My turn. Thank you for putting me in the third spot, because these folks are talking about the big picture, which I think is really important, and I applaud both of your presentations, as it means a lot to me to listen to them.
We come here to speak in very specific terms about the feature film. We presented to you when you did the standing committee on features. That was our big-picture presentation. This is a little more of an intimate presentation.
Right off the bat, the fact that the CBC exists is not the point of this presentation. We deeply believe in the importance of the CBC. But specifically regarding feature film in Canada and the role it could play in the CBC, in terms of the content of the CBC, as a filmmaker particularly, it shocks me how little a role the CBC, in English Canada particularly, plays in feature film.
I've broken it down into three topics, so we're going to touch on them: the program itself, the programming of the CBC; notions around promotion and what the CBC could do for cinema; and then I just want to talk about pre-licensing.
I do want to make it clear that a lot of what I'm about to say and the criticism I'm making does not actually have anything to do with Radio-Canada, which has an amazing relationship with the Quebec film industry. I actually believe these policies are probably already in place at the CBC, but somehow the English Canadian side of the CBC has overlooked the importance of cinema--and by cinema, I mean the movies in the theatres.
We all know that you can't find a Canadian film in the theatres. Okay, we can talk about that another day, but we should be able to find Canadian movies on CBC television, God help us.
I think it was the year the hockey strike was on, the CBC decided to run something called Movie Night in Canada. Movie Night in Canada was their big way of drawing a big audience, getting ad revenue--and we understand the need for that. And Movie Night in Canada had the gentleman who does the commentaries in between games.... You know. Help me out here.