Item - 2013.ED21.1

 The purpose of this report is to update City Council on the success of the screen-based

industries in 2012.  This important sector comprised of production, financial, business and professional service companies, suppliers, unions and guilds employs 25,000 full-time workers. It is linked to the education sector through training and incubation at the colleges and universities.

The industry has demonstrated tremendous resiliency and strength, successfully weathering, or rebounding from SARS, a global recession and a dollar at par with the $U.S.  Results for 2012 show that direct expenditures in Toronto's screen-base industry reached $1.2 billion, 5.9% above 2011 production spending and the second consecutive year spending has been over the billion dollar level.

The results reported are a tribute to the excellence of the continued work produced and the marketing and promotional efforts by the many companies, unions, and guilds as well as FilmOntario, the consortium of screen-based companies, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation with which the Film, Television and Digital Media section works extremely closely and jointly manages an office in Los Angeles.

The staff of the Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Office, and their colleagues throughout the City and its ABCCDs are also to be congratulated for their collaborative efforts to support this important industry.  The support and assistance of City Councillors, their staff, residents and businesses is also acknowledged.  Toronto continues to be indisputably the third largest screen-base production centre in North America out performed only by New York City and Los Angeles.  It is also an industry poised for future growth.