Good afternoon. My name is Tyrone Benskin. I am a professional performer and vice-president of ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. Joining me is Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director.
It is our honour to be here today as a voice for the 21,000 professional performers, members of ACTRA, whose work entertains, educates, and informs audiences in Canada and around the world.
As you prepare your recommendations for the 2011 federal budget, we are here to talk to you about something not often talked about in the arts and culture sector: job creation by building a mature and sustainable digital economy through smart investments in Canadian content. Content is a serious business. Many say that content is king, and they are right.
Canada's cultural industries contribute more than $85 billion, or 7.4%, to our GDP, and more than 1.1 million jobs to our economy, and at the heart of that is content. In addition to TV, film, and radio--much of which is now recorded digitally--we are now performing in video games and webisodes. For example, in 2009 Montreal members saw their collective earnings in video game motion capture and voicing surpass the $1 million mark, far outpacing the once dominant animation market.
What needs to be made clear is that the digital economy is about more than just hardware and delivery systems. The reason why we buy BlackBerrys and iPods isn't just because they look cool; it's because they deliver content. For this reason we believe that success for a strong and sustainable digital economy requires public policy designed to support content and content creators.
Today we are here to propose three pieces to a sustainable digital economic plan: public investment in content creation, incentives to encourage private investment in content, and ensuring shelf space for Canadian content by making sure control of Canadian communication companies remains in Canadians' hands.
The government must invest in Canada's cultural institutions. We urge this body to commit to renewed and increased long-term funding for the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the National Film Board. These institutions are key to maximizing the potential of digital technology in the creation, innovation, production, and distribution of compelling Canadian content.
These proven success stories are showing what Canada's creative communities are capable of in a digital economy, and they must be given the resources they need to flourish, create jobs, and make Canada a leader in the creation and production of digital content.
I'll turn now to Stephen Waddell.