Canadian Heritage committee  Some time back, some years ago, a film that Atom Egoyan directed, which I did produce and was called The Sweet Hereafter, won the Cannes Grand Prix award. We were surrounded by the whole world of cinema, which in turn was covered by the entire international press, and they were totally focused on a film telling a story clearly set in this country and unique and specific not necessarily to our culture but to an outgrowth of our culture and our way of life.

Canadian Heritage committee  That wasn't me.

Canadian Heritage committee  It was Atom Egoyan.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't know about the animation reductions. I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with them. The production services reduction doesn't apply to Canadian film and television. It applies strictly to American productions that are shot in Canada. It will have a negative impact on employment, but not on Canadian films.

Canadian Heritage committee  As you correctly mentioned, I've been around for a very long time, and my career has had several stages. For a big chunk of it, I was a jack of all trades. Yes, I produced the auteur films, but we also distributed films, and not just Canadian films, but a lot of American movies.

Canadian Heritage committee  I won't repeat them, but it is exactly what I suggested. In my opinion, they are the increasing of tax credits specifically for feature films, the inclusion of marketing money in those tax credits, and increasing the budget of Telefilm Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  This might sound cynical, but it comes down to dollars.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's right.

Canadian Heritage committee  Investment is the only way to create opportunity. I don't mean just public dollars. There's a great deal of private dollars have been invested in Canadian film. I certainly have done so over the course of my career, and that needs to continue. It's a partnership. But at this point, the public purse needs to step more than it has.

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, The encouragement on the private side has to do with contemplated return on investment. For feature films, the most logical way to invest in a feature film is to buy shares in a company that produces and distributes them, because in regard to investing in a single film, although it is done, the stakes are high and the risks are high.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's very kind of you. My apologies for being verbose. I was going to suggest that there are good reasons for supporting feature films beyond the cultural ones, which I think we have discussed and we all know about. If you do a cost-benefit analysis, approximately 70% of the budget of every film is spent on labour, which in turn is taxed at source.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for having invited me to appear before the committee today. I am going to speak in English. Even though I began my career in Quebec and I worked for a long time in both parts of Canada, I now work only in English. I am going to let my Quebec colleagues make their comments in French.

Canadian Heritage committee  That is an exact quote. We've come a long way. That was in 1978. That wouldn't fly today. Canadian films do get access to theatres, and if they have a distributor who is willing to ante up and spend serious marketing money, which is really what it's all about, then the theatre doors are wide open.