hollywood features that have shot north of the 49th, including Gothika, City by the Sea, Lucky Number Slevin, and, most notably, best-picture Oscar winner Chicago.

Of his many films, the project that Carmody ranks as his proudest achievement is Chicago, which he coproduced. He was brought on the film by repeat employer Miramax, and worked on it for six years, through three different directors and four different screenwriters. Miramax was considering shooting in Toronto, New York or London.

French-Canadian period drama Le Survenant continues its box-office domination among domestic films. By the end of May, after five weeks on Quebec screens, the Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm release neared $3 million in receipts. Directed by Le Dernier tunnel’s Erik Canuel and starring Jean-Nicolas Verreault, the Vision 4 production adapts a classic Quebec novel about a stranger who shakes up a turn-of-the-century town.

Shadow Pleasures was the big winner at Saskatchewan’s Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival – its biggest, in fact, in the 58-year-old fest’s history. The one-hour performance film, directed by renowned choreographer and former ballerina Victoria Tennant and written and narrated by author Michael Ondaatje, took home an unprecedented seven Golden Sheaf Awards.

Traditionally at the Banff television fest, top Canadian TV programs vie for Rockie Awards against the world’s best. This year, they will also compete with one another.

It was nearly one year ago that post-production giant Technicolor acquired struggling local player Command Post and Transfer, and in so doing grabbed a foothold in English Canada’s two largest markets. The past few months have seen Technicolor busy with the labor-intensive task of bringing the facilities it picked up in the deal – the Toybox video and audio post outfits and alphacine labs in Toronto and Vancouver – on par with its other locations. It is all a crucial part of a global strategy for the company, which celebrates its 90th birthday this year.

With Toronto gearing up for a busy summer of guest production, Deluxe Sound & Picture expects to be up and running on the cutting edge of video post by mid-June.

Tattersall and friends bring home a BAFTA