Evidence of meeting #43 for Canadian Heritage in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was production.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
How about you, Mr. Lantos? We are the World and the youth of tomorrow, you know.... How do we get them to do what you've done in the movie industry and be totally all in?
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
Piers has covered most of this.
I'll just add this. There is no shortage of young people who want to make movies, quite the contrary. It is an extremely competitive industry. My own son is in the business, and I certainly spent several years when he was very young trying to persuade him to find something else to do.
I'd recommend the same to you. If you choose this as your career, you had better be so totally committed to it that come hell or high water, in good times and in bad—and the bad times will be more frequent than the good times—you stick with it because it is what you want to devote your life to.
It isn't just an option or one of many jobs that you can have. If you really want to do this, and you want to excel, and you want to make your mark, it is a life commitment. If you want to be an Olympic athlete and win a medal, you're not going to do it by training once or twice a week. It is a life commitment.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
If we can go from the general to the specific, you've talked about a calling. That's really what you've just described.
You've just filmed Remember in the Sault St. Marie area here in Canada. Was that successful? Did that reflect some of the things you've been talking about that are good about filming in Canada?
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
Well, it's too early to tell. This is a film that we just finished. On September 12 at 6:30 p.m., I think you could probably see it at the organization... I shouldn't say this here, but there's no press in the room, so I think it's okay. You probably can see it at Piers Handling's place at TIFF, but no one's seen the film yet so it's too early to tell. It is directed by Atom Egoyan and it stars one of our icons, Christopher Plummer. We did shoot most of it in Sault St. Marie, which just happened to be where the locations we needed were. But come September, you'll be the judge.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
I was intrigued by what you said, which is that to defeat piracy the best remedy is to release simultaneously around the world. Is that an effective response to piracy or is there more that we could be doing as government?
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
I don't know how to combat piracy. Minds a lot better versed than mine in technology seem to have a great deal of trouble grappling with it, but if government would make it a priority to battle piracy, that would be helpful, and not only to the Canadian industry. It would be helpful to all the audiovisual arts.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Mr. Handling, on the piracy question...?
Chief Executive Officer, Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
This is almost an unwinnable battle, to be honest. Even simultaneous releases have not combatted piracy. Most films are pirated before they actually go into commercial release. I think the statistics all show that pirating actually happens in post-production houses. Of course, it's the young generation who are used to seeing and getting everything for free, so this is an immense problem. Again, I think it can only be dealt with through educational initiatives and explaining to people that they're essentially stealing intellectual property from people without paying for it and hurting other artists, other young people.
I think that as more and more young people enter into this arena, they'll be aware of what they're doing to their friends, who are obviously trying to create intellectual property as well, but I think this is an uphill battle, to be honest.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gord Brown
Thank you very much.
Mr. Nantel, you have the floor for seven minutes.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll speak English. It's much simpler for your remote location.
On this question precisely, don't you think that easy legal availability is the best answer, such as making sure that you are available on all popular platforms?
Chief Executive Officer, Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
That's a huge debate at this point in time. It's a complex debate to actually enter into. There are a lot of interests that don't want that to happen. That may well be the way that it actually evolves, but I think it will take a few more years for people to actually get to that position.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Can I ask you what you mean by saying that some people have another interest?
Chief Executive Officer, Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
I think that traditional exhibitors certainly don't want films to open day-and-date in every single platform at the same time. They want to have their theatrical window left intact. Also, I think Robert would probably argue that for his films to create that kind of profile, they need that theatrical window.
I think the window between theatrical release and other platforms has shortened. At some point in time they may actually all align, but I think that's a few years away, to be honest.
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
There are different schools of thought about this. The traditional school of thought is that for people to go to the movies, go to the trouble of parking their cars, and pay $12 or more for a ticket, the film cannot at the same time be available for less at the push of a button in their own living room. That's one school of thought. Today, for example, if a film does go out simultaneously on other platforms, Canada's largest exhibitor, Cineplex, won't play it. They will only play films that delay their digital and television release.
The other school of thought is the more the merrier, and if a film is available in every single way at the same time, they will attract different crowds, different audiences, and different segments of the population, and people who wouldn't go to the theatre anyway would see the film.
I'm probably more in the traditional camp until persuaded otherwise.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Yes, I understand.
I think everybody would agree that this would be interesting to know. For one of your latest movies, where is the money coming from? Let's say it's a $12 ticket. What goes to you?
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
Shockingly little: the math is unappealing. The exhibitor automatically keeps 50%, so that leaves $6 out of $12. That goes to the distributor. The distributor will charge a distribution fee. Call it 30%. Sometimes it's less and sometimes it's more. Thirty per cent of $6 is $1.80. That leaves $4.20. Of that $4.20, then, the distributor uses some, because next comes amortizing his marketing costs, whatever they are. What's left after the marketing costs are paid for comes to the producer, who in turn shares that with his investors and with his talent, with the actors and the director, all of whom participate.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
When you are in a deal with a new platform like Netflix, for example, what do you get?
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
The math is a little better. For one thing, there are virtually no marketing costs. They're minimal. For the exhibitor, it really varies as to whether it's iTunes, or Netflix, or an app, but they will keep less than 50%.
Owner, Serendipity Point Films
It could be 30%. It could be 40%. There is more coming to the distributor. The distributor's fee will be the same as it would be if it were in movie theatres, but then there are no marketing costs, so there is significantly more money coming back to the producer and investor from the other media.
However, it's also important to note that the popularity of a film on digital media—on DVD and on the various what we call “ancillary businesses”—is to a very large extent driven by the marketing campaign when a film is released in theatres, by its success in movie theatres, or by the profile it gets through festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival. That has a long tail, and it lingers throughout the life of the film. It helps to elevate the film onto consumers' radar much later, when it appears in their homes on pay-per-view or VOD.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gord Brown
Thank you very much. That will have to be the last word.
Thank you, witnesses, for your contributions. If you have anything more that you'd like to contribute to our study, please send it to us.
On that note, the meeting is adjourned.