Third, funding for the Canada Feature Film Fund needs to be increased and a separate fund must be created for documentary feature films. We believe that an additional $20 million needs to be invested to boost the Canadian film industry, specifically, $15 million for the Canada Feature Film Fund and $5 million for a fund dedicated to theatrical-release documentaries. Since its inception, the Feature Film Fund has provided the Canadian industry with the tools needed to produce high-quality feature films. Unfortunately, the funding provided no longer corresponds to the needs, which explains, for the most part, the considerable decrease in production volume in 2008-09, which dropped by 22%. Furthermore, the importance of theatrical-release documentaries and their growing popularity among Canadians are remarkable. In order to promote the growth of Canadian documentary film-making, a separate fund must be created that will be dedicated to that sector, without taking away from the traditional Feature Film Fund.
Fourth, support is needed for international co-production. A $30 million investment to create an international co-production fund would help revive this business model at a time when Canada is about to update some of its treaties with certain countries and negotiate new ones with other countries. Foreign co-production enables participating producers to pool their creative, artistic, technical and financial resources in order to further their “homegrown” production, and to distribute them within all participating countries. In order to access them, Canadian producers need a dedicated fund that will allow them to fulfill the obligations set out in the various international co-production treaties.