Toronto teaches Edinburgh creative industries a thing or two

The Edinburgh Toronto creative industries trade mission (for the daily despatches see #edintotoronto on Twitter) came to a close Thursday with a visit to nGen, a digital creative incubator in St Catherine’s, Niagara. Like many communities they have struggled to counter the collapse of heavy industries and find ways to grow new jobs. Unlike many such communities the region has a major tourist attraction in Niagara Falls and associated facilities from 5* hotels to upmarket restaurants for the yachting crowd.

Those amenities make it possible for nGen’s very well equipped but still very recent digital post production facilities companies to attract film and tv makers to edit away from Toronto or Hollywood. Similarly the presence of an established animation company, Keyframe, and supportive University College, help ensure there are skilled people looking to join or startup digital media companies. Perhaps most important of all, these young companies are run by people who want to stay in the area and help it prosper, rather than gravitate to Toronto or Hollywood. By providing access to expensive hard and software at discount rates nGensupports a growing band of ambitious local companies ranging from games and animation to feature film and tv.

This combination of factors echoes some of the points made by Richard Florida and others in analysing what makes regions or cities flourish. At the trip’s closing event we heard from his close associate at the Martin Prosperity Institute Kevin Stolarik, self styled “statistician of the creative class”. It’s one thing to describe the ingredients that have made small cities like St Catherine’s or a megalopolis like Toronto ‘work’ in creative industries terms, quite another to figure out what if anything can be done to repeat the trick in other places or other contexts. However ‘cultural planner’ Greg Baeker of consultants AuthentiCity gave an account of how cultural mapping has led to a positive policy outcome.  The “no let loss” policy he advocated in his 2008 ‘Creative City Planning Framework‘ has been used as a means of protecting the bohemian art spaces which are a vital component in Toronto’s creative and urban ecology, particularly as the city is going through a massive building boom.

The ecology of individual artists, not-for-profit cultural organisations and entrepreneurial digital media companies like the nGen ‘portfolio’ or Temple Street Productions, Canada’s 5th largest indie producer (led by expat Scot John Young), gives Toronto a powerful advantage both within Canada and on an international stage.

Similarly the willingness of industry to engage with the college and university sector on both skills and innovation fronts was very evident. nGen has an ‘embedded’ member of Niagara College staff with expertise in VFX and allied areas, helping connect students to the portfolio companies and vice versa. Similarly Pinewood Toronto hosts the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT) which in just two or so years has undertaken over fifty innovation projects with film and media companies in areas such as 3D and VFX in partnership with global companies like Autodesk and the major professional bodies like the Canadian Directors Guild. Back in the city cen University hosts the Digital Media Zo) an incubator for digital media start ups where creatives and techs collide and make connections.

None of these great things were the direct result of a grand master plan to make Toronto a creative city but there is a plan to keep it that way. The combination of a supportive city council, provincial tax incentives, dynamic Higher Education institutions, huge ethnic diversity, thriving arts and culture scene, entrepreneurial spirit and sense of collective purpose seems to be particularly fertile in this part of the world.

Edinburgh and indeed Scotland shares many of those characteristics but has further to go in making them connect up. Coming back to the two main reasons for the trip – connecting creative businesses and looking at what we can learn from Toronto’s success in ensuring the City Council and Creative Edinburgh can better support and champion the city’s creative sector – it seems clear to me that we have to make a real effort to broaden and deepen the connectivity between all of the city’s creative sectors from galleries to gamers. We need to identify the really key things that local and national agencies can do but aren’t yet doing to facilitate creative growth, whether that’s in city planning, business support or cultural funding. And we need to enlarge and speed up the contribution that Universities and Colleges are already making to fuelling the furnace.

Our own Institute for Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier has, like others, made a good start with e.g. over 20 Innovation Voucher partnerships in the last 18 months but having seen where e.g. Sheridan and Ryerson have got to its clear we still have a lot to do. As it happens the timing couldn’t be better with the Scottish Funding Council in the midst of  encouraging Scotland’s Universities to combine in developing an Innovation Centre for the Creative Industries. It has a real chance of becoming a reality and helping to make that crucial connectivity happen.

