Canadian Heritage Committee on March 23rd, 2015

[Jennifer Jonas]

First of all, just speaking of Parkdale, I've produced both of Reg Harkema's features. I think you know Reg. He is one of your residents.

Second, before I get to your most recent question, I just want to go back to your initial question about broadcasting. I can't say enough that anything the government could do to repatriate or re-energize CBC, meaning English-language CBC, into feature films would be a very good way to achieve what you were asking. Again, I've said this before, but it's not simply a question of the financing or the licence, but it's having the participation of the broadcaster in the whole conundrum with respect to promotion and awareness so that Canadians can watch and be aware of Canadian films from coast to coast.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much. We're going to have to move on.

Mr. Yurdiga, for about three and a half to four minutes.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

I have to say this before I ask any questions. I've recently got involved in watching Canadian films and I was quite impressed. I find myself being drawn to Canadian content when I'm flying back and forth to my constituency. Good job. I'm really impressed.

One thing that really bothers me is that usually our children are the driving force to what we watch. My children come home and they turn on the TV. I've been thinking, is there any way we can market and promote Canadian content in film to our children? I'll ask Mr. Hennessy to answer that, please.

[Michael Hennessy]

Yes, I think one of the things we've been working on with both the CMF and Telefilm is a project right now that is under the moniker Eye On Canada. I'm not quite sure of the translation, but it's a bilingual thing. It uses social media to build engagement with younger audiences.

The FanZone at the Canadian Screen Awards is a people's choice award, but is driven by younger people whom we bring in, and they get to meet the stars. A lot of that has focused more on television than film, but the tools are equally valid for each. I don't think you can use television, for instance, as the primary vehicle to talk to a younger generation. You have to spend a lot more time on social media and the places they are.

There's no reason, as Ms. Nash was saying, that you can't build more awareness through programs like Reel Canada that goes into the schools and talks about that through social media like the Eye On Canada program through our awards, through the festivals that we were talking about. I think it's entirely possible to have the brilliant slam-dunk idea for you right at the moment.

As I promised Monsieur Dion, I will give that some thought when we come back with our filing, because that is the piece of engagement where I think a lot of initiative is going on that we're still weak on.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you for that.

Ms. Jonas, regarding red tape, obviously we like to get things done as quickly as possible. What are your recommendations to minimize the red tape and is a one-desk approach viable?

[Jennifer Jonas]

I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, but I would imagine that in this highly computerized era it must be possible to have safeguarded inputting programs where the kind of information we need to input for these various audits could be done once and then streamed to the various recipients who need it. There would be one master interface that would be the receiver of the information and all the relevant parties could then receive them.

That same master interface would hold all the PDFs of the relevant contracts and so on. There would be a one-user interface that would then be accessed through pass codes and so on to the various federal and provincial parties who need access to them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

All right, thank you very much.

That's going to have to be the last word. Thank you for your contributions. If you have any further contributions, please send them to us in writing. Thank you for joining us today.

We will briefly suspend.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to call meeting number 37 of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage back to order for the second hour.

We are currently conducting a review of the Canadian feature film industry.

In the second hour we have three organizations with us. From the Canada Council for the Arts we have Simon Brault, director and chief executive officer, and Youssef El Jai, head, media arts section. From the National Film Board of Canada we have Claude Joli-Coeur, government film commissioner and chair. From Telefilm Canada we have Carolle Brabant, executive director; Jean-Claude Mahé, director, communications and public affairs; and Michel Pradier, director of project financing.

Each group will have up to eight minutes.

We'll start with the Canada Council for the Arts, Simon Brault. You have eight minutes.

[Simon Brault, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Director's Office, Canada Council for the Arts]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to begin by thanking the committee for having us. I am joined by Youssef El Jai, Head of the Media Arts Section at the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Canada Council for the Arts is clearly the smallest player among the three institutions whose representatives are testifying before you this afternoon. Its involvement in the film industry, and more specifically in feature films, is extremely specific and extremely targeted, and I will give you a brief overview.

