Long before the awards statues are handed out, hundreds of film industry professionals have spent thousands of hours crafting television shows and movies that will be enjoyed by millions.

It doesn’t hurt, however, to have a bevy of those statues in hand to promote the next round of productions to studios—as Mayor Jyoti Gondek, and Luke Azevedo, Calgary’s Film Commissioner, and the heads of the local film production guilds and unions met last week with a host of the world’s largest studios in L.A.

“We’ve been traveling the world for the last year and The Last of Us and Prey have been top conversations as we walk in the room. Everybody knows that these productions were done locally. Everybody knows the quality of the production that came out of here,” said Azevedo.

“Almost one of the first questions that comes out of the mouth is how was The Last of Us? How are you able to pull that off? What did you do differently than you would a midsize or a lower-budget show? So we talked about this on a consistent basis, and it’s created momentum.”

The Last of Us, which was filmed at a variety of Calgary locations, took home eight Emmys out of 24 nominations, including a nomination for outstanding production design, which saw Calgary turned into a post-apocalyptic Massachusetts.

Overall, film productions that were in part created in Calgary garnered 31 Emmy Award nominations, something that Azevedo said alongside the number of viewers watching these shows, has played a starring role in capturing the next big production for the city.

Big Hollywood studio meetings

Mayor Gondek said that the Calgary team was able to meet with nine of the biggest studios, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, DMG Entertainment, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Netflix Animation, and Skydance.

“These types of trips are absolutely critical to reaffirming Calgary’s position as a film and television city, and continuing to build on our reputation, which right now allows us to celebrate the fact that we are rated number eight as a place in North America to live if you are a movie maker,” she said.

Since her last economic development mission to L.A. in 2022, Calgary has been able to generate 2,190 jobs and generate $325 million in investment, the mayor said.

She cited other major productions including Fargo, Billy the Kid, Fraggle Rock, and The Abandons as being among the 140 projects that were filmed in Calgary in 2023, inclusive of more than 750 permits for locations across the city.

“We reassured senior executives that our locations are unbeatable, and we demonstrated that many of our standing sets are run by individuals and families that work very closely together to ensure that the variety of vistas and buildings that are being sought by studios and streamers, are available to them,” said Mayor Gondek.

“We spotlighted the many ways in which we have turned Calgary into a no surprises jurisdiction, where we focus on streamlining approvals and getting to ‘yes’ on some pretty unusual requests at the time.”

Not just tax credits drawing in studios

Alberta’s Minister of Culture Tanya Fir, who also made a trip to L.A. over the past week, said that a major focus of the provincial government was on promoting Alberta production tax credits as an incentive.

Azevedo said that the tax credits have been instrumental to productions, as a complement to several requests made by studios.

“We’ve seen what it’s like when we had a tax credit that was not nationally and internationally competitive. Yes, we were a great jurisdiction for production, but no, we could not compete with those other jurisdictions when you’re talking about projects that have values of $100, $200, $300 million to the region. So, tax credits are imperative,” he said.

“We don’t have to be the largest tax credit, and we’re not. We’re somewhere in the middle, which gives us a competitive advantage, and then to bring the rest of the assets that the city and this province has to the table puts us in the conversation.”

He said that having quality crews, award-winning quality production facilities, the capacity for multiple productions at the same time, lowered red-tape, and an award-winning film commission are all things that make Calgary attractive in L.A.

Mayor Gondek said that in conversations that she had with the studios, that there was a conversation about whether Calgary could also meet the values that the studios hold in terms of equity and diversity.

Amazon MGM Studios was one of the first to release a customer and content diversity equity inclusion and accessibility policy for their productions, and has issued yearly reports on those efforts.

“If I can give you an example of how a meeting goes, they ask us some questions about the things that are important to them, we tell them a lot about what we can do for them, and inevitably they start talking about ‘OK, in addition to talent and crews, what about the ancillary things that we’re going to need?'” said Mayor Gondek.

“Do you have that type of diversity with your catering teams? What about hairdressers? What about costume design? They’re very interested in working with a city that offers them strong equity opportunities to employ people who are traditionally underrepresented. So the fact that we can stitch all of that together, and have a film-friendly program where they can get approvals done quickly matters a lot.”

Azevedo used the example of a production that was making a call for members of the Mongolian community, as one that wasn’t expected but yet one that Calgary could meet.

