Burnt out but booming: Canada's TV and film sector plows ahead during the pandemic

ForDebiDrennan, the film business is a family affair.The Toronto-based makeup artist has been working in theindustrybefore the days of The Littlest Hobo. Her sons, Christian and Tyler, followed her into the business, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they're all as busy as ever.

Christian, a key grip, just wrappedThe Man from Toronto starring Kevin Hart.Key rigger Tyler recently jumped from working on Netflix's Sex and Lies and isnow on Station Eleven.

Drennan herself was one of the first to return to work after Ontario's first coronavirus lockdown, as part of CBC'sMurdoch Mysteries.

She says that with all of the precautions in place, she wasn't worried about safety.

"We're not allowed on the property until we have a correct temperature and we've done a screening. We all had apps on our phone, and we would have to answer those apps every morning."

Withsurging coronavirus rates shutting down production in parts of California, Canadian crews such as the ones the Drennans worked on arecompeting with an influx of American productions. In both British Columbia and Ontario, the industry isn't just busy it's booming.

Switching face shields for safety glasses

Virus or not, Drennan and her colleaguesin the makeup trailer still had to make the cast look picture perfect. For starters,she procureda high-end UV sterilization machine to prevent cross-contamination.

But applying makeup while wearing masks and face shields turned out to be a challenge.The solution was safety glasses with prescription lenses, which became standard on set.

As both the face of and a director on the 14th season ofMurdoch Mysteries, Yannick Bissonsays he was all too cognizant of the risks.

"There was pressure, we were going to be one of the first shows out of the gate," he said. "So the potential for failure was there."

Drennan says the cast and crewquickly becameaccustomed to the new rhythms of work, but what she didn't anticipate was how worn out she would become.

"It's exhausting.... I just felt like halfway through the day, they couldn't call lunch fast enough. I just needed to get in my car, pull my mask off, take my goggles off and just sit."

Headaches were common, and Drennansays she thinks dehydration may have played a role: Taking off all the layers of personal protective equipmentfor a sip of water or a snack was such an ordeal that the temptation was just to tough it out.

Pandemic keeps productions on edge

Jason Jallet, a producer from Sudbury, Ont., completed two independent films during the fall and ran into trouble gettingmakeup and hairtrailers, which had already been reserved for foreign productions. "Theyare all on a lot somewhere held until somebody needed them,so they were being paid for and unused."

Jalletsays he was forced tosenddrivers to Quebec from Sudburyfor trailers, costing more time and money. He estimates COVID-19 precautions ate up about fiveper cent of his already precious budget.

On-screen, life on the CBC sitcomKim's Convenience looks the same as it did before the pandemic. But behind the scenes, the fifthseason was shot under COVID-19 measures that were so strict, even Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who plays Appa, struggled to adjust.

"I remember really wanting to push back at the absurdity of having to wear a mask because I knew I didn't have COVID and then realizing that I was making life hell for our COVID protocol officer."

Eventually, Lee says, he decided tolean in and embrace the rules. Jean Yoon, who plays his on-screen wife, Umma, says she missedthefaces of the crew."Being in the same building with so many people we've worked with for all these years and not be able to see them."

The strain of adapting to the regime of rules was so onerous thatJallet created a new position a COVID-19 mental health officer to give his crew someone to vent to. Jallet completed two films in northern Ontario last fall, Boathouse andDelia's Gone, starring Marisa Tomei and Canadian actor Stephan James.

Jallet was alsodealing with his ownanxietydue to the lack of insurance for COVID-19 outbreaks.While the federal governmenteventually created a program to act as a backstop for Canadian productions, it wasn't available in time for Jallet, leaving himon the hook for any potential outbreak.

"Every time the phone rang, I was like, 'Is there a COVID incident? Is somebody sick? Are we going to have to shut down?'"

A surge in demand for studio space

While the rush for resources has taxed Canadian productions, it's been a boon for companies offering studio space.Near Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the sound of jets overhead has been replaced by a fleet of film truckssupporting the newest location for TriBro Studios. What was once an airport hangar is now a soundstage, home to an upcomingParamount production.

TriBro president Peter Apostolopoulos says itcan't build studio space fast enough. "The phone hasn't stopped ringing. There's a tremendous amount of calls coming in for studio space. That's why we expanded to the airport facilities. We needed more space."

In Vancouver, independent producer Mark Miller says he is also seeing a scramble for space, with old warehouses being transformed into soundstages. The producer, who's worked with Great Pacific Media and Thunderbird Entertainment, is bullish on the future.

"We're preparing for a big boom actually, we think that once the pandemic comes to an end, there's a lot of pent-up demand for new content."

At the same time,Miller says he'sworried who will buy his shows.

Aggressive tax credits and the low dollar continue to make Canada an attractive location to serve American shows, such as Star Trek: Discovery or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.But Miller says the pandemic is changing the broadcasting landscape here at home.

"COVID-19 has been very hard on our broadcasters. I know it's been hard on the CBC. I know it's been hard at CTV," he says. "Global advertising revenues are down throughout traditional television, which up until eight years ago was 100per cent of my business."

While COVID-19 has changed howstories are being captured, Yannick Bisson ofMurdoch Mysteriessays one thingremains the same:"The need for something to watch, the need for content. We want to watch our voices on our screen."

In Ontario alone, there are an estimated 30,000 full-time jobs connected to the film and television sector. But as the pandemic stretches on, choosing whether to work or wait has producerJason Jallet facing some tough choices.

"Do we go come up here to northern Ontario to make films? So if I'm bringing actors up from Toronto on a weekly basis to be on screen, am I putting my community here in northern Ontario at risk?"