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Aug 12 2004
Coffee With ...
You might say that like some of the talent Arthur Evrensel
represents, he was discovered in an unlikely place.
A young man of Armenian descent who moved to Montreal from Istanbul,
Turkey as a six-year-old, Evrensel was in his second year with the
law firm of Heenan Blaikie, working on mainly commercial law and
securities, when he was asked to work with experienced entertainment
lawyer Michael Prupas, a new addition to the firm.
Other than enjoying movies or television shows, Evrensel didn't
really have a background in the entertainment industry. In fact, when
he completed his bachelors degree in economics at McGill University,
his thoughts were to either obtain his chartered accountant
designation or pursue real estate law.
At the encouragement of a friend, Evrensel applied to law school at
McGill and completed a degree covering both common and civil law.
Along the way he landed a summer job with Heenan Blaikie.
Save HUGE with packages.
While happy to get the work, he didn't quite see himself with the
firm long term. Heenan Blaikie had just 26 lawyers and did mainly
labour, litigation and commercial law.
"I was looking for a bigger firm and thought, 'Hey it's a summer
job,' " Evrensel explains as we sit this Thursday morning at one end
of a boardroom table that would make a giraffe's neck look short.
But as he would note later on in our conversation at Heenan Blaikie's
downtown office, you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be
good.
Evrensel would stick with Heenan Blaikie and a year before he
graduated the firm announced it was welcoming former Canadian Prime
Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau into the fold.
And when Evrensel began working in the firm's entertainment practice,
the media world was a dramatically changing place with the
500-channel universe coming into play.
"All of these new channels were needing product and we were in the
middle of it," Evrensel notes, adding that the growth meant new
opportunities for Heenan Blaikie.
In 1989, Norman Bacal went to Toronto to open a new office for the
firm. Two years later, Evrensel, an almost lifelong Montrealer to
that point, made the unlikely move to Vancouver. At the time that he
was instrumental in launching the Vancouver office, B.C. boasted just
$88 million in film and television production.
But the industry grew and with it so did Evrensel's profile. Last
year, buoyed by big budget films The Chronicles of Riddick, Catwoman
and I Robot, B.C.'s film and TV industry was worth $1.4 billion.
And a glance at Evrensel's resume indicates that he has been a real
player in that growth. Just the sample of his clients on his resume
is far too long to list. But some of them include MGM Television
Group, The David Suzuki Foundation, The Jim Pattison Group, Royal
Bank of Canada, Columbia/TriStar Television, Sony Pictures, New City
Pictures, Da Vinci Productions (Chris Haddock), Troika Films (Walter
Daroshin), Shavick Entertainment, The Characters Talent Agency,
Morgan Creek Productions and Lions Gate Entertainment.
Evrensel actually sits on the board of directors for Lions Gate,
which is proving to have made a brilliant business move when it
released Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 after Disney
decided not to. Fahrenheit 9/11, which cost $6 million US to make,
has earned about $133 million worldwide.
Evrensel says he wasn't worried about the repercussions from
releasing Moore's documentary. The Edgemont Village resident notes
that the film is factually based and is in no way libelous or
slanderous. Further, the board of Lions Gate Entertainment has an
obligation to the shareholders to pursue what is in their best
interests. To not release Fahrenheit 9/11 would be showing political
partisanship and not prudent business sense.
But the 46-year-old Evrensel has many other projects he has
participated in as head of Heenan Blaikie's entertainment law group
in Vancouver that he appears more gung ho to talk about.
He mentions Bell Making The Cut, a reality show airing on CBC Sept.
21st in which wannabe NHL hockey players, with coaches Scottie Bowman
and Mike Keenan as their guides, get a crack at their dream of an NHL
tryout.
Earlier on in our conversation, Evrensel pulled out a hardcover
coffee table book full of colourful aerial pictures of Canada's
unique geography and cities called "Over Canada: An Aerial
Adventure," which was produced by Jim Pattison Industries. He is
obviously pleased to have been involved with its production and notes
working with Pattison is a pleasure because he always learns
something.