“We started looking at what that looks like from our constituents in and around Calgary and how we engage with them. There’s lots of phone calls to come, there will be a website that will go up this year, and that will be a draw for everyone to see what opportunities there are in film and television,” he said.

“Our unions and guilds work with all of the communities to try to attract folks into the region. There’s training programs that are happening within those communities are being done by community members. So we are the facilitator. We are the conduit and the connector, and then we want to work with those partners to ensure that the community is getting the type of training that’s necessary to get into the sector.”

Future-proofing the production pipeline

Azevedo said that the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund investment into Bow Valley College to create an entertainment production hub was also something that came up in every single meeting that was held with the studios.

“That is what they’re looking for. They’re looking at how the city partners with its post-secondaries, with its unions and guilds, with all aspects of the production community and ensuring that the development of talent which for every sector across the planet, is what people are looking for now,” he said

“It behooves us to ensure that our talent base grows, and our unions and guilds are diligently working at that with the post-secondaries, with Calgary Economic Development, and with the industry in the city to ensure that the outcome of this is that we’re growing our crew base in the manner that the studios and streamers want to see it [grown].”

Bow Valley College’s Vice President of Academic, Michael Crowe, said that discussions with studios come up pretty regularly, and have guided conversations about the direction that the college has taken to meet industry demand.

“What’s exciting, though, is what’s happening to develop that talent pipeline here in the city at Bow Valley College and other post-secondary institutions here in Calgary. It’s not just us,” Crowe said.

“Students come in, and they get to do exactly what they would do in the job. Our studio format and our connections to industry, the technology that we’re using is the same that they will use right on set, or in the studios after they’re hired. We’ve got all of the right ingredients to have a really mature pipeline here in Calgary, and that’s a big checkmark from the studios that we’re talking to.”

Mayor Gondek said that there was also a lot more interest during this last trip than the one in 2024, for all aspects of media production to be met when studios are looking to build up intellectual properties.

“There was much more emphasis on the integration between film, television, gaming, and music—all the aspects that are needed to really create a brand. And so our ability to tote Bow Valley College having such a strong program was incredible.”

“I have to say we’ve got really good incentives from our federal government when it comes to labor, we’ve got great incentives from provincial government, and it’s an all spend incentive for productions. Now, the digital media incentive is going to be absolutely critical to keep that kind of talent here.”

She said that the City of Calgary was absolutely in alignment with the Provincial Government, when it came to the film and television industry. Mayor Gondek and Minister Fir spent some time promoting Canadian film successes at the Canadian Consulate in L.A. for its Emmy party.

What comes next for 2024

One of the issues that was discussed, said Azevedo, was the production pipeline post-SAG-AFTRA and Writer’s Guild of America strikes and how that would affect the need to create content to fill gaps left by that period.

“So ’23 was a tough year for the production community globally, having to deal with six months worth of strikes with our guilds put us in a position where production, for all intents and purposes, stopped as far as foreign production. We had the luxury here of being able to continue some production with local projects, as well as Canadian projects, but for all intents and purposes, production slowed down probably 75 to 80 per cent,” he said.

“If these meetings that we just had in Los Angeles or any kind of sign of what we’re going to see in ’24, I think we’re going to have a very positive year and see growth. We’ve already got some projects that we’re working on, digital photo packages on, as well as conversations around hubs and potential partnerships with some of the studios.”

He said that any formal announcements were a ways off, but teased the prospect of a major announcement later in the spring.

“The conversations that they’re having with the film commission, conversations they’re having with unions and guilds start early, by the time that they’re willing to announce here, or in a position to announce, it’s delayed quite, quite later,” he said.

“Strategically, we’re not going to be talking about these productions in specifics until they’ve actually signed, opened an office, and are ready to go.”

As for what Calgary’s reputation will bring to the table for the new year, Azevedo said that they never want to get away from being known as a premier destination for Westerns.

He cited the hit television show Heartland hitting the top 5 in internationally streamed shows on that service, reaching audiences in 150 countries in the process.

“We never want to get away from the fact that at from the western genre perspective, or those those time pieces that were as good as anywhere on the planet We’ve been known for these for many, many years. We have 100 years of history here,” Azevedo said.

“We’ve done a lot of work that isn’t just specifically the Western genre. And yes, the globe has seen that as they look in on us, and they see these other productions that we’re doing that are not westerns. The quality of that work that’s coming out of here, we now represent every genre for Alberta and for the Calgary region.”