Sunday, December 12, 1999 — forth Shore News - 3 SUNDAY FOCUS Local independent producers hustle to raise needed capital Layne Christensen News Reporter ichristensen@nsnews.com CELEBRITY sightings have become second nature to Vancouverites as the city has become the fastest growing film centre in North America. As mobile dressing rooms clutter the streets and spot- lights illuminate the night sky, it’s net uncommon to spot a Hollywood star at the corner Starbucks. Filming in Vancourer this week alone are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Parker Posey, Bridget Fonda and Billy Zane. 2 American productions comprise 80% of films shor in Vancouver. This year, spending in the province by the motion picture industry will approach $1 billion. That figure has grown from $12 million per annum in the fate *70s, mak- ing Vancouver the third largest film centre in North America in terms of production dollars. Budgets on American productions can routinely run into the hundreds of millions. At the same time, local filmmakers, working with budgets that are a fraction of that, are starting, to get their share of the spotlight. Filmmakers like Scott Kennedy and Bill Thumm of North Vancouver’s Cadence Entertainment. Their most recent film, Tad! Lights Fade, opened to mix reviews last week. Described as a breakneck road journey of self-discovery for four twenry-somcthings, the film stars Jake Busey, Elizabeth Berkley and Bond Girl Denise Richards. It was made for $3 million. “That's the donut and coftee budget for an American blockbuster,” says Thumm, who is only half joking. > Both Thumm and Kennedy say that working in the shad- ow of American production is a double-edged sword. The upside is that “we’re able to access world-class crews because there’s been so much American production service work done here,” says Kennedy. “We've got all the materials you'd ever need to make high-quality product here.” The downside, says Thumm, is that while the standard of expertise has risen considerably, so has the cost of making a movie. “Generally speaking, the prices that that the studio pro- ductions pay (cast and crew) are certainly beyond the kind of budgets that we're dealing with,” he says. “Having said thar, there are plenty of people and companies who will work or give their services to somebody like us for less than they would for an Anicrican production coming in.” “There definitely are people here who make the big bucks who nonctheless go out of their way to support indigenous “production,” says Thumm. Close to 100% of the television shows and feature films and productions being made at North Van's Lions Gare “" Studios are American-based, says company vice-president and general manager Peter Leitch. Lions Gate’s Brooksbank Avenue studios are operating at - full occupancy. Currently shooting on the North Vancouver tilm fot are Sixch ~. Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Get Carter with Syivester Stallonc, as well as the TV mini-series Soul Survivor. In order to service growing demand, the studios added 2 new sound siage, the seventh and largest on the site, com- pleted this past September. o. ._ Servicing American productions helps advance the work of Canadian film: makers like Thumm and Kennedy, says Leitch, “It's the American-based industry that allows us to develop the talent pool to produce indigenous products,” he says. At the same time, “we're very wary that the industry can be very portable and so we're looking at making sure we continue to provide good service here so we can raaintain. the industry in British Columbia.” To that end, Lions Gate has begun to develop its own television productions. Productions like Higher Ground, a new one-hour series which began shooting at the studios last July. Voyageur Film Capital Corp. is one of a handful of Vancouver companies poised to capitalize on the growth of indigenous production. Founded in 1997 by Kathleen Martin and Shelley Kirk, Voyageur is a publicly craded company that develops, produces and " DENISE Richards and Jake Busey star in tocally finances independent films and television programs through two subsidiaries, Voyageur Productions Ltd. and Cadence : prdouced Tail Lighis Fade. Entertainment, which it acquired in September. In November, Voyageur moved its offices from Yaletown to Lower - Lonsdale. . As Voyageur’s vice-president Shelley Kirk sees it, Vancouver’s motion-pic- ture industry is too valuable a resource to be wholly dependent on the vagaries : of American film and television production. : ... Companies that service American productions export raw talent like a lum- ber company exports raw lumber. Kirk says the Americans are using them as an assembly line on the produc- rowt NEWS photo Mike Weketicis KATHLEEN Martin (left) and Shelley Kirk, partners in Voyageur Film Capital Corp., moved their company’s offices from Yaletown to Lowers Lonsdale in November. tion service side, like going into the forest and cutting down trees, “We're try- ing to take thar log and buikd it into furniture and sell it outside of the coun- try,” Kirk says. Voyageur’s aim is to create value-added