Cinema Canada (Mar 1982)

ment, and vice-versa. The tax shelter’s biggest drawback is that most units are sold from September to December, requiring the producer to take out some form of interim financing to pay the actual costs of production during the year. If a production has been shot with interim money, and the units in a taxshelter offering don’t sell, the interim financier may be left holding equity in a film he doesn’t really want. This far-toofrequent occurrence two years ago in the feature film business left many in vestors sour; but Macadam feels investors should not group television producers in with the feature film people. “In film, you have to keep re-investing in several] films to make money, but in television you can turn a.profit first time out,” he says, citing television's Contributors to this article: Playing With Time Inc. Kit Hood, Linda Schuyler M & M Productions Ltd. John Muller, Henia Muller Asterisk Film & Videotape Productions Ltd. David Springbett, Heather MacAndrew Atlantis Films Ltd. Michael MacMillan, Janice L. Platt, Seaton S, McLean Insight Production Company Ltd. John M. Brunton The Film Works Paul Stephens, Eric Jordan Norfolk Communications Ltd. William Macadam Primedia Productions Ltd. Richard Nielsen, Pat Ferns Magic Lantern Jerry McNabb smaller budgets and cheaper distribution costs— about 25 percent. The return on television, while not as high as ona successful feature, is steady and assured enough to keep investors happy. _ Both Macadam and Nielsen feel their companies have outgrown the tax shelter as their primary means of financing production, and now rely more heavily on pre-sale agreements. Says Nielsen: “The rule is: if you can pre-sell, you don’t need private investment; if you can’t pre-sell, you shouldn't go looking for it.” But if a project’s shortfall is between 15-20 percent, both will use the tax shelter as a necessary means of raising additional money. Macadam also recognizes the tax shelters worth to young production companies, stressing how it was instrumental in Norfolk's early years, until the company had built up its track record and co-production contacts. With a change in the CCA scheduled for the end of 1982 (from 100 percent to 50 percent the first year, 50 percent the second), both Macadam and Nielsen urge that new incentives be established for the independent production indus try. Macadam feels investment should | be encouraged in production companies, as opposed to individual films, and proposes the establishment of a revolving pool of interim financing funds, cross-collateralized against a number of films, with equity in the production company offered as an incentive to investors. Nielsen would like to see government policy require the CBC to buy 25 percent of its programming from independents, give tax breaks to sponsors of Canadian programming, and alter the present Canadian content regulations, which now encourage low budget production, to encourage more drama, entertainment, and variety programming. At relatively large scale companies like Norfolk and Primedia, Macadam and Nielsen essentially serve as pro a « 2a ps ee Poe, ducers — developing projects, raising money, and overseeing production. But the people in charge of the smaller independent houses, MacMillan, McLean, and Platt at Atlantis, John Brunton at Insight Productions, and John Muller at M & M Films, see themselves not just as producers, but as filmmakers. It’s the very nature of the independent production community not only to make the deals, but to make the films as well. “That's the fun, going out on a shoot. Missing out on that is like missing out on the dessert after a meal,” says McLean, who thinks of himself as an editor before a producer. To produce films independently, a filmmaker must be ver satile, flexible, and not above the most menial task; what David Springbett calls “hyphenates” — writer-directors, Bee, ’ producer editors, even producer-drivers — their function not limited to a fixed and limited role. __ In Toronto, where many successful independents are based, there isa spirit of co-operation among the independent production community. Everybody seems to either be working or have worked with everybody else. Last year, Atlantis did a co-production with M&M, Vincent Price’s Dracula, on which all five of the companies’ principals (MacMillan, McLean, Platt, John and Henia Muller) produced; Muller directed and McLean edited as well. David Springbett did the sound on another Atlantis project, Chambers: Tracks and Gestures. Kit Hood, who produces children’s drama, ‘edited Springbett’s children’s documentary series, The World’s Children. “The general philosophy of the small producers is that when one works, we all work,” says Heather MacAndrew, Springbett’s wife and partner at Asterisk Films. “There's a good feeling among us, that we’re all in this together.” Companies like Atlantis, Insight, and M & M have worked hard to earn themselves some financial and creative security within a volatile industry, and they work equally hard at keeping it. They want to continue exploring different areas of production without being overwhelmed by the mechanisms in volved, and know the mistakes which can quickly ruin an independent — growing too fast, overestimating one’s capabilities, and the biggest mistake, spending too much money. “We don’t want to turn into a film factory,” says Brunton. “I don’t ever want to get too far from the project. It takes so long to make a film that I want to make sure the subject matter I deal with is something I have a strong feeling for. Right now, I'm comfortable with our size. We’re small, but still capable of doing a big project.” As one of the few Canadian independents to have worked ona contract basis _for an American network program, Brunton knows both the advantages and difficulties of doing big-time work on someone else’s schedule. In 1979, George Schlatter, producer for NBC’s Gold, a three-part series of one hour episodes on the history of Canadian performers in rock and roll, is being financed by the CBC and a corporate sponsor, Labatt’s Brewery. Brunton is critical of his fellow independents’ dealing with the networks. “It’s a misconception for independents to think the Canadian networks have an obligation to buy their shows simply because theyre Canadian,” says Brunton. “The independents have not been creative enough in bringing other people into the deal. The networks are open to deals being structured in a more inventive way, but the onus shouldn't completely be on the networks.” Right now, the focal point for Canada’s independent production community is the CBC, which no doubt will continue tes ( ( ve @ Director John Muller works with Vincent Price’s Dracula: Atlantis/M & M Productions Real People and Speak Up, America, was impressed with a film Brunton had made with Peter Shatalow, Beaver River Rat Race. Calling Brunton in Toronto, Schlatter suggested they “talk sometime” ; Brunton flew to Los Angeles the next day, appearing in Schlatter’s office that afternoon. “We made the deal right there,” Brunton recalls, “a handshake, I had a cheque in my hand that afternoon, and we began shooting the next week.” Brunton and his Insight team of Ian Patterson, Cathy Gulkin, Ann Mayall, Susan Hutt, and John Brooke hit the road for Schlatter, criss-crossing North America to shoot short ‘documentary-entertainment’ pieces for his two shows. “Flying by the seat of your pants production,” is how Brunton describes the experience, which saw them handling such diverse topics as heavyweight skiing and the Love Canal issue often in the same week. “As exciting as it was, it was frustrating not to be able to pre-plan,” says Brunton, After producing between 30-40 short films for Schlatter, Brunton énded the deal because he felt Insight had learned enough. It’s an issue all successful independents inevitably face, “Do you dig deeper into one area in which you have gained a lot of expertise, or do you goon to something else ?” asks Brunton. “We decided to look for a new direction.” Brunton’s latest project, Heart Of @ McLean, MacMillan, and Platt of Atlantis to be an important buyer even after Canadian pay-TV is introduced. Often, an independent'’s success is directly proportional to how well he or she gets along with the CBC. John Brunton feels the keys to dealing with the CBC are both communication and _ patience. “Often seven or eight people are involved in a deal, and each of them has to know what's going on. The people who get upset with a deal’s progress at the various stages of the negotiations don't understand the CBC's internal system, its checks and balances. Even the most powerful person in the organization must go through a process that requires a lot of other people's input.” Brunton stresses the importance of carefully planning a project. “A proposal isn't even close enough. You must approach Cinema CanadaMarch 1982/21