'Money talks:' London film industry expects more action with low Canadian dollar

As tensions continue between Canada and the U.S., some people working in London's film industry say the economic uncertainties could bring more American productions into the city, generating revenue and job opportunities. 

"Typically, a low Canadian dollar can mean good things for the filming industry," said Film London manager Andrew Dodd, adding that cheaper costs tend to draw various foreign projects into the country to film.

"It's a very bottom dollar and bottom line industry and if they can save money by taking advantage of a lower Canadian dollar, then they will," he said.

The Canadian dollar is currently around 70 cents U.S., and London filmmaker Ethan Hickey says that, coupled with strong tax credits and low gas prices, is a huge money saver for productions. 

"If you're filming somewhere like London where a lot of your cast and crew are from Toronto, you have to pay for gas for those people to come in," he said. "That adds up and you can be spending tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on gas alone."

"Money talks…I think the Canadian film economy could benefit from the tensions with the U.S. right now," Hickey said.

While those tensions may generate more revenue from productions coming into the country, Dodd said, it does not make things better for films already being made locally.

"It doesn't really help domestic productions who are relying on resources and talent that might be coming from the States. Those prices may increase due to what we're seeing," he said. 

In 2023, 302 domestic projects filmed in Ontario according to data from Ontario Creates. Another 102 projects from foreign countries, including the U.S., were filmed that year. 

Both local and foreign projects are equally important to keep the industry afloat. Dodd said. 

"We want to support our local filmmakers so they can work on local films, and we want visiting productions to come here to use the local talent that's honing and refining their skills while they're working on their local projects."

Calls to support Canadian-made films

Some Londoners who work in the film industry want to see Canadians support more locally-made entertainment.

"When it comes to 'Canada first,' the grocery store is the first thing people think about because it's very visible, but as far as content, movies and TV, I don't know that people outside of the industry think of where their content is coming from," said London-based producer Kristina Esposito. 

"I hope this will help people seek out Canadian content," she said.

Hickey said he noticed a change in people's mindset while promoting Older Every Day, a Canadian-made film he directed which was recently released on streaming services. 

"I think what really got this indie feature a lot of coverage was talking about buying Canadian and buying Canadian products," he said. 

Dodd likens the small shift in attitude to the support around Canadian-made content when Hollywood actors and writers went on strike in 2023, but said there needs to be more. 

"I don't think enough change happened during the strikes," he said, adding that consumers are used to watching Hollywood-made content and sometimes struggle to engage in Canadian films and shows.

There is an onus on the film industry to market Canadian content better, but it's also on the industry to make sure that content attracts a wider audience, Dodd said. 

"Canadian content does best when there's national pride there, but it's also not necessarily playing into whatever those stereotypes are when people think of Canadian content," he said. 

"It's a really hard tightrope to walk to have something that we're proud of, to have a national identity and give our communities a voice, but also be something that your average consumer is interested in."