Read the project’s press release here.

Focus on Features: The Future of Filmmaking in Ontario aims to understand the underlying factors that shape the professional and life experiences of directors, writers, producers, and other industry stakeholders. We will gather information through our survey and a series of interviews. Our findings will be made into a series of documentary-style visual reports. In-depth interviews with directors, writers, and producers at various stages in their careers will also be made available, as well as a written report on our online survey results. These resources will be available for download on this website in the fall of 2016.

This project is a partnership between the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), the Producers Roundtable of Ontario (PRO), and researchers at Ryerson University. We also have participation from the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).

By exploring the career paths of established film directors, writers, producers, as well as the obstacles they face, the study will attempt to lay the groundwork for establishing the best practices for sustaining and growing creative talent in the filmmaking industry in Ontario. There are many sources of information about the economic impact of the sector, which are very important, but this study will look behind those numbers to examine the creative talent who drive that economic activity.