Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Seems Like Another Lean Summer for the Toronto Film and TV Industry
Erika is managing to break even with her expenses in terms of the work she is able to find these days, mainly getting jobs on second unit shoots and dailies on commercials.

It seems like the industry in Toronto has never really recovered from the SARs outbreak a while back, and the ever-strengthening Canadian dollar (or the weakening U.S. dollar, depending on how you look at it) along with Governor Schwartzenegger's efforts to keep film production in his state have all had their effect.

Bill mentioned to me on the commute back from work that he knew a couple who both work in the industry who are moving away from Toronto to Ottawa, where apparently there's at least some work happening. Dalton McGuinty a few years back put in legislation that gave film companies a further 10% discount (tax breaks, I think), for productions shot outside of Toronto, so as a consequence there's seemingly little save for local productions happening here. The two friends of Bill's who have headed Ottawa-way are both relatively young, and apparently the film unions aren't as strong there, which is another reason why they are heading up north.

With luck a steady gig may come up for Erika later this summer, but that is looking more and more like a faint hope. It's certainly frustrating for her, but she seems to be enjoying her role as mom, and she manages to get a lot of trumpet practice in these days.

Labels: film business