Thank you.
IATSE is the largest union in the entertainment industry, representing 32,000 Canadian creatives and technicians across film, television and live performance, with another 10,000 creatives working under our agreements as they learn and acquire the skills and certifications necessary for membership. IATSE members are highly skilled cinematographers, costume designers, aerial riggers, makeup artists, hairstylists, set decorators, scenic artists and more, all working behind the scenes. In a word, we are the crew.
I first want to state that the IATSE supports the federal government's efforts to modernize the Broadcasting Act through BillC-11. We are also pleased that Minister Rodriguez wants to re-examine what should qualify as a Canadian production.
What does make a film or TV production Canadian? Despite what you regularly hear, CanCon is not necessarily about telling Canadian stories. What's happening is that due to dwindling revenues, Canadian media companies are receiving less money from domestic broadcasters. They'd therefore like to create more funding by having government require global studios and streamers to stop the “free ride” and kick in to fund CanCon productions.
The thing is, they already do. Global studios and streamers are the second-largest source of financing for Canadian-owned content production, with foreign pre-sales and advances accounting for 15% of total financing. By comparison, the Canada Media Fund accounts for 10%, and Telefilm accounts for 1%.
Minister Rodriguez referenced creating good, middle-class jobs as a Bill C-11 objective. Global studios and streamers are now also the largest employers of Canadians working in film. They account for over half, 58%, of total production investment in Canada and provide the majority of jobs—60%. Highly skilled Canadians are able to stay in Canada. New infrastructure like studios and equipment provide opportunities that weren't possible without foreign investment.
Cultural policy should support investment in Canadian creative workers and not exclusively benefit Canadian production companies. It is important to celebrate, protect and promote our culture, but the current system wrongly relies on a few mandatory conditions like IP ownership or control, plus a 10-point system in which films must score at least six to be considered Canadian.
Under the current system, The Handmaid's Tale doesn't qualify as Canadian. It's based on a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who served as a consulting producer. It features Canada-centric plot lines, was filmed in Canada—employing hundreds of Canadians—and garnered 75 Emmy nominations. Canadians were recognized internationally for their skills in art direction, production design, hairstyling, makeup artistry, costume design, visual effects and editing.
The story is similar for Jusqu'au déclin. It's a French-language Canadian storyline featuring Canadian actors, written by Canadians and filmed by Canadians. Like The Handmaid's Tale, the workers on this production also garnered awards. Also like The Handmaid's Tale, it also doesn't qualify as Canadian. The only thing not Canadian about this production is that Netflix funded it.
We need a fair system to determine which productions should be considered Canadian. The Canadian 10-point system is not only flawed; it's exclusionary. The point system prioritizes the hiring of Canadians, as it should. Having a Canadian director gets you two points. A Canadian screenwriter is worth two points. A costume designer is worth zero points. The head of makeup or hairstyling is worth zero points. We're talking about creative positions that are recognized with awards like Oscars, Emmys, BAFTAs and Canadian Screen Awards. The Canadians performing them, however, don't count for a single point, not to mention the hundreds of Canadian crew members.
What should a new system look like? First, the four conditions that are currently mandatory, such as IP ownership, should be considered but not determinative. Second, the 10-point system must be expanded.
In the U.K., the British Film Institute uses a 35-point cultural test, and productions must score at least 18 to qualify as British. The higher point system means more factors can be considered, such as whether the film is based on British subject matter, whether it's a majority British cast, whether it's a majority British crew and where the story is set. The Netherlands' 210-point cultural system considers all of this and more.
These countries, and many others, demonstrate that a stronger, fairer system is possible. We are confident that's the intention behind Bill C-11. The IATSE supports its passage. We must modernize our system so that it best serves and promotes Canada, our workers and our stories.
Thank you.