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Winner: Technology and Media

"I come from a family of entrepreneurs. I worked many years at the foot of my father in the toy wholesale business in Calgary,” David Paperny explains from his busy second-floor office at Paperny Films in the False Creek South area of Vancouver. The walls of the space display the achievements of his film production company over the past 15 years, from the dark documentary Confessions of an Innocent Man to the lighter lifestyle series Crash Test Mommy.

By Valerie McTavish /

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“I come from a family of entrepreneurs. I worked many years at the foot of my father in the toy wholesale business in Calgary,” David Paperny explains from his busy second-floor office at Paperny Films in the False Creek South area of Vancouver.

The walls of the space display the achievements of his film production company over the past 15 years, from the dark documentary Confessions of an Innocent Man to the lighter lifestyle series Crash Test Mommy.

Surprisingly, it was his father who expressed concern about Paperny and his young family when he announced his entrepreneurial intentions. But Paperny knew the timing would never be better to leave his secure position as a producer for the news and current affairs department at CBC Vancouver.
It was 1994 and the Canadian television industry was blossoming with new specialty channels hungry for content. Plus, his heartfelt film about a man living with AIDS, The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter, had just been nominated for an Academy Award.

Paperny Films was a product of the desire both he and his wife, Audrey Mehler, shared to create off-mainstream documentaries. With the success of their documentary series Kink (for Showcase) their eyes were opened to the value of volume. Since then, they have created over a dozen television series ranging in genre from lifestyle to reality.

Growth has been rapid, with revenue tripling over the past three years. In 2008 the company’s revenue was $14 million, and it produced 42 hours of network television, which garnered a Gemini nomination and several LEO awards. Unfortunately, rougher waters were ahead, and today the Canadian television industry is in a state of crisis.

“I’ve never seen as perfect a storm of events hit the industry as I have in the last year,” Paperny says of the recession’s effect on advertiser spending, the shift in youth content consumption and the overextension of media companies.

It’s got Paperny rejigging his strategy by branching into new genres (developing a comedy for Showcase and a tween drama for YTV); doing some genre bending (producing a docu-soap for Rogers); venturing further into new media, including cellphone content; and marketing product south of the border.

While some might see his location on the West Coast as a disadvantage in a Toronto-centric industry, Paperny likes being a novelty to broadcasters. “When I come to town,” he explains, “it’s business and it’s special; we have a good time and an effective time.” It also spares him the emotional energy of constantly being in the competitive hot spot; he says he likes working under the radar.

Paperny even manages to get off the radar from time to time. This past spring, he escaped to India for a month with his son Daniel (20, the middle of his three children and the only boy). Most of his getaways are shorter, spent with Mehler at their cabin on Hornby Island.

Given that Paperny seems to be constantly seeking new ideas, don’t be surprised if Hornby suddenly loses its women (as happens in the Paperny Films CBC dramatic series The Week the Women Went) or we are treated to a documentary set on the shores of the Ganges River.