American Cinematographer - September 2000 - 129

production is rivaled by the west
coast province of British Columbia,
where production is concentrated in
the city of Vancouver. Although B.C.
had fewer productions than Toronto
last year (198), more production
dollars were spent there - U.S. $723
million

($449 million

productions,
Canadian

$274

ones),

on

million
compared

U.S.
on

to

Toronto's total of $564 million ($284
million on U.S. productions, $280
million

on

Canadian shows). These

statistics indicate that B.C. is benefit-

ting from bigger-budget Hollywood
productions, which is not surprising
given that it is twice as close to Los
Angeles as Toronto and its milder
shore climate enables it

to

facilitate

year-round shooting.
Film

and

TV

activity in

Montreal, the biggest city in the

French-language

province

of

labor

produc¬
tions, and in an effort to spread the
wealth to the province's smaller cities
and towns, the agency awards a 3
percent bonus to productions with at
least five shooting days in Ontario
and at least 85 percent of location
days in Ontario outside the GTA.

with $490 million in
production spending, including
$144 million in foreign production,
mostly from America. Montreal
hosted the biggest production yet to
come

to

Canada, the $80 million

Warner Bros, sci-fi flick

that

reasons

decided

to

a

deemed

border

shooting on

Rollerball.
The increased presence

of U.S.
productions in Canada is due
primarily to the favorable exchange
rate; the American dollar is currently
valued at nearly $1.50 Canadian,
which translates into significant,
instant
savings for American
productions. Toronto, which has
hosted mostly small- and mediumbudget Hollywood projects, is
attempting to convince the heavy
hitters that it's worth making the
trip, and the provincial government
has sweetened the deal with tax
incentives.

The

publicly funded
Ontario
Film
Development
Corporation offers an 11 percent
refundable tax credit

on

the Ontario

summer

block¬

visual-effects extravaganza, but that

was

when director John McTiernan rolls
commence

shoot its

cost-saving
Century Fox

environs. The studio wanted to craft

America

the $85 million MGM remake of

20th

buster X-Men in Toronto and its

Battlefield
Earth, and that will be surpassed
into town to

for these

is

It

Quebec, has skyrocketed in the past
few years,

of foreign-based

costs

million

impossible to achieve in

within

the

film's

$75

budget. By crossing the
to

shoot in Toronto, the

production's budget blossomed to
Cdn.$l 10 million, allowing the film¬
makers to achieve the film they had
envisioned and giving the city its
biggest production to date.
The X-Men producers were
confident that Toronto had the infra¬
structure necessary

to realize such a

the film's climactic battle

facility
enough, however, and XMen required some additional work
at Cinespace Studios and on a
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
TV soundstage. The film's director of
photography, Newton Thomas Sigel,
ASC, acknowledged the quality of
Toronto stages but expressed frustra¬
tion at the overall lack of space (see
AC July '00). The Canadian newspa¬
per The Globe and Mail recently
reported that in the summer of 2000,
the city's soundstages were booked
solid, forcing productions to travel as
far as Calgary to shoot in military
hangars that had been converted into
was

not

studio spaces.
Film and TV
Toronto is

summer

and fall. October 1

That kind of volume

colossal
cated

crews,

at

Showline Harbourside Studios,

which contains three

soundstages -
7,000 square feet, 11,000 square feet
and 14,000 square feet. The rooms
are
usually booked by three separate
productions, but X-Men required all
three. The largest stage housed what
is reportedly the largest bluescreen
ever built,
along with a specially
constructed scale mockup of the
Statue of Liberty's top portion for

seasonal, with business

sure

to

race

book

to secure

are

their

technicians

runs on

sometimes unable to obtain

certain

piece of

choice of

gear or

camera,

Toronto, the cast
and

crew

of

Angel Eyes
get a

360-degree shot
using a 12'-wide,
variable-speed,

cinematographer

Similarly, there
equipment in peak
periods. Cinematographers on lowand medium-budget films say they
be

Norway
Cemetery in

the top

months in advance.
can

John's

requires

last

and most big productions are
to

page:

On location in St.

multi-remote
turntable in lieu
of a circular dolly
track. Pictured at
center from the
left are

was

year's busiest production day in
town, with 30 projects shooting at
once.

Opposite

prepare to

production in

slow in the winter and red hot in the

filmmakers

project. The film's compli¬
stage work was shot primarily

scene.

The entire Showline

a

their first

which suggests

that the

growth of production is
sector's abil¬
ity to keep pace.

greater than the service

American

Piotr Sobocinski

(standing behind
the turntable),
director Luis
Mandoki and
actor Jim Caviezel

(with his back to
camera). This
page: Staff from
C.O.R.E.

Digital

Pictures discuss

Angela Anaconda,
a Fox Family
cartoon, in one of
the company
meeting rooms.

Cinematographer 127
American Cinematographer - September 2000

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