Right now, Evrensel is working with B.C. company Brightlight, which
is producing an $8 million movie in Romania called Blood Rayne. It is
based on a video game and features Sir Ben Kingsley.
Romania, Evrensel notes, is cheap to produce in and the movie could
have never been made here for that price.
Competition, explains the man who is listed in the Canadian Who's Who
and has been recognized by his peers the last few years as one of the
top entertainment lawyers in Canada, is getting fiercer all of the
time.
Not only are some American film industry types crying the blues about
runaway productions and California and Washington states considering
introducing tax credits to keep the industry at home, other countries
around the world are trying to duplicate the incentives Canada
offers.
The debate over federal support for the film industry hit home during
the federal election in June. North Vancouver Conservative MP Ted
White had indicated that he would not support tax credits or
incentives for the industry, characterizing it as corporate welfare.
Evrensel says that the Motion Picture Production Industry
Association, for which he sits on the board of directors, contacted
White in an attempt to clarify any misconceptions he may have had but
White responded that it was too close to the election for him to meet
with them and he didn't think his constituents wanted him supporting
corporate welfare.
In the end District of North Vancouver Mayor Don Bell, the Liberal
candidate, upset White and it was widely believed that the votes from
local film industry workers proved the difference.
"The North Vancouver federal election was a very satisfying election
for us," Evrensel admits.
He cites reports conducted by accounting firms PriceWaterhouseCoopers
and Ernst and Young that indicate the federal government actually
reaps a net positive return for tax credits provided to the film
industry.
Evrensel explains that U.S. film producers can, due to the size of
their consumer market with a population of 300 million, make a movie
and fund it entirely within. Canada, on the other hand, doesn't have
that critical mass and needs to develop partnerships and sell its
product in foreign markets to succeed. Thus the need for government
incentives, or public-private partnerships as he describes them, to
ensure Canadians can compete with giants like the U.S.
Evrensel adds that B.C. has to be proactive and meet any challenges
that arise. The industry can't be taken for granted and always has to
be treated well.
"You always have to service it. This is a mobile industry and anybody
who doesn't understand that will regret it," he explains.
Further, Evrensel notes the industry is always changing, and the
local industry needs to recognize that change and be on top of it.
He points out that reality programs now make up a major portion of TV
schedules, so if the industry is still only producing drama shows, it
should be asking itself why. Further, just five or six years ago DVDs
were not a known commodity.
"Last year sales of DVDs surpassed theatrical release in North
America. If you don't understand the change, you'll be left behind."
The industry keeps him on his toes, Evrensel shares. Things happen
quickly and he says that unlike with a real estate development deal
where you can spend a longer amount of time to ensure all risks are
removed, an entertainment deal may have to be turned around in a
couple of weeks.
"If there's one thing I learned about this business is you have to be
able to work with a certain modicum of risk. You have to accept a
certain level of risk in any deal. The key is to understand it and to
be able to evaluate that risk and whether or not it's a realistic
risk you and the client can assume and live with."
He notes, for instance, that if movie producers have decided upon Ben
Kingsley as a lead and Kingsley is only available for two weeks, the
determination has to be made as to whether or not the production can
adjust to his schedule. If not, then another actor has to be hired.
As for Evrensel, there can be no replacement. Nor is he likely to
make room for one. For while Evrensel might have been discovered in
an unlikely place, he finds himself in a position and an environment
he wants to stay in.
Evrensel says the people in B.C. are much friendlier than in
Montreal. He chalks it up to the fact so many have come from other
parts of the country that they are willing to interact with new
people and aren't locked into cliques.
And as for that little firm Heenan Blaikie that Evrensel wasn't sure
he wanted to stay with back when he was a law student in the mid
1980's, it is likely now larger than any big firm he imagined himself
working for. Heenan Blaikie boasts over 350 lawyers, including
another former PM, Jean Chretien, and is the 10th largest firm in the
country.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=community/northshore&articleID=1685626
Aug 12 2004
Coffee With ...
