Her job: Putting Ontario on a screen near you

Ontario “has got it going ON.” That’s the tagline of the Ontario Media Development Corp., established in 2000 with a mandate to generate investment, create jobs and stimulate growth in Ontario’s creative media industries.

According to president and CEO Karen Thorne-Stone, these industries–defined as publishing, music and screen-based businesses–are economic drivers for Ontario.

“The entertainment and creative cluster contributes 300,000 jobs and more than $12-billion annually to Ontario’s economy,” Thorne-Smith says. “As our economy shifts from goods–and manufacturing–based to knowledge-based, the creative media industries have emerged as one of Ontario’s fastest growing clusters with growth in some sectors approaching 10%, well outpacing the rest of the economy.”

(L to R) BRUCE WILLIS, JOHN MALKOVICH and HELEN MIRREN star in RED, which was filmed partly in Ontario.
Photo: Summit Entertainment LLC.

Her role is ensuring that the OMDC offers the right mix of programs and services to help Ontario’s media entrepreneurs compete in the global and digital marketplace. Here’s how:

Tell us how you help Ontario’s cultural and creative sector expand?

Our primary goals are to support Ontario’s creative media companies in accessing international and domestic markets, developing quality content and promoting Ontario as a centre of excellence. OMDC provides investment funds and tax credits to support these objectives. Our Export Fund, for instance, provides content creators with funding to attend international markets and embark on sales trips that support their export strategy. In 2009-’10, the Export Fund provided $1.5-million to 188 Ontario firms across the range of books, film, television, interactive digital media and music, resulting in sales of $174.3-million.

Co-productions are increasingly important. Canada has co-production treaties with 54 countries, which is a tremendous business advantage. OMDC programs like the International Financing Forum and co-ventures with European Film Promotion at the Toronto International Film Festival bring together Canadian producers with potential international financing, production and distribution partners. OMDC is currently tracking more than 25 projects presented at TIFF that have gone into production with international partners.

Ontario’s film industry alone generates almost a billion dollars of production activity in Ontario each year. This represents a 40% increase over the past few years, much of which can be attributed to the success of OMDC’s film commission in generating inward investment from foreign production studios in an intensely competitive global market.

Not only are Ontario’s domestic producers creating world renowned content like Barney’s Version, but foreign producers are coming here to use Ontario’s broad talent base to film such hits as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Red, Dream House, The Thing and The Hulk. OMDC has similar programs to support the music, book and interactive digital media sectors.

What are the target markets and why?

Anything goes. And, in the new borderless digital marketplace, anything is possible. Natural partners for Ontario’s companies include the U.S., because of size and proximity as well as language and cultural similarities; the UK, because of language and similar business models; and European countries in general because of their depth of talent and experience in the creative media industries.

However, Ontario’s creative companies have shown themselves to be very adept at building business partnerships with countries all around the world including India, China and Brazil, wherever the creative imperatives take them.

What have been the biggest challenges?

Like most businesses, access to capital is a significant challenge for our creative industries, and of course these are fiercely competitive businesses with jurisdictions around the world competing for position. Moreover, business models must continuously evolve in response to the rapidly changing digital marketplace. As a result, OMDC’s programs are continually evolving to ensure that the right set of flexible tools are available to improve the competitive position of our companies, enhance their ability to attract private equity and leverage public investment, and to encourage new and innovative partnerships and product development.

Has the high Canadian dollar affected what you do?

The creative media sectors, perhaps more than most, are bottom-line driven industries. The film industry has depended on a low dollar to remain competitive and attract production activity to Ontario. However, in recent years, with help from OMDC, the industry has been extremely successful at repositioning itself from a ‘discount’ location to a position of quality, value and competency. Ontario’s creative media industries are now recognized for the breadth and depth of talent and competencies that they offer, the end-to-end capacity throughout the value chain, and the stable, reliable, ‘no surprises’ services that they offer. These strengths have been very effective in mitigating the impact of the rising Canadian dollar, and indeed our companies are continuing to thrive and grow despite a dollar that is now above par.

Is the OMDC gaining international recognition?

Our creative entrepreneurs are generally innovative and leading edge, and it’s certainly been very gratifying to see the rate at which Ontario’s digital media sector is growing and gaining international recognition. Despite a high Canadian dollar and a sluggish economy, Ontario has the right mix of expertise, talent, educational institutions and government support tools to ensure that we continue to compete effectively in the international marketplace.

Anything else to tell Canadians about taking a business abroad?

Patience and planning are key when reaching out into new markets around the world. It is critically important to find the right partners–with whom you share common business objectives, creative goals, and where your skill sets complement one another. And of course, if your business is in the creative media industries, OMDC is here to assist.

(This interview has been edited for content and space considerations.)