Founding a production service company in Toronto in 2002 was either seriously bad timing or a seriously bad joke. Within months, the city, and to some extent the whole country, was suffering from a series of plagues of near-biblical proportions and roadhouse jobs had fallen by the wayside.

But YYZ Pictures survived its baptism of fire. Now repping a few local directors, the core business remains service-centric. "We work hard to make certain that the one side of the business does not interfere with the other," says EP Michel Korchinsky. "We believe that production service companies should remain in the background as much as possible when servicing a client, so that our client can retain their identity with their clients."

The philosophy seems to be working. YYZ recently completed jobs for Samsonite "Human Nature" through Go Film, New York; Infinity "Atrium" though Chelsea Pictures, NY; and Toyota "Imitation" and "A Step Ahead" through Academy Productions, London. Despite the steady stream of work from more usual sources, Korchinsky thinks the business is going east.

"We have been getting a lot of requests to produce for Asian clients and production companies," he obseves. "As that market grows and matures there will be an increasing need to shoot for these clients, both in North America and in Asian countries."

For now, though, YYZ concentrates on providing services in a fully recovered, though stronger-currencied Canada. The downfall? "While we have a terrific talent base in Canada, it just is not as big and deep as it is in the US."

Where necessary, YYZ will cast across the country and even in the States. A piece of cake compared to what was going on in 2002.

YYZ Pictures> www.yyzpictures.com