Paul Gross Says What You Can't

THE CALGARY HERALD, of all places, came up with a very trenchant quote from Paul Gross on the current vogue of Canadian-made shows now (or soon-to-be) exporting to the USA, in Eric Volmer's article from the Banff TV Festival.

Context here: Gross, being as he is the bankable 800 lb. Gorilla of Canadian production, (He's soon to be seen in Eastwick, a U.S. network show, and his production shingle, Whizbang Films, is healthy with lots in the hopper) gets to say the things about the downside of this arrangement that many producers (and writers, and various others) don't have the guts to say:

Actor and producer Paul Gross, whose show Due South was among the first Canadian-made shows to win a prime-time time slot on a major U. S. network after it was picked up by CBS, says the Canadian industry should be careful about making this a model for their future, suggesting there is a danger of our industry becoming an "assembly branch plant" for the U. S. networks.

"The difficulty with the Canadian companies that are engaging in these is that if it's not a hit, then what do you do?" says Gross. "You suddenly have this big fallout of the financing of the show. It's a dangerous model to pursue exclusively. And it's completely outside of your control. You might be putting in the lion's share of the money, but you do not control the fate of the production. But it's extraordinarily attractive. You get big exposure in a way you can't generate out of Canada alone. It certainly helps with foreign sales to have ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox behind it. But it does bring some handcuffs that aren't all that attractive, creatively and for broadcasters."