Canadian Heritage Committee on April 21st, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Ms. Brabant, I ask you to wrap up your answer, please, because we're over five minutes.

[Carolle Brabant]

Fine.

So, I was asked whether I was interested in having my mandate renewed for another term. This time, I accepted a two-year mandate only. I expect that the board undertook the whole process which the gouvernance committee...

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. Brabant.

Now we go to Mr. Waugh, for the Conservatives.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's been a great year for Telefilm, a sensational year when you look at Room, Brooklyn, and all our Oscar nominations. I think it's an all-time high, if you don't mind my saying it.

[Carolle Brabant]

You're absolutely right. We're very proud of what our industry has been able to accomplish, particularly with Room and Brooklyn. These are very good examples of co-productions that worked amazingly well. Room was written by a Canadian author. It's a good example of what co-production can be at its best.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

We continue to work with Ireland pretty closely, I take it. Is that right?

[Carolle Brabant]

Absolutely. We do work with Ireland in television—Vikings is one example. We also have a new film coming up, Maudie. It was shot in Newfoundland, and it looks to be very good, so I hope you're going to be able to see it.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Nobody likes Newfoundland.

That's a dig.

Talk about Eurimages, because it's new. You're the first country outside of Europe to get into this. What is the cost? Give us just a general view of that, if you don't mind.

[Carolle Brabant]

This is a fund which was created, if I remember correctly, at the end of the 1980s by the member countries of the European Community. Participating countries contribute to it. Canada's contribution has been estimated at about $1.5 million and this gives us access to the Eurimages Fund. Currently, it is 25 million euros. The maximum contribution per film is approximately 500,000 euros. According to our projections, Canada should be able to access more than $1.5 million in two or three years. So we would receive more than we have invested in the fund.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Okay.

Let's say you got a $22-million boost in your budget, because that's what it amounted to. Are you still going to achieve that 6% administration?

[Carolle Brabant]

Absolutely. I can maybe give you a scoop: I think this year we're going to be below 5.5%.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Good for you.

You talked about promotion for export to the international level of some of this money. They've given you the money, but did you have the plan in place before you got the money, or do you have a vision for it?

[Carolle Brabant]

Absolutely.

We want to leverage this participation with Eurimages. We think being a member of Eurimages would benefit the Canadian producers as well as our Canadian productions. We think it would be beneficial to get more promotion of our Canadian films here in Canada but also abroad.

We already have a Telefilm Canada branding around the promotion of our films, like Perspective Canada that we do in Berlin and Cannes. We would like to expand that brand. This brand is intended for buyers in those big markets. We would like to expand it in more specific markets like Annecy, which is dedicated to animation. We know that Canada right now is really in a boost with animation, and we would like to do it. Also, virtual reality is very big for Canada.

We would also like to expand Perspective Canada in another market, a very specific market. Last year we started a new initiative in the States, See the North, and it's in partnership with TIFF. We're showcasing 10 films across the U.S. We would like to expand that brand as well.

So, it's mostly promotion.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Are you keeping up, then, with the digital age even though the name “film” is obsolete?

[Carolle Brabant]

Well, as you know, films have been shot in digital for probably 15 years. They have also had a label on digital platforms for 15 years. Most of the cinemas in Canada have been converted to digital.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now we go to Mr. Nantel from the NDP for five minutes, please.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the witnesses for being here with us today.

Ms. Brabant, I know that the first invitation that was sent to you was concurrent with festival season, and it was impossible for you to come and meet with us. So we are happy to have this opportunity to talk with you and hear what you have to tell us.

Ms. Brabant, as my colleague Mr. Breton said, you have been with Telefilm Canada for 26 years. What position did you occupy when you joined Telefilm Canada 26 years ago?

[Carolle Brabant]

By training, I am a chartered accountant. I was offered a position as an internal auditor at Telefilm Canada. It was not a position that made me very popular, neither with the industry nor with my colleagues at Telefilm Canada.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

So the ads where chartered accountants accomplish great things in helicopters and say “there” are true.

I want to congratulate you because you are a rare bird in that you have had 26 years of striking relevance. All of the people in this field agree that you are a good guide when it comes to market developments.

I wanted to ask you this question. Given all of the changes in the film and television milieu in Canada and in the rest of the world, how did you manage to maintain a balance between local production, which is designed for the domestic Quebec market, and collaborative works, such as the recent one with Ireland for the film Room?

[Carolle Brabant]

Our mandate is to develop and promote Canadian industry. I'm going to make another analogy with sport.

Canada developed a policy on sports, which is to be present on the international scene; but in order to do that, we have to develop local talents and discover those talents. That makes up a large part of our activities. Of the 80 films we finance, about 60% are first films that come from all of the regions of Canada. In this regard, we developed the Micro-Budget Production Program in cooperation with 36 schools. By now it probably involves 38 schools and co-ops throughout Canada. Each one submits a project. Among the projects we receive, we choose 15 and fund 75% of each project through the Talent Fund. That initiative has been in place for four years, and the films that are made in this way are then preselected at Cannes and at festivals like the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Films from the Aboriginal community such as Fire Song and Le Dep, by Sonia Bonspille Boileau, showcase Canada's cultural diversity. In this way we can discover these talents that come from all over.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Somewhat like we saw recently with Xavier Dolan.

I made a comment on Facebook, where I said that it was because Xavier Dolan saw himself in these media and his cinema that he realized that he could participate—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Two minutes.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

He managed to carve out a place for himself, develop his talent through all of this and became a champion.

You made a very good sports analogy. You are correct. At the same time, regarding the digital challenges my colleague alluded to, I think you have been quite bold at Telefilm Canada, among other things with Corner Gas, which is very popular. Perhaps you could remind us about how the operation was condensed so that you could try another model. Perhaps no one here knows about that.

[Carolle Brabant]

Personally, I am very fond of pilot projects. I like to try new ideas.

As for Corner Gas, thanks to the producer who was very dynamic, and with the cooperation of Bell and their producer, we were able to reach 7 million Canadians over a three-week period, which is incredible.

Everything depends on the content. There have to be stories. The talent has to be there. The directors have to be there. It is teamwork, just like at Telefilm.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

However, I think that your very collegial approach, which encourages cooperation, has led to collaborative work which might normally have upset a lot of stakeholders in the usual chain.