Edinburgh gets creative in Toronto

Finally the Edinburgh Creative Industries Trade Mission has (despite the attentions of some rather zealous customs officers) arrived in Toronto.   Led by Jim Galloway from the Council’s Economic Development Dept. and Creative Edinburgh Chair Mark Gorman ( of ‘Think Hard‘) supported by Janine Matheson, one of Creative Edinburgh’s two co-directors, the delegation is a  mix of the city’s creative companies plus me from the Institute for Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University, our mission to find out what makes Toronto one of the most dynamic centres for creative and cultural industries in the world and what opportunities exist to connect our respective sectors to mutual benefit.

 The rest of the group are: David Calder, Editor of online publisher Caledonian Mercury; Mike Stevenson, MD of  future thinking consultancy  Thinktastic; Kate Ho, MD of Interface 3 Digital & Tigerface Games; Jim Rae, CEO of creative digital document outfit Elevate You; David Sapien from “stealth education” games maker Me and The Giants; and Stuart MacDougall from Pufferfish whose spherical digital displays are the ‘must have’ centerpiece for events, launches and happenings.

Reading the Ontario Government creative clusters report on the flight over reveals some interesting parallels in the challenges faced by our respective creative and cultural sectors, despite the obvious difference in scale when comparing Toronto (123,000 people working in the creative industries) with Edinburgh ( 20,000 incl. the Lothians) or even with Scotland as a whole (84,000).   At a macro level the obvious comparison is that both are predominantly English-speaking semi-autonomous nation/regions highly integrated with and thus susceptible to  ’combined and uneven development’ in relation to their Southern neighbour.  There are of course pros and cons to such proximity with access to the US market (or UK in Scotland’s case)  and inward investment being the obvious pros, but by the same token difficulty in growing or maintaining a domestic market/audience, talent and skills drain to the metropolitan neighbour and the ever-present tendency to ‘inferiorism’ amongst cultural producers and consumers tastes and aspirations i.e preferring to ape the US (UK) over a distinctive Canadian (Scottish) offering.

So against that background our respective creative industries share:

• difficulties in accessing finance 
• despite a ready supply of talent and skills in the start-up stage, difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled personnel in the growth stages
• impact of consolidation and vertical integration (by non-local firms) as growing companies are acquired and in many instances control of them migrates elsewhere along with their profits, even though the the level of employment and spend in the region increases (independent TV in Scotland is a good example of this process at work)

 Two of the key challenges and opportunities facing both Toronto/Ontario and Edinburgh/Scotland include:

• globalisation, with more competition in areas that were previously less susceptible such as domestic advertising, design, digital marketing, music and publishing
• innovation and the importance of not falling behind in new forms/combinations of content, distribution and platforms to business models.

One interesting example of how  Ontario’s creative sector is responding to these challenges and one which is very relevant to Scotland is ‘arts + crafts records‘, an artist owned label that has opened offices in Europe and mexico to grow their international sales.

On the innovation front Toronto’s higher education institutions appear to be driving meaningful collaboration in R&D,  with Sheridan College’s Screen Industries Research and Training centre (SIRT) and Ryerson University’s Transmedia Centre just two examples of that in practice.  SIRT was established within Pinewood Studios Toronto in 2010 to support collaborative innovation in film, TV and games and we’ll have more on them and Ryerson after our visits to them and to Pinewood and SIRT later in the week…

New Year, Old Times

Happy New Year! Quizzes abound at this time of year so here’s a trivia question to start off 2013.  In what year was the following written?

