New rules create controversy around Canadian content
The CRTC has reduced the requirements for a TV production to be deemed ‘Canadian’ in order to get public funding. The country’s screenwriters fear they will be left out in the cold as a result.
Canadian screenwriters would really like to do a thorough re-write of a recent Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision that changes how Canadian a television show needs to be in order to be called “Canadian” and receive public funding.
Acclaimed Vancouver screenwriter and television producer Dennis Heaton, who helmed award-winning Vancouver-made crime drama Motive for four seasons, first sounded the alarm on social media earlier this week.
In a post on Facebook, Heaton decried the change in CRTC regulations reducing the number of points needed for a production to be deemed Canadian.
Announced on Aug. 25, the new policy framework for Certified Independent Production Funds (which includes funds run by Shaw, Telus and Cogeco) dropped the requirement from eight to six points out of 10.
The 10 points, as defined by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office and required to get access to the larger Canadian Media Fund, are awarded based on if the television show has a Canadian director (two points); screenwriter (two points); highest paid and/or second highest paid lead performers (one point each); director of photography (one point); art director (one point); music composer (one point); and picture editor (one point). The only non-negotiable pre-requisite — excluded from the points system — is that the producer be Canadian.
“A reduction in the minimum Canadian certification points requirement will allow more productions to be eligible for CIPF funding,” the CRTC’s decision stated. “Canadian production companies will be able to benefit from expertise from abroad.”
In other words, critics say, the CRTC is arguing Canadian TV needs international help in order to succeed.
RE- FRAMING CANADIAN CONTENT
The change in the framework comes at a time when the film and television industry in Vancouver has never been busier, thanks to American productions like Legends of Tomorrow and NBC’s forthcoming sci-fi series Timeless coming to shoot here because of Vancouver’s talented technical labour pool, comprehensive studio infrastructure, and a low Canadian dollar.
The danger, Heaton said, is that the new six-point threshold could potentially enable more Americanand international-oriented productions to be deemed “Canadian” by devaluing the role of Canadian screenwriters, who are much less secure in a “service” industry like Vancouver’s.
In his post on Facebook, Heaton asked that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sign a letter of recom- mendation for his application for an O-1 visa, which allows “for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry” to work in the U.S.
“If the CRTC policy is going to allow for an influx — potentially a large influx — of non-Canadian talent to come up to Canada to work on our productions,” Heaton said in a phone interview, “then I felt the government should give us a quid pro quo on our ability to leave.”
Some Canadian screenwriters have already left. One example is University of British Columbia alum and former teacher Hart Hanson who famously created the forensic series Bones, based on the work of popular author Kathy Reichs, for American television.
“Canadian screenwriters are very successful abroad,” said Mau- reen Parker, executive director for the Writers Guild of Canada.
“It’s funny how they’re so great in other countries but they stink at home. It’s such a part of the Canadian mentality. But of course we have talented people here who want to stay and tell their stories.”
According to Parker, the recent change to the CRTC’s points requirements is part of a wider strategy initiated under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“It’s important to remember that it’s a CRTC decision,” Parker said.
“The CRTC is an arm’s-length organization of the government. The current chair (Jean-Pierre Blais) was appointed by prime minister Harper, and he has had a very definitive, clear direction coming out in all of his policies.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Two years ago, the CRTC held the Let’s Talk TV hearings in which the idea of giving production companies more flexibility to hire from abroad was championed.
In a letter sent to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) on Aug. 31 and forwarded to The Vancouver Sun, Blais responded by saying the Aug. 25 change in the funding policy framework was not a sudden, unexpected move.
“The CRTC clearly indicated, as a part of the Let’s Talk TV decision, following this extensive process, that it would examine its policies for independent Canadian production funds,” Blais wrote.
“The Canadian cultural sector needs to be forward looking to offer compelling high-quality content to Canadians and to global audiences, in an ever more digitally connected, borderless world.
“The CRTC must also look beyond our national borders to the world market,” Blais added.
“There are important audiences that Canadian creators have and must continue to reach. It is essential to the continued financing of Canadian made productions. We, as well as other federal and provincial funding partners, have always recognized the importance of international partnerships and collaboration to help ensure that productions made by Canadians with Canadian resources and the support of over $4 billion in contributions by tax payers, and subscribers, reaches not only a national, but also an international audience.”
If CRTC policy is going to allow for an influx ... of non-Canadian talent ... the government should give us a quid pro quo on our ability to leave. I can’t help but think that if Orphan Black was a six out of 10, would we have Tatiana Maslany?
That idea has been supported by international media group eOne Entertainment, which owns Vancouver’s Force Four Entertainment (Emergency, Tricked, Border Security) and Paperny Entertainment (Timber Kings, Chopped Canada). Globally, the company invested $400 million in television drama in 2015.
EOne Entertainment would not comment on this story, but in an Aug. 15 letter to the CRTC addressing the licence renewal of the Corus Entertainment group, which it also owns, eOne included this recommendation: “Recognizing that audiences are discovering content on a multitude of new platforms, (the CRTC should) establish mechanisms that encourage contribution to Canadian content creation on the part of enterprises that benefit from our content ecosystem and enjoy access to Canadian viewers.”
Simply put: If Canadian shows are to be seen abroad in the age of digital distribution and Netflix streaming, eOne argued along the same line as the CRTC: that Canadian content creators should be ready to accept production help from abroad.
“What that means is ( big production and distribution companies) want Americans or Europeans to put money into the production budgets,” Parker said. “And the only way overseas entities will do that is if they have some sort of creative control.” For Graeme Manson, the Vancouver-bred co-creator of Torontoshot series Orphan Black, the CRTC’s change to the points system is troubling.
Orphan Black is a 10-point series, entirely created and shot by Canadians, starring Canadian actors. The series has been exported to more than 150 countries and territories.
Overall, the export value of Canadian TV reached an all-time high of $539 million in 2014-15, according to stats provided by the Writers Guild of Canada.
“Our show, and the success of our show, is the reason tax dollars go to (the television industry),” Manson said. “I immediately think about all the younger writers who are trying to get their own projects off the ground. It’s going to impact creators and actors in the points system.
“I can’t help but think that if Orphan Black was a six out of 10, would we have (Emmy-nominated rising star) Tatiana Maslany? Any network would have jumped to cast an American. This allows producers to bring in an American or a non-Canadian creative team and stick it with a Canadian crew.”
For Manson, who is in preparation stages for the fifth season of the award-winning show (which holds a 92 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes), Canadian creators are no longer content with mere flag-waving and are “shooting universally.”
“We’re telling universal stories, and part of that is the result of the existing system. We can measure up on the world stage,” he said. “There is always that southern exodus. There’s nothing wrong with that. These are independent creators, and they have the right to take it anywhere they want.
“But there are a lot, including myself, who chose to stay here because we could see getting our own projects, our own series off the ground here in Canada with our own actors, in our own backyard, doing something that we believe in, which is Canadian culture.”
With the CRTC’s latest decision, Manson can see a battle brewing between the directors, actors and writers guilds, and the CRTC.
“The online film community is being very vocal and we’re starting to figure it out. It’s only been a week. I’m not sure what the Writers Guild or ACTRA have up their sleeves, but I believe there’s a fight coming. This is the track that Harper laid, and I think that there have been Canadian success stories since this track was laid that are incredibly good arguments against this business affairs-driven decision.”