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Mexico

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Alex Olegnowicz was first introduced to the beauty of Ontario at the age of 13 when his parents sent him to summer camp in the Parry Sound area. "I thought I'd found Eden," he recalls.

The young man from Mexico City was homesick at first and spoke no English when he made his first visit in 1980. But that didn't deter him from returning to the pastoral setting again and again during his teenage years, and he says the Canadian friends he met during those formative years are still his friends today.

"It doesn't matter what cultural background you come from, there's always something that you can do."

At the time, he thought he might like to live in the province some day, but it was to be 15 years before he was in a position to make a decision to locate in Canada. By then, he and his wife, Debbie, were accomplished in the field of graphics and in creating multiple imaging for movies and videos. Their decision to emigrate from Mexico City to Toronto was founded on the promise of a flourishing film industry.

They explored the possibilities in Los Angeles and Vancouver but settled on Ontario as the place where they could best combine an active lifestyle with their expertise in computer graphics. It afforded them a chance to fully develop the creative aspects of their specialized art.

Although successful in Mexico, they were limited to working on industrial and corporate videos. Toronto, Canada's communication center, offered them the opportunity to work in the movie and television field. "Toronto is a large city and things are happening all the time," Mr. Olegnowicz says. "It is one of the three biggest movie-making areas in North America, after Los Angeles and comparable to New York."

Actually, Ontario has been called "Hollywood North" because of its growing movie and film production industry.

In 1997, the industry contributed a record $635.1 million to the provincial economy. It was also a favoured location for foreign productions, which left more than $252 million in Ontario during the year.

"The computer equipment, the high-tech materials we use, and all the developers of the software we use are to be found right here in the Toronto area," Mr. Olegnowicz adds. "In three-dimensional animation, which is very important to the modern movie industry, Ontario artists are recognized as world leaders. The Canadian industry has a reputation for quality products."

He advises prospective entrepreneurs to thoroughly research the area in which they intend to locate. Mr. Olegnowicz says his downtown Toronto location is within a five-block radius of much of the city's movie and television production and enables him to be of better service to his major clients, who produce programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Arts and Entertainment Television network. He and his wife work primarily in the field of documentaries and "we expect to grow with the industry."

Mr. Olegnowicz has no regrets about locating his business in Ontario. "Toronto has everything," he says. "It's such a diverse city. It doesn't matter what cultural background you come from, there's always something that you can do."