We are the creators. Screenwriters and directors are the creators. With all due respect, this represents a long-standing difference of opinion between the CMPA and us, but producers are not the creators. A creator is the person who starts with the blank page at home, in their office, maybe in their pyjamas, with a coffee. The point is that they are the creator of the cinematic graphic work.
It's very true what you just said about our income declining. It absolutely is. I think it's very important for the committee to differentiate between service production, which is what Wendy represents, and Canadian content production, like Degrassi and what my members work on. In service production, those scripts are written by Americans in the United States. Canadian content production is written by Canadians, who are authors of the audiovisual work. Rules for content creation in the U.S. are different from the rules in Canada and Europe. In Canada, we have failed to address the issue of who the author of the work is. We have because it just hasn't been addressed. There's no consensus. There will never be consensus on who the author of the audiovisual work is. You'll have to make a decision. The right decision is the person who actually does the creation, not who may.... By the way, screenwriters are now also showrunners, and they hire directors and actors. The model Stephen is referring to is a very old model. It's not currently what exists.
I just encourage you that there are individuals who are creating, and they're hurting, and you need to address authorship.
Thank you.