A Year of Growth: Dear Friend’s Toronto Launch and Expanding Canadian Presence
Earlier this year, Dear Friend made a splash when it announced that it would be expanding eastward and opening a new office in Toronto. Already a mainstay of the West Coast production scene with a headquarters in Vancouver, this move means a far stronger ability to service clients in the heart of Canadian adland, and represents the team’s desire to make its footprint fully national.
Yet, despite the significance of this announcement, the good news for the production house doesn’t end there. New business is being won. New directors are being signed. Things are seriously looking up… and yet the leadership team is hardly taking a break to celebrate. Sure, founder and executive producer Mark Chisholm, partner and managing director Garth Collins, and executive producer Trevor Lang are all excited, but they know this is only the beginning. Representative of their ‘always becoming, never arrived’ mentality, this is only the next step as they enable their directors to seize new opportunities, foster new relationships in the process, and make sure Dear Friend’s thumbprint is felt from coast to coast.
To learn more about what this move means to them, what it took to make it happen, and review the year at large, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Mark, Garth, and Trevor for a chat.
LBB> Tell us about your 2024! What's new that happened with Dear Friend?
Mark> A lot has happened! It’s been a consequential year for us – we partnered with new agencies to produce great work, signed some new directors we’re incredibly passionate about, and made a tonne of meaningful relationships that have helped carve our path forward. I think what we’re most excited about is the launch of our new office in Toronto this fall.
Garth> From my side, what's new at Dear Friend is our identity in the market is starting to form. I think the word is kind of going around; we do our best to leave a lasting impression on everyone we touch, and naturally, the market is not that huge, whether you're in Vancouver or Toronto. Most people know most people, and I think they’re starting to check in and verify that we can deliver on the things we say we’re going to do, bring top tier talent to the table, and make budgets work. So, naturally, we’re getting exciting new opportunities.
LBB> Speaking of Toronto, how long had an expansion been in the cards for, and why was this fall the right time to execute?
Garth> We'd had our eye on Toronto for a while, but honestly, we wanted to make sure we were ready to deliver. So, after some great projects here this past year, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We wanted to make sure we had our systems in place, that as executive producers, agency partners and problem solvers, we were ready to bring value, and that ultimately, we weren't faking it.
Specifically, there are a lot of smoke and mirrors in the industry, but we've grown the right way at the right pace, and we just want to continue that in a second city. We feel we're only as good as our last production, and that there's no room for error or failure. So, now's the right time for us to have a permanent residence, and we're equipped to bring value as a production partner.
Trevor> When I look at the Canadian landscape, there's a lot of work in Toronto that inspires me, and I think over the last couple of years, that's been a goal we've all mutually shared. We wanted to sit at that table with everyone in Toronto, we wanted to see the same things and compete with them, and I think now more than ever, we're in the right place to do that.
Mark> To echo both points, Toronto had always been in our business plans, but we really cared about ensuring the time and place was for us to make this move. A big source of pride for us is how we maintain and foster relationships with our partners. We feel like this is the key to our success on the West Coast, and we wanted to continue that in Toronto. It's better for us to truly find out how our creative partners tick so that we can extract the most value out of these relationships.
So, ultimately, our vision with the expansion is to play a small part in contributing to the industry at large for the long term. We're not here just to execute a job – we're here to actually progress the Canadian advertising scene and allow our directors to have their thumbprints felt.
LBB> Building on this, how will this new setup allow you to work in ways you previously couldn’t?
Trevor> I think both markets have a tonne of upside. There's a lot of production capability in Vancouver, and it has that reputation for hosting world class production. But also, there's a lot of great crews and good opportunities in Toronto. It's different options with both cities, and now we're going to have full access to both.
One of the greatest strengths we have is we're a team of four, and for us to be able to spread out and cover both territories – we're just adding to our arsenal. Nothing is really changing, we just have more options.
LBB> Logistically speaking, how are you now dividing resources between your two offices?
