Playback's annual 10 to Watch list, featured in this issue, is heartening in how it demonstrates the wealth of young talent in this country, and yet somewhat unnerving when one considers what may lie ahead for these promising artists.

The list highlights 10 creative talents - consisting of directors, actors and writers - whom, we feel, are on the verge of making a big splash in their respective careers. This year's group, I would say, is particularly strong and diverse.

Geographically, the finalists hail from coast to coast, from St. John's writer/performer Adriana Maggs, cocreator of the CBC comedy pilot Rabbittown, to a trio from Vancouver. These include Jesse McKeown, 26-year-old executive storywriter/editor on Da Vinci's City Hall; writer/director Julia Kwan, who recently completed her $2-million debut feature Eve and the Fire Horse; and actor Lauren Lee Smith, who gives a daring performance in Clement Virgo's upcoming feature Lie with Me.

The other filmmakers on the list bypassed public funding and picked up miniDV cameras to get their first features off the ground. Directors Clermont Jolicoeur and Danny Gilmore (better known in Quebec for their acting credits) and Toronto's Warren Sonoda made the movies Bonzaïon and Ham & Cheese on the cheap, respectively, and garnered decent box office and rave reviews from high places.

Twenty-one-year-old actor Marc-André Grondin is wowing 'em at home in the domestic feature drama C.R.A.Z.Y., Quebec's latest box-office phenom. Toronto writer Shelley Scarrow, who has been crafting Degrassi: The Next Generation scripts for Epitome Pictures and is now moving over to the prodco's Instant Star, is receiving accolades both here and in the U.S.

Meanwhile, actor Mpho Koaho sees a lot of work out of the big Hollywood movies and TV shows that shoot in Toronto.

A tad troubling amidst all this are insights shared by finalist Katie Boland, a 17-year-old actor making noise with her performance in the upcoming miniseries Terminal City. Despite her local success, the young thesp plans on finishing high school and then "moving to L.A." She has likely been in the business long enough to appreciate the oft-mentioned drama crisis afflicting this country.

Keeping them in Canada

The Writers Guild of Canada is acutely aware of the lure of the behemoth to the south. The WGC has issued a statement congratulating the scribes among this year's 10 to Watch, closing with, "We wish all three screenwriters continued success, and hope there will be a rise in the production of original dramatic programs so we can keep these talented people in Canada."

In the letters section on this very page, the WGC takes the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to task for dismissing the recent report from the Coalition of Canadian Audio-visual Unions that projects caster ad revenue growth in the face of the domestic drama drop. The WGC calls again for a tightening of broadcaster drama production quotas.

Stephen Waddell, national executive director of ACTRA, similarly chimes in on the 10 to Watch. "These bright, young performers need to believe that they have a future here in Canada, that they will be able to find creatively challenging work in Canadian productions, work that gives them the opportunity to play the leading and challenging roles, and to tell Canadian stories to fellow Canadians," he says.

One thing is certain: Canadian talent must continue to be nurtured. Directors, writers and actors in this country must be given the opportunity to develop their crafts, even when, say, the pendulum of popular taste swings toward unscripted programming. A talent pool that stagnates can only be bad for business.

Consider our performers, and the role they play in attracting guest productions. If you read these pages, you know that Vancouver, Toronto, the Prairies and the Atlantic provinces are all playing host to a significant number of Hollywood films and TV shows this season, and employing throngs of local performers.

The quality of our talent cannot be denied, even if it is occasionally held up to criticism. A couple of years ago, Hollywood actor Robert Duvall, after having shot the western Open Range in Alberta, was quoted as saying that he prefers not to work in Canada, as our performers pale in comparison to those in the U.S. And now, lo and behold, comes the announcement that Duvall will be back in Alberta shooting a miniseries this summer. Suffice it to say, Hollywood is not going to risk its investment - and this year's investment is substantial - on mediocre results.

So, as you read this year's 10 to Watch, reflect on the fact that the creative endeavors of our artists are at the heart of this business we're in. Without the fruits of their craft, all the surrounding businesses - production companies, distributors, broadcasters, cablecos, service providers, post houses and trade papers - would have nothing of value.