TORONTO – Majority treaty co-production and Canadian production generate more than double the number of Canadian jobs than minority co-production, according to a report commissioned by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).
The Nordicity study, called The Employment Intensity of Film and Television Production in Canada, found that Canadian TV production volume in 2009 – 2010 was worth just under $2 billion to the Canadian economy, and the sector generated 47,300 full-time-equivalent jobs, including 18,600 directly in the production of Canadian TV shows.
ACTRA and WGC said that despite the Canadian co-production policy’s call for balance between minority and majority productions, the Canadian market has been "swamped" by minority co-productions. In the last two years, minority co-production like The Tudors and Camelot accounted for 75% of treaty TV-drama co-production activity, and the report establishes that such productions employ far fewer Canadians.
“Co-pros clearly bring a lot of tangible financial benefits to our industry, but the problem is that we’re seeing too many deals being done where Canadians are taking a back seat," said ACTRA national executive director, Stephen Waddell, in the report’s news release. "The goal here needs to be employing Canadians, not simply using the co-production treaties as a source of financing for foreign investors who only pay lip service to using Canadian talent.”
By actively enforcing balance in treaty co-production between minority and majority productions, and by encouraging more homegrown production, the government can help the Canadian TV industry realize its true potential as an economic and employment powerhouse, the two organizations maintain.
“The system is out of whack and it’s costing Canadian jobs”, said WGC executive director Maureen Parker. “Minority co-productions like The Borgias employ mostly non-Canadians, and they take up very limited space Canadian broadcasters allot for Canadian shows in schedules already dominated by U.S. programs in simulcast. That may mean the next Rookie Blue or Combat Hospital – immensely popular shows employing more than double the number of talented Canadians – may not get made.”