As you know, the Canada Council for the Arts has a mandate to promote the enjoyment of the arts in Canadian society and to support artistic creation. The council's role does not just consist in responding to requests submitted by artists or arts organizations, but also in trying to anticipate the future and intervening as required.

Since 1983, the council has had a Media Arts Section. Media arts cover all moving images, such as video and film. The Canada Council for the Arts operates in a very specific way, mainly because it relies on a peer assessment jury system when evaluating artistic excellence and the feasibility of the submitted proposals.

Year after year, the Canada Council for the Arts invites about 700 artists and culture professionals from across Canada to assess projects or proposals submitted by individuals, groups or organizations. We know that there are 140,000 professional artists in Canada. The arts sector generates 640,000 jobs and significant economic benefits in terms of GDP. The council contributes more directly to professional artists through the work done by the Media Arts Section. It also does so indirectly, since the Canada Council for the Arts supports theatre, dance, choreography, writing and literature. All those activities are likely to contribute to the development of the film industry in one way or another.

That contribution is sometimes direct and sometimes indirect. I was CEO of the National Theatre School of Canada for many years, and I was often asked why Canadian actors had so much impact in a film. One of the explanations is that many of our film actors also work in theatre. In Canada, we don't find the same distinction as in the U.S., for instance. Here, actors constantly go from theatre funded by the Arts Council to television and other media, including films and feature films.

Earlier, I said that we feel that the expression “media arts” covered moving images: films, video, new media, digital creations, and so on. The Canada Council for the Arts supports the film industry differently than Telefilm Canada or the NFB do. The council plays a complementary role. It supports what we refer to as “independent cinema”, which is basically cinema whose ultimate purpose is artistic in nature and which is produced by artists who have full editorial control of their films. That means there is no industry intervention. Therefore, there are no producers or required paraphernalia found in the film industry.

The Canada Council for the Arts wants to ensure that artistic excellence is always a priority. We talk about the quest for artistic excellence and the originality of the artists who have been submitting projects over the years. We are extremely happy to be able to say that many artists, who have become major producers of feature films in the movie industry, cut their teeth thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts or continued, at the same time, to ask for its assistance in order to produce independent projects. You can see in the short brief we have submitted some names that easily jump out, such as Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Alice Obomsawin, and the list goes on.

The Canada Council for the Arts supports the creation of independent filmmaking, but it also systematically ensures that independent filmmaking is well known internationally, particularly at festivals and biennials. I am referring here to very targeted interventions that allows us to ensure that interest in Canadian artistic creation is ongoing.

What has changed over the past few years and what we are trying to plan for the future is access to cutting-edge technologies, i.e. the democratization of access to technology for artists. There is an incredible proliferation of distribution channels.

In a context where technology is accessible and where creativity has become very popular and very generalized, the issue is to continue to promote high-level professionalism and ethical values. As we know, everyone can creates something, but achieving high levels of creative work and international competitiveness means devoting a great deal of time and energy to the work. What is proposed also has to be assessed in a very accurate way.

Moreover, I want to mention that the Canada Council for the Arts is particularly concerned with supporting the work of independent aboriginal filmmakers. This type of expression is accessible to aboriginal artists, especially those of the new generations. The Canada Council for the Arts has been very focused on this effort over the past few years.

I have been in my position at the council for nine months. In January I announced an in-depth transformation of the council's funding systems. The idea is to go from the current 142 programs to less than 10 programs, and ensure that these programs will in future cover all of our artistic creation and production, both in Canada and internationally.

Among the programs that the council is quite focused on at this time is an aboriginal art program. For the first time in its history, the council is going to implement a program that will be entirely dedicated to the promotion, creation, distribution of and critical discourse on aboriginal art. This program will be administered by our aboriginal managers and employees. It will be an international program with aboriginal juries. We think it is important that the council have a strategy when it supports artists internationally. We also believe that that strategy must be transparent and clear to everyone.