“Eventually the BBC decided to embark on its own voyage of ‘mini-devolution…The new regime was supposed to have a dual effect - improved services within Scotland and a greater projection on the network.  But in the event it transpired that the programme controllers and financial and administrative directors in London were reluctant to release from their grasp any vestige of real power and the intended devolution of BBC Broadcasting has had a sticky passage.“

A bottle of fizz to the first correct answer by Friday…

The long road to a scottish film studio

We noted yesterday some of the previous attempts to sustain a film studio in Scotland and given the Scotsman’s piece today on the debate and since on Fridays part of our mission is to recover some of Scotland’s endangered film history let’s skip back a few decades in time to previous newspaper reports of Scotland’s film studio, or lack thereof:

First the thirties and one of many comparisions between Scotland and Denmark:

“Denmark and Norway maintain a steady production, and Sweden has a widely known and respected film tradition.  Scotland does have one fully equipped film studio and laboratory, capable of turning out films on a comparatively modest scale.  At their India Street studios in Glasgow, Scottish Film Productions have just completed their most ambitious production.  This is “The River Clyde” produced for the Clyde Navigation Trustees, and directed by Stanley L. Russell from a scenario by George Blake.  Perhaps the most significant aspect of the films that, apart from the film stock, it was made entirely in Scotland – financed by a Scottish institution, written by a Scottish autor, directed by a Scotsman, and completed for the screen in a Scottish laboratory.  Clearly we have the technical requirements for film-making.  Finance, production strength and a market may follow.” ‘A Stevenson travesty, Kidnapped from Hollywood’ The Scotsman 28 Jun 1938 

…the forties…

“AT first glance there appear to be several reasons why Scotland should have her own film industry, a prospect which formed the subject of a question by Major Lloyd to the Secretary of State for Scotland yesterday.  The picture the screen has presented of Scotland over many years has given little satisfaction to Scotsmen; their history, habits and clothes have been repeatedly travesties in films made four hundred or four thousand miles away.  … …The project abroad of a  travesty of the Scottish story is, therefore, not a mater of indifference; and in addition to the cultural aspect, the film is a valuable instrument of propaganda for a country’s commerce and industry … These are arguments in favour of good and trustworthy Scottish films; they are not necessarily arguments in favour of the establishment of a Scottish film industry.  A film industry connotes studios, equipment, technicians, distributing organisation, and hard-won experience – expensive though not unobtainable items, given sufficient capital.  On the whole, it seems unlikely that these requirements will be met in such a way as to give Scotland a fil industry in any way comparable with those of London and Hollywood. “ Editorial Article the Scotsman, 3/2/44

“Good wishes will attend the launching, with Board of Trade approval, of Scottish National Film Studios, Ltd. Which is appealing for public subscription, in gifts or loans, of £100,000 to put a Scottish film industry on the map.  The new company’s resources are enough for it to have planned already the production of three films, but it is justified in requesting solid support from the Scottish public with which to embark on more ambitious ventures while marinating the ideals which it has started. [But] the real test, and the real ambition of this venture, must ultimately be the production of full-length “story” films with which to challenge the world’s markets. ‘Scotland on the screen’, Glasgow Herald, 9 April 1946 

…the 1950s...

“What he [Sir Compton Mackenize, speaking about new Albion Film Company] hoped to do, he said, was to repeat  if possible, the success of “Whisky Galore”.  If that could be done he would try to raise enough money in this country for a third production.  After that there might be film studios in Scotland for it was no use talking about Scottish films until Scotland had her own film studios.” Film Venture’s Plans – Glasgow Herald, Oct 12, 1953 

“Mr Elder, who had toured Denmark to study Danish film production, asked why Denmark had a thriving film industry while Scotland, with 1,000,000 more of a population and the advantage of the English language had not one film studio in the country. Scotland was rich in talent and colorful background for the producing of films and had made several efforts to enter the industry,  These had been individual ventures without adequate backing, said Mr Elder.  He suggested that a group of Scottish exhibitors should meet with other interested parties to form a trust, acquire modest studio premises and initiate production.  Modest feature films could be made at least as successfully in Scotland as in Denmark, he said.” ‘Scotland’s Poor Film Record – Denmark’s Example.  Glasgow Herald, 1 February 1955 

“A Scottish film studio is the only thing lacking to provide all-the-year round employment for actors in Scotland Mr Alex. McCrindle, Scottish secretary, yesterday told member of the British Actors Equity Association at a meeting in Edinburgh…The question was being considered by the Scottish committee and if nothing could be done commercially the only thing would be for them to demand that a national film studio for making feature films in Scotland should be established by the Government.”  The Glasgow Herald 8 Sep 1958

Plus ca change!