You might say that like some of the talent Arthur Evrensel
represents, he was discovered in an unlikely place.
A young man of Armenian descent who moved to Montreal from Istanbul,
Turkey as a six-year-old, Evrensel was in his second year with the
law firm of Heenan Blaikie, working on mainly commercial law and
securities, when he was asked to work with experienced entertainment
lawyer Michael Prupas, a new addition to the firm.
Other than enjoying movies or television shows, Evrensel didn't
really have a background in the entertainment industry. In fact, when
he completed his bachelors degree in economics at McGill University,
his thoughts were to either obtain his chartered accountant
designation or pursue real estate law.
At the encouragement of a friend, Evrensel applied to law school at
McGill and completed a degree covering both common and civil law.
Along the way he landed a summer job with Heenan Blaikie.
Save HUGE with packages.
While happy to get the work, he didn't quite see himself with the
firm long term. Heenan Blaikie had just 26 lawyers and did mainly
labour, litigation and commercial law.
"I was looking for a bigger firm and thought, 'Hey it's a summer
job,' " Evrensel explains as we sit this Thursday morning at one end
of a boardroom table that would make a giraffe's neck look short.
But as he would note later on in our conversation at Heenan Blaikie's
downtown office, you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be
good.
Evrensel would stick with Heenan Blaikie and a year before he
graduated the firm announced it was welcoming former Canadian Prime
Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau into the fold.
And when Evrensel began working in the firm's entertainment practice,
the media world was a dramatically changing place with the
500-channel universe coming into play.
"All of these new channels were needing product and we were in the
middle of it," Evrensel notes, adding that the growth meant new
opportunities for Heenan Blaikie.
In 1989, Norman Bacal went to Toronto to open a new office for the
firm. Two years later, Evrensel, an almost lifelong Montrealer to
that point, made the unlikely move to Vancouver. At the time that he
was instrumental in launching the Vancouver office, B.C. boasted just
$88 million in film and television production.
But the industry grew and with it so did Evrensel's profile. Last
year, buoyed by big budget films The Chronicles of Riddick, Catwoman
and I Robot, B.C.'s film and TV industry was worth $1.4 billion.
And a glance at Evrensel's resume indicates that he has been a real
player in that growth. Just the sample of his clients on his resume
is far too long to list. But some of them include MGM Television
Group, The David Suzuki Foundation, The Jim Pattison Group, Royal
Bank of Canada, Columbia/TriStar Television, Sony Pictures, New City
Pictures, Da Vinci Productions (Chris Haddock), Troika Films (Walter
Daroshin), Shavick Entertainment, The Characters Talent Agency,
Morgan Creek Productions and Lions Gate Entertainment.
Evrensel actually sits on the board of directors for Lions Gate,
which is proving to have made a brilliant business move when it
released Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 after Disney
decided not to. Fahrenheit 9/11, which cost $6 million US to make,
has earned about $133 million worldwide.
Evrensel says he wasn't worried about the repercussions from
releasing Moore's documentary. The Edgemont Village resident notes
that the film is factually based and is in no way libelous or
slanderous. Further, the board of Lions Gate Entertainment has an
obligation to the shareholders to pursue what is in their best
interests. To not release Fahrenheit 9/11 would be showing political
partisanship and not prudent business sense.
But the 46-year-old Evrensel has many other projects he has
participated in as head of Heenan Blaikie's entertainment law group
in Vancouver that he appears more gung ho to talk about.
He mentions Bell Making The Cut, a reality show airing on CBC Sept.
21st in which wannabe NHL hockey players, with coaches Scottie Bowman
and Mike Keenan as their guides, get a crack at their dream of an NHL
tryout.
Earlier on in our conversation, Evrensel pulled out a hardcover
coffee table book full of colourful aerial pictures of Canada's
unique geography and cities called "Over Canada: An Aerial
Adventure," which was produced by Jim Pattison Industries. He is
obviously pleased to have been involved with its production and notes
working with Pattison is a pleasure because he always learns
something.