As for the future, even if we have a modest financial role to play in the broader ecosystem of the cinematic universe and more particularly in that of the feature film, our role is essential. We try to be upstream, as it were, in the creation of feature films, be it by supporting directors directly or by ensuring that there is an infrastructure and a pool of artistic talent in Canada. These are resources the film industry absolutely needs to flourish, develop and be more broadly recognized.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you.

We'll now go to Claude Joli-Coeur from the National Film Board of Canada for up to eight minutes.

Thank you.

[Claude Joli-Coeur, Government Film Commissioner and Chair, National Film Board of Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the invitation to testify and participate in your work.

The NFB is a public producer and distributor of audiovisual works. As such, the issues surrounding the future of the Canadian feature film industry are extremely important to us.

The NFB is not directly involved in funding this industry, which is the first issue that the committee is examining. However, the NFB does fund the production and distribution of its own works, and it collaborates with artists and artisans from every part of the country and is a recognized force for creativity and innovation in the international audiovisual industry.

My presentation today will therefore deal more specifically with the current realities and issues facing the documentary feature film industry. I will discuss the following three issues: the NFB's role in the Canadian feature film industry; the production of documentary feature films by the NFB; and the accessibility of all types of documentary feature films to the Canadian public, which is fundamental.

These issues are central to the NFB's mandate and have a direct impact on all documentary feature productions in Canada.

I would like to review with you the role the NFB plays and its place in the Canadian audiovisual universe.

The NFB was founded in 1939 and has thus been in existence for more than 75 years. Since 1939, it has produced and distributed audiovisual works that show the wealth and diversity of Canadian society.

The NFB is a cultural agency within the portfolio of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and our mandate, as set out in the National Film Act, is to “produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations [...]”.

The NFB's 10 production studios, located across the country, contribute to the vitality of audiovisual creation throughout Canada. Over the 75 years since its founding, the NFB has become the benchmark for innovative filmmaking in Canada and one of the most highly regarded Canadian film brands on the international scene.

NFB films have won over 5,000 awards, including 5 Palmes d'Or awards at Cannes; 73 NFB films have been nominated for Oscars in Hollywood, and 12 have come home as winners. It is thus with humility that I now manage the destiny of this legendary organization.

Our role is to produce works dealing with issues that would otherwise not be addressed in Canadian films. The NFB really plays a complementary role with regard to commercial cinema in Canada as a whole. It allows artists and artisans here to produce works that reflect a diversity of points of view and perspectives on Canadian society and to experiment with new narrative and audiovisual forms.

The works that the NFB has produced over the years now constitute one of the largest and most important audiovisual collections in the world: over 13,000 moving pictures, 500,000 still images, and a substantial sound archive. Dating back to the 1940s, this collection represents a priceless heritage for all Canadians. Hence one important role that the NFB now plays is to preserve this collection and make it accessible to the public and the world community, and especially to future generations.

As the dean of cultural institutions in Canada, the NFB has in a sense been the cradle of the Canadian film industry. We have had a major impact on its development from the end of the Second World War to the present day, and have played a fundamental role in the emergence of an exceptional Canadian filmmaking tradition, as it is now known in all of its forms of expression.

When it was created, the NFB was located in Ottawa. After moving its head office to Montreal in 1956, it began attracting talent from all over the country and contributed to the birth of a genuine film industry in Canada.

By opening French-language studios that produced films such as Claude Jutra's Mon oncle Antoine, the NFB helped give birth to fiction cinema in Quebec. All of the great Quebec and Canadian cinematographers we have known over the past years were trained at the NFB or are the successors of the great cinematographers who began their career at the NFB. I would be remiss if I did not mention such mythical films as Drylanders, directed by Don Haldane and Nobody Waved Goodbye, by Don Owen.

