The following is the 2006 edition of Playback's annual digest of key financial services

available to the Canadian independent film and television production industry.

Business Development Bank of Canada
The Business Development Bank of Canada is a financial institution wholly owned by the Government of Canada. BDC plays a leadership role in delivering financial, investment and consulting services to Canadian businesses (including businesses operating in the cultural industries), with a particular focus on the technology and export sectors of the economy.
Contact: 1-877-232-2269;
Fax: 1-877-329-9232
www.bdc.ca

Canada Film Capital
Canada Film Capital provides financing of the Production Services Tax Credit to eligible production companies. CFC also offers tax-credit administration services to those production companies that don't require the financing option.
Contact: David Carter, president, (416) 923-9255; dcarter@canadafilmcapital.com
www.canadafilmcapital.com

CIBC World Markets
CIBC Commercial Banking provides both corporate and commercial banking services for leaders in the entertainment industry, including interim financing for film and television projects. CIBC finances creditworthy commitments, including federal and provincial tax credits, public and private funding programs, and domestic and international broadcast licences and distribution guarantees.
CIBC is a full-service North American financial institution with branches and offices across Canada and around the world.
Contact: Benjamin Rappaport (604) 665-1313; fax (604) 482-4657; benjamin.rappaport@cibc.com

Custom House
Custom House is a global non-bank foreign exchange company that provides customized foreign exchange solutions for the global entertainment industry.
Custom House facilitates payments in multiple currencies to multiple beneficiaries, the transfer of international funds, and can help control the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on production budgets. Custom House deals in more than 100 currencies and is a leader in regulatory compliance in all countries of operation.
Contact: Brent Clackson (604) 805-4836; bclackson@customhouse.com
www.customhouse.com

Export Development Canada
EDC provides trade finance and risk-management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets. Founded in 1944, EDC is a Crown corporation that operates as a commercial financial institution.
EDC can support the export of Canadian film and television productions and related services through a range of financing and insurance solutions.
Contact: (613) 598-2500; 1-866-574-0451; Fax: (613) 237-2690; export@edc.ca
www.edc.ca

Grosvenor Park
Grosvenor Park Productions is a film production finance company. It provides a worldwide one-stop solution to the film industry for the complete range of coproduction services required for film producers to maximize the contribution to qualifying film budgets from incentives provided by international governments to foster the development of the film industry in their countries. The coproduction service offering includes: structuring, financing, production, post-production, delivery and certification.
Contact: (416) 926-1815
www.grosvenorpark.com

HSBC Bank Canada
HSBC Bank Canada offers feature film and television financing. HSBC also offers a variety of deposit instruments, commercial accounts and foreign exchange services.
Contacts:
* Toronto: Morris Gluck
(416) 868-8199
* Halifax: Jason Lang
(902) 490-2722
* Montreal: Alexandre Fradette
(514) 286-5349
* Vancouver: Bill Dehaan
(604) 641-2561

Independent Film Financing
IFF provides expertise to producers in Canadian tax credit administration, global film incentives, and international treaty coproduction certification. As the exclusive Canadian, Australian and New Zealand representative of Comerica Entertainment Group, IFF offers access to gap and interim production financing, and financing of domestic and international tax incentives. IFF and Comerica have affiliates in Asia, Germany and the U.K.
Contacts: Laura Polley, president;
Len Pendergast, vice-president, (416) 598-3270
www.iff.ca

International Coproduction Funding
Specializes in seeking out and finding international coproduction funding for Canadian film producers. Particular emphasis is on the U.K.
Criteria: Script needs to be well developed. Budgets should be more than $2 million.
Eligible projects: Dramatic films. Documentaries do not qualify.
Contact: Sandy Mackay-Smith,
president, (819) 671-9319;
macsmith@attglobal.net

National Bank of Canada
The National Bank's TV and Motion Picture Group specializes in financing film projects and television series, offering a complete range of made-to-measure banking products and services to the Canadian film and television production and distribution industry. In addition to producers and distributors, clientele includes post-production, special effects and equipment leasing companies, as well as studios.
Flexible, customized loan and service programs:
* Line of credit
* Special production credit
* Financing of tax credits and national and international presales
* Gap financing (with Financière des Entreprises culturelles [FIDEC] support). National Bank partners with FIDEC to support productions destined for international distribution.
Contacts:
Toronto:
* Clare Cockell (416) 864-7751, clare.cockell@bnc.ca
* Anne Schneerer (416) 864-7563, anne.schneerer@bnc.ca
* Sonia Morris (416) 864-7792, sonia.morris@bnc.ca
* Charlene Paling (416) 864-7768, charlene.paling@bnc.ca
Fax: (416) 864-0849, toll free: 1-866-532-FILM
www.bnc.ca
Montreal:
* Elaine Morissette (514) 394-8474, elaine.morissette@bnc.ca
* Michel Comeau (514) 394-8593, michel.comeau@bnc.ca
* Caroline Brault, (514) 394-8477, caroline.brault@bnc.ca
* Renée Grégoire, (514) 394-8976, renee.gregoire@bnc.ca
Fax: (514) 394-9538, toll free: 1-866-827-FILM
www.bnc.ca
Vancouver:
* Charlene Paling (416) 864-7768, charlene.paling@bnc.ca; toll free: 1-866-78-MOVIE
www.nbc.ca

RBC Financial Group
RBC Royal Bank's National Media & Entertainment groups provide comprehensive financial services for film, television and digital media producers, distributors, broadcasters, music and industry-related companies. RBC offers production, operating and equipment loans as well as payment and deposit products designed for the entertainment sector.
The bank also provides advice on managing foreign exchange risk arising from foreign presales and coproduction activities, as well as letters of credit.
Contacts:
* Halifax: Nan MacDonald
(902) 421-8853
* Montreal: Annie Baribeau
(514) 874-2552
* Toronto: Dan McMullen
(416) 974-4680
* Prairies: Carrie Chase
(604) 684-4986
* Vancouver: John Genzel
(604) 684-5706
RBC Capital Markets: RBC Capital Markets is a leading investment bank with a North American specialty focus on media and telecommunications.
Services include private placement of equity and debt, public equity and debt, bank credit and strategic and financial advice.
Contact: Dan Coholan
(416) 842-7544