New CTF rulings=staggering job losses. 95% of production houses, post-production houses and producers will be out of work. And they’re not the only ones.
The New CTF Rulings
Mar 16, 2009
If you are a PRODUCTION HOUSE, POST-PRODUCTION HOUSE or a PRODUCER of DOCUMENTARY, DRAMA or COMEDY:
95% of you lost your jobs on Monday. If you think that broadcasters aren’t going to fire up production and post wings asap, you’re wrong. Broadcasters, like any business, are all about the Benjamins. These broadcasters, most of which are in trouble right now, will now be allowed to suck up a production budget’s overhead, producer fees and all related-party transaction fees. This amounts to millions upon millions of extra dollars.. ie. much (much!) cheaper than independent production. Furthermore, episodes will be cheaper because they will all be amortized in-house as back-to- back series go into production cycles. Essentially: yesterday a STUDIO SYSTEM for TELEVISION was created in Canada.
If you are an above-the-line creative (SHOW CREATORS, WRITERS, DIRECTORS):
70% of you lost your jobs Monday. You will now have to compete for jobs at these broadcasters/studios who already have an abundance of union employees on salary. Shows will be amortized (grouped and shot together) and therefore less creative people will be needed. But if you do have a documentary or a show idea that you’re lucky enough to get picked up, you will be forced to give up all rights outright for little to no money, you will have no creative control, you will have a boss, and you will work set hours for most-likely scale pay. You will be an employee. These will now be the top-of-the-industry jobs. To get these jobs (now considered plum), you will have to move / commute to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver where 95% of production will take place.
If you are a technician (PRODUCTION or POST PRODUCTION, this includes EVERY DEPARTMENT: editors, costume designers, camera friends, every department):
70% of you lost your jobs Monday. Again, you will have to compete for jobs at broadcasters/studios that already have an abundance of union employees on salary. Shows will be amortized (grouped and shot together) and therefore less technicians will be needed.. And again, you will have to move / commute to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver where 95% of production will take place.
If you are in the TALENT BUSINESS (actors, casting agencies, talent agencies and management)
50% of you lost your jobs Monday. ‘Broadcaster/Studios’ means that production will be concentrated: there might be only as many casting directors as there are broadcasters, and again, you will have to move / commute to Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver where 95% of production will take place. But that’s assuming that the Canadian industry continues to make dramatic television: given the recent U.S. trend to curb drama production (case in point, Jay Leno’s bizarre variety show premiering at 10pm), and the unstoppable trend of Canadian broadcasters to purchase U.S. shows, it seems like Canadian dramatic production will continue to decline.
BUT WAIT, WHAT ABOUT TAX CREDITS? Surely broadcasters can’t access tax credits. That will make them come to independent production for financing…. won’t it?The jury’s still out on this. A quick call to 2 tax credit specialists reveal that broadcasters will “MOST LIKELY BE ABLE TO” access tax credits, though this is still not 100%.If you read the Nova Scotian tax credit rules it sure sounds like b- casters can apply in this region:” The Tax Credit is available to qualifying productions and co- productions produced and/or shot in Nova Scotia. Production companies applying for the Tax Credit must have a permanent establishment in Nova Scotia (a fixed place of business, a production office, a branch etc.) and must be incorporated under the laws of Nova Scotia, another provinceof Canada, or Canada.”
BUT WAIT, THIS DOESN’T APPLY TO ME, I MAKE FEATURES / COMMERCIALS / INDUSTRIALS Arguably, the Canadian Television Industry (and therefore the CTF) props up our entire industry as a whole: broadcasters trigger features, broadcasters sell ads.. Not to mention that the television industry is a training ground for everyone. Not to mention that many developing writer/director envelopes stem from the broadcaster world. Not to mention that at least 50% of all indy production in any region is television. But the worst thing is that the Harper Government COULD make this happen very quickly and very quietly in the first place. And he’s long had his sights on the Canadian Feature Film Fund. If we let him do this to the CTF, could the CFFF really be that far behind? Another very real concern is the justification of the Telefilm Regional Offices (Telefilm East, Telefilm West). The new CTF -the CMF- now combines both television and new media, taking theadministration of new media away from Telefilm as of March 9, 2009. Suddenly Telefilm offices have half the work. Why would Wayne Clarkson keep these two high-overhead satellite offices open just for processing feature applications? Very soon feature producers may only have 2 options: Toronto and Montreal. This could kill the careers of many feature filmmakers, not just regional, as competition at these offices sky rocket.
WHEN WILL THIS ALL HAPPEN? not tomorrow, but definitely over the coming months. officially the fund shifts into gear april 2010, but I guarantee broadcasters have a spring in their step this morning. Prep is under way. And who knows about independent production companies with pre- existing development or production deals.
WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR NUMBERS? from my head.. it’s an opinion, and take this all with a grain of salt.this opinion has been formed after 2 days of reading articles and talking to a dozen other industry people and organizations.it could be a worst-case scenario, or it could be best. no one knows, there is not enough information here to know and I’m the first to admit itHowever… I believe that we should all consider this situation as being this bad and this bleak, because… (and here’s the punchline)……the Public Won’t CareThe death of independent production will not generate headlines like Bill C-10 because Canadian TV isn’t really going anywhere, and frankly its due for a big change. And many have argued for years that a Studio System is exactly what we need(though I say to these people: it will not be like the U.S. Studio System where there are consequences and accountability for b-caster actions – ie. in the U.S., if a programmer produces a show with low numbers, that programmer gets fired. It is a Canadian Studio System: where numbers don’t count nearly as much, so programming heads will continue to make cheap, mediocre content to justify their jobs, satiate CRTC demands and allow them to program even more U.S. shows)In my opinion, the Worst Case Scenario is that in 5 years, about 25% of us are broadcaster employees. And the rest of us are doing something else. Hopefully I’m wrong.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO
Start making noise. Bill C-10 became a public concern because it was about censorship; it went to the core of freedom of speech. This issue, unfortunately, will not register nearly that dramatic for the public.This issue is about the death of the independent production industry. Harper’s government has already created the spin that they have created jobs in the broadcasting sector. Technically, they have. Therefore……unless we make noise, this issue will not raise public concern.. We are a strong, vital industry of over 40,000 living all over the countryAnd this is a threat to our livelihood. Even if you think it’s not that bad, even if you’re optimistic, even if you think this is all bullshit……do you really want to take that chance?What to do.Off the top of my head… 1) talk to your MPI’m not organized enough to include email addresses for every region, I figure they’re a google-search away.Myself, I’ve never written a letter to my MP in my life, but I’m going to start and that is why they are there. 2) talk to the PRESSknow anyone working for mass media?talk to them.If a GM plant in Ontario closes, it makes headlines. This is an industry that affects 40,000 people. This needs to be headlines. 3) join your provincial producer’s associationfor example, if you’re in Nova Scotia, join the NSMPIA: The Nova Scotia Motion Picture Industry Association.http://www.nsmpia.ca/pay your dues, join, and then phone, write an email, shout your head off.or, what the hell, don’t join, phone them anyway, write an email, shout your head off. 4) if you can, join a UNION or GUILD:IATSE, ACTRA, DGC, CFTPA, etc.pay your dues, join, phone, write an email, and then shout your head off.or don’t join, phone them anyway, write an email, shout your head off. 5) talk to the CFTPA as the producer’s association of Canada, they should have the independent production industry’s best interests at the top of their mandate.
-please pass this on.
For original article and ways to get involved please visit the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting website http://www.friends.ca/news-item/7959
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.