North York-based film centre seeks funds for repairs
"What this does is fix all the infrastructure stuff," said Slawo Klymkiw, executive director of the prestigious film school. "There are sewer issues, water issues we have in the place - everything to paving to the foundations of the buildings, to the roofs and windows that are ridiculously inefficient."
Klymkiw was at Wednesday's meeting of Toronto's Economic Development Committee, to argue that the approximately $1 million over three years would pay for itself many times back by keeping the Toronto Film Centre viable in the long run.
"The truth is that the most pervasive cultural form in this country, in the world, is media," he said.
"It's television, it's film, it's new media. It's the new semantics of the 21st century. If you think about it, the intellectual property issues are probably the largest growth area in the country. For very little money we can bring back so much growth that it's stunning. So we are a good business for everybody."
The film centre has been in operation since the late 1980s. Founded by director Norman Jewison, the school has trained directors, screenwriters and editors that have gone on to work on virtually every major Canadian film of the past two decades, according to Klymkiw.
The centre has operated from the estate of 20th-century developer E.P. Taylor on Bayview Avenue south of York Mills Road since its inception in a long-term lease with the city.
The estate itself is a designated historic property - so maintenance is costly and time-consuming, and there are severe limits to what the Film Centre can build on the property.
To that end, Klymkiw said the film centre is hoping to do the necessary infrastructure maintenance with a combination of provincial money, and city and federal funding.
The provincial government has already pledged $2.5 million in this year's budget.
The committee voted to ask for a staff report on the feasibility of providing funding, and made no commitments beyond that at Wednesday's meeting.
