Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me here today. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the important relationship between Canada and the Walt Disney Company, as well as Bill C-11.
Canada is one of Disney's top four production markets. In the last three years, our content spend in Canada, across all of our production companies, was approximately $3 billion on content to be featured on multiple platforms for worldwide distribution.
We produced six of our most recent feature films in Canada. In 2021, we produced 18 TV and VOD original series in Canada, with Disney+ Originals offering a source of growth for productions in Canada. Indeed, when Disney+ launched, three of the six originals on the platform were produced in Canada.
We have also produced in Canada uniquely Canadian stories. Barkskins, produced by National Geographic, tells a unique Quebec story, following two French families over a 300-year period, beginning with their arrival in New France. The Barkskins production team worked closely with the Wendat nation to ensure historical accuracy and respect.
Turning Red, a Pixar animation film released on Disney+ on March 11, is a love story to growing up in Canada, created and directed by Canadian award-winner, Domee Shi.
We are also producing a series based on the award-winning Canadian novel, Washington Black.
It is important to note that Barkskins, Turning Red and Washington Black do not qualify as Canadian programs under the CRTC's current definition, notwithstanding their unique Canadian stories.
Our close relationship with Canada is not limited to productions but includes a permanent physical footprint with state-of-the-art and innovative facilities staffed by high-skilled talent. Two of Disney's production companies have a physical presence in Canada and are expanding to fuel growth in the audiovisual sector, including infrastructure and skills development. Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects subsidiary of Lucasfilm, has one of its five global offices in Vancouver, employing 500 people at any given time. ILM is expanding its footprint in Vancouver, building a 20,000-square-foot virtual production stage. The Stagecraft LED system will ensure that Vancouver continues to be one of the most innovative visual effects hubs in the world.
In August 2021, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that it will open its first production facility outside of Burbank, California, in Vancouver, hiring 400 high-skilled employees over the next two years.
Disney also works with independent Canadian production companies, helping them grow and establish themselves as leaders in their fields. Two important examples are Mercury Filmworks in Ottawa, an animation studio with which Disney has worked on at least 10 productions, and Omnifilm Entertainment, based in Vancouver, which is a live action production company with which we have worked on at least five productions.
Madam Chair and committee members, I understand that a main motivating driver behind Bill C-11 is that, if you benefit from Canada, you should contribute to Canada. I hope that in the last few minutes, I have successfully demonstrated Disney's proud contributions to Canada and its creative ecosystem. We hope to invest further in Canada, and a flexible regulatory regime will allow us to maximize those future investments.
From our perspective, a flexible regulatory regime would recognize that each company offers a different proposition to its consumers. Accordingly, consumer expectations flow from a company's particular offering. Disney+ is unique in that it predominantly offers content from Disney's own brands: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star. Given this unique offering, we hope that Bill C-11 will allow each company to contribute to the health of the Canadian AV ecosystem in a manner consistent with the service it offers, thereby fuelling consumer choice, benefit and diversity.
As I noted, Disney is proud of our contributions to Canada, but they differ from those of Canadian broadcasters by the very nature of the content we offer. For example, Canadian broadcasters devote a significant portion of their content spend on news and sports, which is content that Disney does not produce in Canada. We would welcome the opportunity to work with you to ensure that Bill C-11 recognizes and embraces such differences.
The Motion Picture Association of Canada will be filing proposed amendments to the committee in writing, and the Walt Disney Company fully subscribes to these amendments.
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. I look forward to answering any questions that you may have.