Thank you.
The Writers Guild of Canada welcomes this opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance in the pre-budget consultations.
The WGC is the national association representing more than 1,800 professional screenwriters working in English language film, television, radio, and digital production in Canada. The WGC's primary job is to negotiate and enforce collective agreements with engager organizations like the CFTPA, the National Film Board of Canada, and the CBC. I come to you today as a working screenwriter who's been elected by our members to our board.
Screenwriters are the primary creators of Canadian film and television productions. They are the voices that ensure our national identity is expressed and preserved in those media. WGC members are the creators of uniquely Canadian stories, such as the hit TV series Corner Gas, and feature films like Bon Cop, Bad Cop.
With previous government support, the Canadian film and television industry flourished. Small companies like Atlantis Films Limited have grown to become world-class public corporations like Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting.
Canada has spawned a generation of internationally renowned writers, directors, and performances. Names like Paul Haggis, Denys Arcand, and Kiefer Sutherland resonate with audiences around the world. But our indigenous production sector needs further government investment in order to stay competitive in a global marketplace.
The Canadian film and television industry employs over 119,000 highly skilled individuals working in a $3 billion industry. The film and TV sector, growing at an average annual rate of 5% from 1998 to 2004, outpaced the overall economy by 1.5 percentage points. The film and television production industry outpaced the overall economy in job creation with an average growth rate of 2.6% to the overall economy's annual job growth rate of 2.1%. All of this is done by leveraging government investment, primarily through the Canadian television fund, Telefilm Canada, and the Canadian film or video production tax credit, in partnership with the private sector, which provides financing through licence fees and equity investment. The industry is sustained by sales throughout the world and on various platforms.
After years of steady growth in all sectors of the industry, we are facing new challenges. At a time when government investment has been eroded by inflation and private sector financing has been diverted to cheaper American programming, it is much cheaper to purchase pre-existing American shows and piggyback on U.S. network promotion of those programs than it is to create and promote original Canadian programs. Additionally, export sales for Canadian audiovisual works have weakened since other countries have recognized the importance of creating their own programs--they aren't as interested in buying ours. All of this leads to less private sector investment and, ultimately, less homegrown drama.
Our industrial sector is also in trouble, primarily due to the higher Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar. It simply isn't cost-efficient to shoot big-budget productions in Canada any more. There are more savings to be had in eastern Europe and several U.S. states that have aggressively implemented incentives to keep production at home. This drop in foreign production has taught us a valuable lesson. The only type of production that Canadian screenwriters can rely on in this industry is Canadian content, created for Canadians by Canadians.
But audiovisual productions are expensive to produce, and our small market is further divided into French and English audiences. Unlike the U.S., we cannot recoup the costs of making competitive productions in our own market. We need to partner with the Canadian government. It is important to note that this is not a unique situation. Most countries support indigenous programming through tax credits and other investment initiatives.
With government investment, the Canadian film and television industry, led by writers, can face the current challenges, develop innovative solutions, and produce high-quality, uniquely Canadian programming that we all can be proud of and that attracts international sales.
Here's what we need in order to have a viable indigenous industry: one, increased long-term funding for the Canadian television fund--the CTF, Telefilm's feature film fund, and the Canadian new media fund; two, increased long-term funding for the CBC; and three, a rate increase to the Canadian film and video production tax credit from 25% to 30% and an increase of the cap from 15% of production costs to 18%. This tax credit is an essential element of production financing and the development of a strong, stable production industry.
The WGC urges the finance committee to recommend that our government follow through on its stated support for our creators by implementing our three measures. The investments we are recommending will help to ensure the continued development of a strong and competitive production industry that can weather uncertain times and ultimately succeed at home and abroad.
Economically, the investment will be rewarded through job creation, private sector investment, and export sales. Culturally, the rewards will be even greater. Audiences, both here and abroad, will profit from our talent pools and the cutting-edge programming they create.
Thank you very much.