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.