Starting in 1965, the NFB's studios produced as many documentary feature films as they did fiction feature films and animated short films. By the late 1970s, the NFB began concentrating on the documentary features because the Canadian fiction feature film industry had grown strong enough. The Canadian Film Development Corporation,now known as Telefilm Canada, was created. So the NFB started producing fewer fiction features and concentrated on documentaries and animation, especially documentary features that have thus become the key pillar of the NFB's English and French production programs.

The NFB has played an important role in the Canadian documentary tradition, so much so that some have even argued that the documentary should be officially recognized as Canada's national art form. Canadian documentary features are renowned all over the world. The NFB today focuses its production efforts on documentaries, auteur animated films, and on interactive works designed for new media.

To get back to the topic of your study, I will add that NFB works reflect a wide range of Canadian realities and experiences from coast to coast, thanks to our presence everywhere in the country. There are producers in every region of the country and artists and directors can reflect their specificity.

We tell the stories of people and communities whose voices are often underrepresented on the commercial media landscape. We also fulfil a mandate to experiment with new technologies and different storytelling forms and approaches. It is in this framework that the NFB is involved in all of the Canadian feature film industry in Canada, especially in documentary feature production.

As you know, our industry is undergoing major change. Traditional media now coexist with digital media. The variety of distribution platforms is growing constantly and the various genres and technologies are evolving rapidly. In short, the entire audiovisual universe is being transformed.

In the documentary feature film industry, the number of players has decreased because of the convergence of production companies, fragmentation of audiences, and the erosion of revenues from traditional media outlets and their migration to digital platforms.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Mr. Joli-Coeur, I'm going to have to cut you off there. You'll be able to expand on your comments when you get to the questions.

[Claude Joli-Coeur]

Okay. You have my text.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Yes, thank you.

We'll move now to Carolle Brabant, executive director at Telefilm Canada.

[Carolle Brabant, Executive Director, Telefilm Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon. I thank the members of the committee for having invited us. We are very pleased to be here with you today.

First of all, I would like to add my voice to that of Michael Hennessy in thanking the Canadian government and Ms. Shelly Glover for the support given to our Canadian film industry.

My comments will focus on three areas. I will first give a brief overview of Telefilm Canada's role and support to the Canadian feature film industry, and then I will address our successes and challenges. I will conclude with our recommendations on how to strengthen the industry.

Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency with a mandate to foster and promote the development of the audiovisual industry in Canada. We play a leadership role through financial support and initiatives that contribute to the industry's cultural, industrial and commercial success.

Last year, we supported the production and marketing of some 90 feature films and the development of more than 300 projects, while also helping to promote Canadian talent in Canada and many international festivals, for a total investment of $92.2 million. Telefilm also administers funding programs for the Canada Media Fund, which totalled $354.5 million in 2013-2014. Finally, we make recommendations regarding the certification of audiovisual treaty coproductions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

In 2011, Telefilm embarked on a “dare to change” plan. We recognized that it was time to address the next big challenge in the evolution of the industry to stimulate demand. Since then, we have redesigned our programs; introduced a new success index that provides a broader and more accurate measurement of success beyond the box office; increased marketing efforts to showcase talent and our successes in Canada and around the world; strengthened stakeholder relationships, and partnered with the private sector on the promotion of Canadian talent. We believe these changes position the industry well for the future.

Committee members will have received our new 2015-2018 strategic plan, “Inspired by Talent. Viewed Everywhere.”, which builds on our successes and also addresses how we will face the challenges ahead.

Let me begin with our successes.

Building on almost 50 years of investment, Telefilm, together with its partners, has helped shape a landscape conducive to creativity in movie storytelling. The story of Canada's feature film industry is one that has focused on building production capacity. We have now reached a maturity that enables us to produce and export works of excellent quality. As CMPA research indicates, Canadian and foreign film production in 2013-14 reached $1.4 billion and accounted for over 26,000 full-time jobs.