Another sunrise for Scottish film?

Some 64 years since a member of parliament first raised the issue of a film studio in Scotland, Angus and Mearns MSP Nigel Don will move a motion in the Scottish Parliament tomorrow noting the imminent arrival of Terrence Davis to shoot his adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s masterpiece Sunset Song.  As it happens this was a project I first recommended for funding when I was in charge of development at Scottish Screen exactly 10 years ago, evidence (if any more were needed) of the patience and determination required of filmmakers in raising the money to get from page to screen. (See this earlier post for an analysis of what happened to the Scottish Screen Development slate ‘class of 2001′)

Don’s motion focuses on the absence of ‘proper’ studio facilities in Scotland, one of several factors which has over the years limited the number of incoming feature films that Scotland can attract and the amount that they can spend while they are here.  The absence of a full-scale sound stage and associated facilities has also, arguably, limited the ambition and possibilities of what Scottish-based filmmakers, and indeed television drama producers, can achieve on their own turf.

It has to be said that Scotland has seen the sun rise – and set –  on a studio or at least studio proposals many times since the end of World War 2. Beginning with Scottish National Film Studios (1946-47) through Blackcat (1984 – 1991), a veritable blizzard of competing proposals and sites in the early nougties (from  Gleneagles to Inverness) and most recently the sustained effort led by the redoubtable Gillian Berrie of Film City in Glasgow, the ambition to raise the roof on a studio rarely stays dormant for long.

Enhanced studio facilities alone, however, cannot solve all the problems facing Scotland’s filmmakers, both those trying to get projects of the ground here and those whose livelihoods depend as much if not more on incoming productions and the work they generate for technicians, facilities and service companies (from lighting and transportation to hotels and to catering).  However thanks to its Titanic Studios a single TV series, Game of Thrones, brings  £20m per series to the Northern Ireland economy, which combined with a single feature, Universal’s “Your Highness”, meant that last year N Ireland attracted £30m of spend, significantly more than Scotland’s typical £20 to £25m a year.

In the highly competitive world of mobile film production, and notwithstanding the fantastic work done by our screen locations and film commission staff, the highly-prized skills of our crews and the attractiveness of our diverse locations, cold hard cash plays a very large part in where producers choose to shoot their films.  Location incentives, tax breaks and ‘soft’ financing are the levers nations and regions use to lure productions their way and while Scotland benefits from the UK film tax credit we lack the direct incentives to clinch the deal that more and more countries from familiar players Canada, and Germany to assertive new kids on the block like South Africa, Belgium and individual American States.

Even as differential tax breaks and incentives for non EU productions are currently under scrutiny by the European Commission, Northern Ireland is looking at how it can develop its own tax break which offers producers and policy makers in Scotland some food for thought.

It starts with the audience

But making films and encouraging the making of films isn’t, or certainly shouldn’t just be about helping filmmakers or the economy.  From a public policy perspective the audience matters as much if not more; it deserves to have easy access to the best of the world’s cinema, the best that Scotland’s film makers can provide and the smallest gap between the two.  A key player in that regard is the British Film Institute.  With £98m to spend across the UK on film education, distribution production, talent and heritage it holds most of the purse strings and strategic oversight for a very large part of the UK’s film ecology including, at least for the time being, Scotland.  Following a period of policy reviews (to which the Sottish Goverment contributed) the BFI’s future plan, charmingly titled ‘Film Forever’  was launched a few weeks ago and its senior executives are currently on a tour of Britain, hosting Q&As with ‘stakeholders’, with the (not terribly well attended) Scottish event taking place last week in Glasgow.

