Robert Dinan, Lepage Dinan Avocats and former chairman of Telefilm: He was there for a little over three years of my mandate. He was great to work with: very, very knowledgeable about the industry, very friendly, very cordial, and very open.

At that particular time the board was due to review its manner of operations, its way of defining its participation, and it required great openness and co-operation from the executive director, and Francois was there for us when we were going through those various exercises. He was a terrific executive director.

Michael Hirsh, co-CEO, Nelvana: I think Francois is a high-energy executive who's proven his ability to succeed both in the public and the private sector. He manages to keep his humor in difficult times. He's focused and not only gets the job done, but does it extremely well.

Arthur Evrensel, partner, Heenan Blaikie, Vancouver: It's such a political job because you have to be at the same time a diplomat, a politician, to some degree an administrator, and in many ways a very creative person to come up with solutions.

Would we be worse off without him? Absolutely.

Kevin DeWalt, president, Minds Eye Pictures: What it comes down to is Francois was very passionate about the importance of Canadian culture and how important it is to reflect to Canadians about Canadians.

Having him at the helm reinforced that not only to the production community but also to government, and it's that kind of passion that you must have for an organization that's succeeded as long as Telefilm has.

Rene Malo, chairman and CEO, Lauren Productions: When we learned that Pierre [DesRoches] was leaving Telefilm, I thought Francois would be good for the job. They needed someone who knew about the public sector and the private sector. He was doing a great job at Malofilm and I was sad to see him go, but I thought what was good for the industry was good for all members of the industry.

Norm Bolen, exec VP programming, AA Broadcasting: I think he has played a role institutionally within Telelfilm in terms of making sure that the institution is responsive to the needs of its clients. Telefilm has worked very hard to be responsive to the needs of the marketplace, needs of broadcasters and of independent producers. It has tried with the limited funds at its disposal to do the best job it can. It has streamlined the bureaucracy, it's made the process simpler. And it has opened its mind to new ideas.

Dinan: He is a very apt successor to Michael Spencer, who was the father of Telefilm. Francois is exactly the kind of guy to bring it to the next steps and he did it in difficult times.

At that particular time it was the fusion between Telefilm Canada and what was then the Cable Fund, and that was not an automatic exercise. Also, Telefilm was going through a budgetary downsizing.

I can assure you it wasn't always easy, but he did it with extraordinary finesse.

The Feature Film Fund:

Denise Robert, president, Cinemaginaire: The Canada Feature Film Fund has made a huge difference. For us to have access to a serious fund that can support the kind of films we want to make will enable us to make films with budgets that are more within what the script requires.

Macerola worked very hard in convincing the government and in putting together a serious feature film fund that will enable producers to become really competitive on the international market.

Stephen Ellis, president, Ellis Entertainment: It's one of the hallmarks of his time at Telefilm that feature film has been steadily built and now has the potential to break new ground in terms of audience potential.

Jan Miller, COO, imX Communications: The Feature Film Fund is moving in the right direction despite the things that still have to be changed in it. I think it is absolutely incredible and it's a remarkable legacy.

Bill Mustos, VP dramatic programming, CTV: One of Francois' great coups has been his work behind the scenes to secure much-needed money for the feature film industry, and I think he can feel really terrific leaving Telefilm having secured that.

Robert: Coproductions are so important. To be able to be an ongoing partner is very important, and I think this new [feature film] fund should enable us to do that. You create relationships. For Denys Arcand's Stardom we went and got a lot of money in Europe. It's nice to be a serious partner for foreign producers.

Canadian Television Fund:

Mustos: I was at the Cable Production Fund when Francois was at Telefilm and it was under our collective watch that we had to merge the two organizations into the CTF. He was very protective of his organization, which I respected, and I think we learned we each had different things to bring to CTF...and I really think it's a better organization today.

Bolen: From a specialty channel perspective we feel that we have finally been brought into the fold and are being given reasonable consideration for our projects, that our arguments are being heard, and that we're given an opportunity to consult. Our role in the system is being recognized, and I think Macerola has played a role in that.

Mustos: At CTV, we've shifted in the last five years to be very proudly Canadian...and we are very much dependent on Telefilm and the LFP. I have never felt anything but tremendous encouragement from Telefilm and from Francois to be pursuing that kind of television strategy.

Bolen: He understands very clearly that the incredible growth in volume and diversity has been fueled to a significant extent by the CTF. We would never have been able to mount the kind of TV independent production that we have without the CTF.