Whether it's at TIFF, Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice, or for our own Canadian Screen Awards and Jutras, the profile of our talent has never been higher than it is today. More and more we're being seen as a country that produces talent. A number of Canadian directors are increasingly in demand outside Canada. The New York Times noted our industry's success in an article saying, “Canada is on a hot streak, its movies regularly winning prizes”.

What of our challenges? They include the following: independent films occupy less screen time and fewer screens in mainstream cinemas; most viewers watch feature films at home and not in theatres; and the distinctions between platforms, territories, and launch windows for content have changed. While the market's appetite for content is strong, the marketplace is increasingly crowded. Our greatest challenge is the discoverability of our films. In a world of overabundance of content, how do we attract Canadian consumers with our compelling and engaging films on multiple platforms? How do we address these challenges?

First, we need to promote the excellence of Canadian content by conducting effective promotion of the industry and its successes directly to consumers.

Second, we need to foster more groundbreaking marketing practices by connecting with a larger number of viewers.

We encourage the industry to find new ways of getting viewers to be more engaged with homegrown stories by, for example, trying out new marketing strategies adapted to viewers' new expectations. Take the example of Corner Gas: The Movie, which was launched during a three-week period last December and drew more than seven million viewers on multiple platforms, all driven by a large and loyal fan base.

Third, we need to make decisions supported by meaningful metrics. It's vital that we make informed decisions based on value-added research.

Fourth, we need to help the industry diversify its sources of funding by attracting new funding partners, which is the main objective of the talent fund. As the committee is aware, Canada virtually invented official treaty co-productions. With agreements with over 50 countries, co-production continues to be a crucial leveraging tool for our industry.

Telefilm's vision for the future is clear. We want Canadian creative content to be accessible and to be viewed everywhere. As we noted in our intervention to the CRTC, we need to have all our support mechanisms working together to fund the initiatives that are needed. This means taking risks and experimenting with marketing and promotion strategies, as well as leveraging strategic partnerships and industry-wide resolve.

Canadians are naturally drawn to their stories, and what more powerful way to experience them than through film? Today, I am inspired by the success of our cinema and its future, now more than ever.

Canadian storytelling is unique and it is our job as funders, broadcasters, distributors, exhibitors, producers and policy-makers to ensure that the most creative, innovative, diverse and high-quality content makes its way to screens so that audiences can share in it.

As André Melançon said to young filmmakers during his remarks at the Jutra Gala: “[...] Amaze us, challenge us, shake things up [...]. Make us dream, that's what matters most.”

Thank you. We now welcome your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Merci.

We'll now go to the first round of questions.

[A voice]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

I'm sorry. Mr. Young, you have seven minutes.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Dykstra.

Welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming. It's been very, very interesting.

Mr. Joli-Coeur, I thought that maybe you would want to take a minute or two to sum up your comments or tell us if you have any recommendations.

[Claude Joli-Coeur]

Yes. Thank you very much.

In terms of accessibility, I'm really following on what Madam Brabant is saying. The way Canadians are consuming our content is now changing so rapidly. Our screening room, NFB.ca, and the digital platforms have enabled us to get 60 million views of our films in five years. That's a key aspect of reaching the audience, and that's essential. We need to take different routes to get to the audience.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you. That was very interesting.

How do you make room for more emerging artists? How would you suggest doing that?

[Claude Joli-Coeur]

Well, a lot of our work is done with emerging filmmakers. It's a key component of our production, so we're already there. We work very closely with filmmakers who have directed fewer than three films, up to I think 40% of our films, and we remain that nurturing place where filmmakers are coming to the NFB and working with us. After that, they can emerge in the private sector.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Is it true to say that you make films that no one else will make?

[Claude Joli-Coeur]

Absolutely, or we participate when we co-produce, because we do a fair chunk of co-production. Those films could not have been made without our involvement.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you.

Carolle Brabant, how do you get more interest in Canadian stories? You've made one suggestion. I just wondered if you had any other thoughts on that.