Canada film biz booms despite weak greenback

Etan Vlessing
Reuters

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Despite a soaring Canadian dollar, now at a 30-year high against the American greenback, Canadian studio operators are reporting brisk business here as the major Hollywood studios stockpile product ahead of possible labor strife back home.

The Canadian dollar touched 96.46 cents in value Tuesday compared with the U.S. dollar. But despite the Canadian dollar nearing parity with its U.S. counterpart -- making it more expensive for filmmakers to shoot north of the border -- Hollywood film and TV shooting here is booming.

"It's pretty hot right now. The studios are ramping up production to build an inventory in case there are strikes," Quebec film commissioner Hans Fraikin said Tuesday. Local shoots in the province include the Brad Pitt film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Mummy 3."

Toronto also has seen strong in-flows of production dollars from Los Angeles. New Line Cinema is shooting "The Time Traveler's Wife"; Marvel Studios is shooting "The Incredible Hulk," which stars Edward Norton and Liv Tyler; and Christina Applegate and Rainn Wilson are headlining "The Rocker," a Fox Atomic theatrical comedy.

"It really does go against logic to suggest that production is up when the dollar is meeting new highs, but that's the case," said Paul Bronfman, chairman and CEO at production equipment supplier ComWeb Group.

The Writers Guild of America is in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the employers' bargaining arm, for a new film and TV contract, with the current pact set to expire October 31. The main film and TV contracts at the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America run through June 30.

Major studios have been ordering extra episodes of hit TV shows and developing more reality programming to fill the airwaves in case writers or other talent walk at some point. Sources also suggest there's a discernible hurry-up in film development of all sorts.

Despite such reports, guild officials in Los Angeles signaled relative nonchalance on the issue.

"Our general perspective is that stockpiling has never been a significant factor in a negotiations," WGA West assistant executive director Charles Slocum said. "We'd rather see the companies devoting resources to negotiating."

Meantime, Toronto studio operators say they are enjoying the boom, however long it lasts.

"The good news is, at 96 cents, we're still getting exploratory phone calls from Los Angeles for projects beginning late this year and early next year," said Jim Mirkopoulos, vp facility management at Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto.

Cinespace is hosting Paramount's Mike Myers starrer "The Love Guru," Twisted Pictures' "Repo! The Genetic Opera" and "The Echo," produced by veteran Canadian producer Don Carmody ("Chicago").

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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