Toronto's main advantages as a film production location are that it is Canada's largest city, it is the capital of its most populous province and next door to the US. Producers can shoot Toronto for New York, Chicago or Boston and tap into federal tax credits, Ontario tax credits and the largest English-speaking talent base in the country.

Judy Ranin is the Los Angeles-based representative of Film Ontario. Her job is to use Toronto to sell the rest of the province of Ontario.

Which are your biggest competitors'
We compete with everybody. It's always going to depend on the look. If people need mountains, they probably won't call me. But we can do practically anything else.

What is the biggest misconception'
Toronto can play the big US cities. If there's one misconception it is that's all we do. I ask producers to consider the whole province. You can get fantastic rural settings. David Cronenberg's A History Of Violence shot in a small town an hour and a half outside Toronto.

What could Toronto be doing better'
The big improvement will be the new studio facility, Toronto FilmPort, a Pinewood-sized facility scheduled to open its first phase in 2008.