Right now, Evrensel is working with B.C. company Brightlight, which
is producing an $8 million movie in Romania called Blood Rayne. It is
based on a video game and features Sir Ben Kingsley.
Romania, Evrensel notes, is cheap to produce in and the movie could
have never been made here for that price.
Competition, explains the man who is listed in the Canadian Who's Who
and has been recognized by his peers the last few years as one of the
top entertainment lawyers in Canada, is getting fiercer all of the
time.
Not only are some American film industry types crying the blues about
runaway productions and California and Washington states considering
introducing tax credits to keep the industry at home, other countries
around the world are trying to duplicate the incentives Canada
offers.
The debate over federal support for the film industry hit home during
the federal election in June. North Vancouver Conservative MP Ted
White had indicated that he would not support tax credits or
incentives for the industry, characterizing it as corporate welfare.
Evrensel says that the Motion Picture Production Industry
Association, for which he sits on the board of directors, contacted
White in an attempt to clarify any misconceptions he may have had but
White responded that it was too close to the election for him to meet
with them and he didn't think his constituents wanted him supporting
corporate welfare.
In the end District of North Vancouver Mayor Don Bell, the Liberal
candidate, upset White and it was widely believed that the votes from
local film industry workers proved the difference.
"The North Vancouver federal election was a very satisfying election
for us," Evrensel admits.
He cites reports conducted by accounting firms PriceWaterhouseCoopers
and Ernst and Young that indicate the federal government actually
reaps a net positive return for tax credits provided to the film
industry.
Evrensel explains that U.S. film producers can, due to the size of
their consumer market with a population of 300 million, make a movie
and fund it entirely within. Canada, on the other hand, doesn't have
that critical mass and needs to develop partnerships and sell its
product in foreign markets to succeed. Thus the need for government
incentives, or public-private partnerships as he describes them, to
ensure Canadians can compete with giants like the U.S.
Evrensel adds that B.C. has to be proactive and meet any challenges
that arise. The industry can't be taken for granted and always has to
be treated well.
"You always have to service it. This is a mobile industry and anybody
who doesn't understand that will regret it," he explains.
Further, Evrensel notes the industry is always changing, and the
local industry needs to recognize that change and be on top of it.
He points out that reality programs now make up a major portion of TV
schedules, so if the industry is still only producing drama shows, it
should be asking itself why. Further, just five or six years ago DVDs
were not a known commodity.
"Last year sales of DVDs surpassed theatrical release in North
America. If you don't understand the change, you'll be left behind."
The industry keeps him on his toes, Evrensel shares. Things happen
quickly and he says that unlike with a real estate development deal
where you can spend a longer amount of time to ensure all risks are
removed, an entertainment deal may have to be turned around in a
couple of weeks.
"If there's one thing I learned about this business is you have to be
able to work with a certain modicum of risk. You have to accept a
certain level of risk in any deal. The key is to understand it and to
be able to evaluate that risk and whether or not it's a realistic
risk you and the client can assume and live with."
He notes, for instance, that if movie producers have decided upon Ben
Kingsley as a lead and Kingsley is only available for two weeks, the
determination has to be made as to whether or not the production can
adjust to his schedule. If not, then another actor has to be hired.
As for Evrensel, there can be no replacement. Nor is he likely to
make room for one. For while Evrensel might have been discovered in
an unlikely place, he finds himself in a position and an environment
he wants to stay in.
Evrensel says the people in B.C. are much friendlier than in
Montreal. He chalks it up to the fact so many have come from other
parts of the country that they are willing to interact with new
people and aren't locked into cliques.
And as for that little firm Heenan Blaikie that Evrensel wasn't sure
he wanted to stay with back when he was a law student in the mid
1980's, it is likely now larger than any big firm he imagined himself
working for. Heenan Blaikie boasts over 350 lawyers, including
another former PM, Jean Chretien, and is the 10th largest firm in the
country.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=community/northshore&articleID=1685626