B.C. Film budget slashed

Anyone requiring a reminder of the close link between Canadian cultural identity, hockey and advertising need look no further than the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Shots & Chasers tracks who shot what during the previous month. Production companies are invited to fax information for this column as frequently as possible to Michelle Hille at (416) 408-0870. If you require a Shots & Chasers submission form, call Hille at (416) 408-2300 x225. The next deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 20.

In the Feb. 4 Issue, On The Spot wrongly named Apple Box Productions as representing Mitch Gabourie (‘ABP cements Saturday morning status with Gentile.’). This, the prodco tells us, is no longer the case.

In the past week alone I received three phone calls from the mainstream press seeking my perspective on the status and consequences of runaway production, or better, the anti-runaway campaign. The first call was par for the course as the overheating issue of runaway production has the ongoing appeal for a hot, sexy news feature, despite its overplay in the consumer media (but hey, who can pass up a story that shows the U.S. threatened by Canada?), and Playback is often called on the subject.

Reading about the CFTPA conference, I get the feeling that producers don’t talk to anybody except bureaucrats and never go anywhere except to film festivals and conferences. How else to explain how little English-Canadian producers know about what their audiences want?

Due to a typo in the Feb. 18 issue of Playback, the number of Rogers Cable’s digital subscribers was wrongly pegged at 65,000 (‘Diginet sign-ups on the rise’). The actual figure was meant to read 265,000.

53.97% of Playback poll respondents believe a new, massive soundstage in Toronto will increase production volume in Canada.

Montreal: Both industrial players and program creators in the Canadian broadcasting system want government to create a better balance between economics and culture, but the two sides continue to deliver diametrically opposed solutions.

* Louise Baillargeon has been promoted to senior VP of the CTF. Baillargeon joined the CTF in 2000 as senior director, French policy and Montreal corporate affairs.

Stornoway president and CEO Martha Fusca maintains that her company is here to stay, but a recent restructuring that led to the layoff of half its stable of production and technical-support staff in early February suggests that the broadcasting upstart has been in over its head.

Technology has made special effects a regular component of spot production. However, in these cost-cutting times, special effects, often perceived to be too expensive, may be the first thing slashed from a commercial budget.
The economic slowdown may cause producers to shy away from using effects that will dramatically increase their budgets. Therefore, offering the most for the least amount of money is more important than ever in a competitive market. Effects houses are using creative problem-solving techniques to keep the business coming their way.