The first of the BFI’s three ‘strategic priorities’ is “Expanding education and learning opportunities and boosting audience choice across the UK ” and central to the delivery of that part of the strategy is “A new education offer delivered by a new partner aimed at inspiring young people from 5-19 to watch, understand and make films”.

In practice what this means is a single agency for the UK charged with giving every school the opportunity to establish a ‘film club’; a new online platform; and a youth Film Academy (available in England only in year one).  In pursuing these objectives the BFI has stated its commitment to work with the nations and regions and existing expertise in further and higher education and to play a leading ‘advocacy’ role in, for example, making “the case to Government in Westminster and in the devolved UK administrations for film education to be more firmly embedded in curricula. We will advocate policies which build on pioneering work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and on the forthcoming national plan for Cultural Education.”

Over the horizon…

So far so good and it seems most practitioners, policy-types and concerned politicians welcome the new strategy, even if they may argue the merits of individual budget priorities.  However the key challenge for Scotland is to make sure that the distinctive  legislative and administrative context and structures of education, training, exhibition, audience development etc. are understood, respected and engaged with in the development of truly ‘Scottish solutions for Scottish needs’.  So far the signs are broadly positive both in terms of the BFI’s engagement with the various sectors in Scotland and acknowledgement of the distinct Scottish context by e.g. some of the potential bidders to run the ‘5-19 education offer’.  More importantly, perhaps, the leading players involved in audience development, film education/skills and ‘ specialized’ exhibition in Scotland (organisations like GFT, Filmhouse/CMI, DCA, Regional Screen Scotland, access centres and the film and media academies) are showing real signs of a joined-up approach to making the full range of film, film understanding and film skills as widely available as possible.  At the same time Creative Scotland has embarked on a review of film in Scotland to “inform [its] future priorities for investment and partnership working in and beyond Scotland”.  Ten years have elapsed since the Scottish Executive’s Review of Scottish Screen and nine since the last published study of the economic aspects of film in Scotland (the ‘Audit of the Screen Industries in Scotland’ ) and while recent research on the cultural value of film has touched briefly on Scotland (such as the fascinating BFI report ‘Opening Our Eyes: how film contributes to the culture of the UK’)  there is still some work to be done to show just how important the moving image, and cinema in particular, to our sense of identity (or identities), our ability to make sense of the world around us and to help shape it.  As with a studio, illuminating what we have, don’t have and what we could have on the screen is a potentially important step forward and now is a very good time to let some more light in.

Television in an independent Scotland (part 3)

Continuing our series (see episode one and two) of dips into past commentaries on the state of Scottish broadcasting we time travel back to 1978, close to the eve of the devolution referendum, and this excerpt from ‘Headlines: The Media in Scotland‘ :

“If anyone claims, as the more complacent time-servers in the media have a habit of doing, that ‘there just isn’t the talent in Scotland’ they should be confronted with the success of Scotland’s independent publishers.  Ten years ago there was a handful of stalwarts in the field; today there are a score of firms, some doing quite sizeable business throughout the world.  It is totally reasonable to assume that these (sic) sorts of initiative and skill could equally bring new life into the broadcast media.“

Indeed.

Television in Scotland – how far have we come in forty years?

Continuing our short mini-series (See episode 1) on how Scotland’s television has been viewed in the past here’s Stuart Hood on “The Backwardness of Scottish Television”, an essay in a 1970 collection on the state of the nation called ‘Memoirs of a Modern Scotland’:

“By what criteria can we judge the quality of a country’s television? One is the range and variety of the programmes offered to the viewer.  Another is the degree of freedom it enjoys to show and speak the truth.  A third is its success in revealing a society to itself: on a primitive level by showng its citizens how they speak, behave, live, and on another higher level by revealing to them the mechanics of their society, how it functions politically, economically and culturally.  All three criteria are linked.  For it is not possible to to deal in truth unless there is a sufficently wide spectrum of programmes to include those which honestly explore the nature of society.”

Have we got there yet?