product, product thar interests the film-going public, and product that makes money for the company’s investors. Kirk says they develop, produce and sell a made-in-Canada product. “We're basically making a product in Vancouver that’s going to be scen all across Canada ard throughout the world .... a product that people will want to see and they’re going to be entertained by — a universally appealing story.” The investment community has been slow to sink their moncy into motion pictures, says Martin, who, with Kirk, left a career in the brokerage industry to form Cambridge Films Ltd. which later changed its name to Voyageur. “People know how to analyze mining,” says Martin, who uses a simple anal- ogy when explaining to investors used to dealing with resource-based economies how they can see a return on their investment. Voyageur’s development slate — an assortment of feature films, one-hour dramas for television, sitcoms, movies of the week and children’s programs the company has acquired but nor yet produced — is the gold mine. The process of development is like obtaining assays and core samples. Going to camera is the excavation. ; Cadence Entertainment struck gold last year with Rupert’s Land. The fea- ture fiim that starred George Wendt of Cliers, picked up six Leo awards includ- ing Bese Picture and was nominated for five Genies, the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars. The film’s producers, Scott Kennedy and Bill Thumm, also received critical acclaim for another "98 release, Kitchen Party, which won awards at the Vancouver, Turin and Atlanta international film festivals. In February, they'll start filming of Shiney’s Head, a black comedy that is a co-production with Subitoca Entertainment of Ireland, to be filmed entirely on the Emerald Isle. Cadence has seen its production budgets steadily increase from less than $1 million for Kitchen Party to $3 million for Rupert’s Land and Tail Lights Fade to an estimated $6.2 million for Shincy’s Head. Thumm recognizes the role that star power plays in financing film. “It’s pretty difficult to make anything now without having a name | attached,” says Thumm, who in the next couple of weeks will announce the signing of 2 Hollywood heavyweight to star in Shiney’s Head. Still, at the end of the day, what really counts is the story, that and “bring- ing out a product that has a level of quality to it that will hold up on a big screen.” “When it comes down to it, success will breed more success,” says Thumm. Serving Hollywood locally THE business of making movies is a billion dollar industry for the province of B.C., with much of that activity taking place right here on the North Shore. Some examples of local busi- nesses that service the industry: Massey Productions Ltd. East St. James Rd., North Vancouver Raymond Massey has worked as an independent producer since °83. Ina partnership with Rand Film) Preductions, Massey last year produced My Father's Angel and Touched. More recently, he’s loaned out his production ser- vices to Suspicious River, an American-backed — production currently shooting in Vancouver, directed by Lynne Stopkewich and starring Molly Parker. Thomas Special Effects Ltd. 140 Riverside Dr., North Van Founded in *79 by Tohn and * Betty Thomas (Canada’s first female stunt coordinator), the company offers mechanical spe- cial effects, equipment, services, facilities and training to the film industry. Specialists in prop-mak- ing, the company is also a world Jeader in complex aerial rigging systems. Reel Appetites Charles Street, North Van Western Canada's largest mobile catering company has catered to the culinary tastes of Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Demi Moore and John Travolta. Under chef Jane Mundy and with a staff of 70, the company’s fleet of bubble-gum pink trucks has grown to seven (an eighth is in construction) and one dozen - support vans, Currently sampling the caterer’s fare: Bridget Fonda and Stanley Tucei on the set of The Whole Shebang. Sharpe Sound Studios Inc. 440 Brooksbank Ave., North Van This company has racked up a host of Genic and Gemini award nominations since it was founded in 1990 by Paul Sharpe and Jacqueline Cristianini. Located across the strect from Lions Gate Studios, the company cuts and mixes sound tracks for feature films and episodic television, employing a staff of 27 and sup- plying virtually full-time work to 29 freelance sound editors. Productions that have benefitted from Sharpe Sound include Aftershock, The Outer Limits, Stargate, Nothing Too Good For a Cowboy and the new Lions Gate Entertainment series Higher Ground. William F. White Ltd. 555 Brooksbank Ave., North Van One of the city’s largest suppliers of motion-picture production equipment including lighting, gtip, generator and dolly rentals. Headquartered in Toronto, the Vancouver branch moved to the North Shore (now Lions Gate) Studios lot in 89, employs a staff of 45 and has supplied equip- - ment for the motion pictures Jumanji, Rumble in the Bronx: and Gee Carter, starring Sylvester Stallone and currently in produc- tion at Lions Gate. , . — Layne Christensen