I'm Not Sensitive About My Regions

Sorry it's been a while since I blogged but things have not been well here. My sister Stella's boyfriend, Brazillian Bushman/noveau riche, Carl stormed out of the apartment earlier this week taking all his stuff with him. And I missed his stuff too, especially the big screen tv.

But worse than that, Stella and I have gotten low on supplies, important stuff like food and liquor. With Stella's leg infarction acting up and the fact I can't leave the apartment, we were living like hermits. Poor Biscuitface hasn't been walked in days and if you've never seen a dog hold it in that long, well it's not a pretty sight.

But then miraculously, Carl returned. And he's returned in style. Not only has he brought back the big screen tv and La-z-boy recliners, he's brought bags of groceries, DVD's (including Excalibur and Hello Dolly!), and enough cosmopolitan supplies to keep me drunk for a year.

After he took Biscuitface out for a walk, they were gone a long time, he and Stella went to "catch up" in the other room. And after a few cosmos, I've put on my headphones with ABBA's Greatest Hits and thought I'd catch up on the latest tv stuff. (ed. as the title suggests, finally!)

My agent finally called back; he wants me to work up a pitch for a new show; a 1/2 hour ensemble, character based, non-threatening, and funny so that the whole family can enjoy. Presumably not set in Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto (ed. does that include Hamilton, London?)

My agent told me one of the networks (ed. don't you mean all of the networks?) are looking for a show like this.

I've got a few ideas, I'm tossing around in my head; How does "Little Gas Bar on the Prarie" sound? Hmmm, maybe not something so transparent

So that's kinda good news, I haven't written in years. Well, other than this blog and this is just cheaper than therapy.

Could use some good news since my DHX (Halifax Film Company) stock has fallen back down to $1.40 a share. This is where my 1000 shares was when I first got it. Can someone give the exec's there a friendly reminder they should be pumping out more production on the kids shows, please! Romeo Daillaire isn't going to make me rich!

I just found out today that those "baby carrots" you buy in the store are not young carrots! They take regular grown-up carrots and shave them down somehow (ed. like in a carrot sharpener?) so that they look small, clean and more appetizing. There's something wrong with that and I'm going to contact Marketplace right after this.

(ed. Okay, you've strayed too far from the theme again.)

Well, the topic of regional production has come up and I thought I'd put my two cents worth in. (ed. with a 49% top-up.)

Regional production is when the CTF encourages (ed. forces) producers to produce outside the traditional hubs of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. What the original intent was (ed. oh, oh, don't use the diversity card!) to make sure stories get told from other parts of the country instead of the big cities. Not too long ago most Canadian television came out of Toronto. Now, I come from Halifax and when I started working in television I went away to where it was happening. That's where the work was. So I went. And I was cool with that. I was really sick of the attitude that the government should financially back companies and industries with cash and tax credits to relocate here. A lot of them did and once the money was spent, they were gone. A lot of money went down the crapper.

(ed. back to the tv thing!)

So, the concept that CTF would fund productions in other areas has worked (ed. Oh crap. You don't want to say that.) Really, Halifax has two full professional crews that work practically year round. All the resources are available here; production equipment, props houses etc. Was it a good idea to force this on the business? That's debatable (ed. Don't start a debate or I'll close this blog down!)

But years ago, Canadian TV was Wayne and Shuster, Front Page Challange, Bizarre, Stars on Ice (ed. WTF?"), ENG, Traders, Street Legal, Hi Diddle Day etc. All out of Toronto. If it wasn't for the CTF policy, we wouldn't have Corner Gas, Trailer Park Boys, 22 Minutes, Little Mosque on the Prarie. Or would we have something better?

Are producers and writers being punished for living and working in the "centres"? Yes and no. They're missing out on one source of funding, but they have access to a the network of broadcasters; all the decisions are all still made in Toronto. Outside Toronto, we refer to the pitching exercise as the $1,000 cup of coffee.

But it may be time to loosen the reins; after all, relocating a production and crew 151 miles outside of Toronto really doesn't help anything. Also, a lot of "centre" productions become "regional" productions when a Toronto producer partners with a Nova Scotian ("Shattered City") or New Brunswick producer. This means the production gets shot here and the regional producer gets a fee and credit for sitting back and doing nothing. A crew gets hired but the industry hardly develops.

So that's all I'm going to type on the subject. Carl brought me a DVD of "The Incredible Mr. Limpit" so I'm going to watch that now. night.