Ira Levy

World Screen Weekly, October 4, 2007

Executive Producer & Partner

Breakthrough Films & Television

Ira Levy always had an inkling that he would end up in the entertainment business. In high school he was making Super 8 movies and started up a film society: “We’d bring in 16-mm films and show them to other kids,” Levy recalls. At university, Levy opted to study English and photography but soon decided to return to his first love and ventured off to film school in London. He returned to Canada and scored a job as a production assistant at a company that made TV commercials and worked his way up through the ranks. His passion, however, remained in film and TV shows, and Levy soon teamed up with Peter Williamson, a friend from film school, to produce their first documentary, called The Breakthrough, about children with cerebral palsy who were being taught to communicate via Bliss symbols. “One of the mothers said that when her daughter learned these symbols, it was a breakthrough in communication for her and her family,” Levy says. “It was a magical moment.”

The film was selected to screen at the United Nations in 1981 as part of the International Year of Disabled Persons. “It was incredible,” says Levy of showing the film at the U.N.’s General Assembly. Following the success of The Breakthrough, Levy and Williamson decided to set up their own production company, Breakthrough Films & Television, so that they could continue making the kinds of content they wanted to make.

The focus initially was on “social-issues documentaries,” Levy says, and factual content remains a big part of the company’s business. The distribution division, Breakthrough Entertainment, will be at MIPCOM with a range of medical-based series, including Plastic Makes Perfect, Patient Files and Situation Critical.

Breakthrough’s foray into kids’ programming came with The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, which was picked up by PBS in the U.S. Breakthrough continued to build its kids’ business, and five years ago teamed with Kevin Gillis to launch Breakthrough Animation. The division has fared well with series like Atomic Betty, Captain Flamingo and Miss BG, and has expanded into prime-time adult animation with the new series Foolz in the Hood and Producing Emily.

The Canadian company has also extended its reach into drama, with a slate of TV movies like Cradle of Lies and The Road to Christmas as well as the late-night soap Paradise Falls for Showcase in Canada. And production is under way on Less Than Kind, a 13×30-minute series for CHUM; Easton Meets West, a one-hour pilot for CBC; and Confessions of a Porn Addict: A Love Story, a mockumentary for The Movie Network and Movie Central.

“The interesting thing about the company is the diversity of genres we are involved with,” Levy says. “It’s helped us work with a number of different broadcasters across Canada, the States and Europe. We love to make shows. That’s ultimately our strength. We’re content creators. We started to make films and then television and now television is the multiplatform universe. We’ve tried to keep ahead of that trend. [We’re] creating really interesting shows that not only work for Canadian audiences but also work for an international audience. That’s been our way of running the business.”

Levy has been able to strike a balance between running the company with Williamson and staying involved on the production end. “It’s a rush—not only to get a show ordered after you develop something, but there’s always that magic moment when you see it on the screen.”

—By Mansha Daswani