Mark> For Toronto, Garth is our permanent resident there, and is keeping the operations active with a couple new strategic hires. Meanwhile, Trevor and I are working in both cities as EPs depending on where the production is shooting. Brayden Wiebe, our head of production, will maintain our service operation here in Vancouver.
Overall, the idea is to not leave Vancouver behind, but to be a nationwide production partner and bring some of our culture out east.
LBB> Obviously, the big news doesn’t end there – you also mentioned a few new directors/teams joining the roster. What can you tell us about these?
Mark> We’re really excited about our new signings, and there’s more to come! Our goal is to offer Toronto creatives a fresh pool of talent to bring their scripts to life. We think the city is ready for new directorial approaches, and our roster is becoming a reflection of diverse, multi-faceted styles that can do just that. For us, as EPs, style and charisma are everything. Every day we’re studying modern filmmaking trends on a global scale and want to provide the Canadian market, east and west, with exciting new options.
LBB> To this end, why do you think Dear Friend has become such an attractive home for directors in Canada?
Trevor> Mark and I are creatives, and our production company is backed by creative EPs that understand our directors’ strengths. From treatment to the final edit, we’re in the mix. We’re there for casting, on the scouts and the sets, and always have the purpose of ensuring our directors have a creative support system and can back their vision all the way.
Garth> There’s a few dimensions to consider here. Yes, we are a creative house in pursuit of subversive work that celebrates freedom of thought and fearless curiosity. But we’re also very business-minded when it comes to the management and career guidance of our directors. I think talent is attracted to us because we act as global citizens, first and foremost. We take care of our health – mental and physical – and we take what we do very seriously. It’s fun to learn, grow and be competitive together. We refer to it as the locker room mentality (taken from my old hockey days), but I think directors in general are starting to take notice of the full package we offer at Dear Friend and frankly, it goes beyond the brief.
LBB> With all this in mind, what’s the vision for 2025?
Garth> I think we’ll continue exactly as is, which means nurturing everything that we've been doing to get to this point. And this has been done at a very measured and strategic pace by design. We could have executed this in January of last year, but we were like, 'OK, let's make sure our brand identity and positioning in this market is in place first'.
Beyond that, really, we see it as a journey with no real destination. Not to be cliché, but something we say a lot is, 'We're always becoming, never arrived'. So, with this, we've got to continue becoming what we need to be as a Canadian production partner. That's what we're going to keep doing in the next few months, the next year too, and the year after that.
LBB> Overall, with these changes in mind, where do you think Dear Friend’s place in the Canadian production scene is?
Garth> We have huge respect for the Canadian production scene, and we have a lot of respect for the amazing partners whose shoulders we stand on, so our place is ‘slow and steady’. We’re confident in the value we bring. What we don't want to do is oversell and underdeliver, and I think that's the big thing. So, it's just about being competitive. As long as Trevor, Mark and Brayden are leading our team,and scouting world class talent, then we'll be able to keep communicating with whatever demographic we’re trying to reach.
Mark> We know that there are people in the Toronto market who have illustrious backgrounds and who have been there for a while, but we recognise ourselves as people who can be a part of that group as well. We look forward to proving that over the next year!
LBB> Finally, Garth, with your move out to Toronto complete, how’re you finding things thus far?
Garth> I've done a lot of reflecting, personally and professionally, over the last few years, and I've just come to realise how much I truly love our industry. I love advertising, I love our community, and I specifically love film production. Toronto reminds me why that's true. The dozens and dozens of people I've spoken to have met me with open arms and excitement. Everyone I encounter out here has been so generous with their time and energy towards me, and I just feel myself learning more and more every day.
From a business standpoint, I’m excited by the fact that it feels like Toronto is ready for our creative diversity. The ask is higher, and that creates an opportunity for a nimble production company like us who can revise budgets, creatively problem solve, and still give that premium feel. Maybe we're lucky, maybe we created our own luck, but it's very clear to us that the city is ready for a fresh production partner. The agencies are pumping out all these amazing scripts, and they're ready for a new perspective. So hopefully we can contribute for the long term!
But, all that said, at the end of the day, I'm just so excited to be a part of this new community!
