OTTAWA – A group representing distributors of Canadian feature films believes Canada’s broadcast regulator should do more to help foster the growth of Canada’s movie industry.
The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE) and one of its members, Elevation Pictures, told a House of Commons committee Monday that there is a role for the CRTC to play to spur demand for Canadian feature films, possibly through a quota system imposed on broadcasters or by bringing so-called over-the-top (OTT) content providers under the regulator’s jurisdiction.
“One of the most difficult challenges we face is that these OTT services are not subject to regulation in Canada and the Canadian broadcasters, who are their competition, are,” Richard Rapkowski, senior vice-president for Entertainment One of Toronto, a multinational distributor of film and television content, told the MPs on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Rapkowski was speaking to the committee on behalf of CAFDE, the industry association.
Rapkowski had been asked by Conservative MP Rick Dykstra what kind of impact streaming technologies used by OTT providers such as Netflix or Shomi were having on the Canadian feature film industry.
“It creates a very un-level playing field and it’s very difficult because your only option is either to require less Canadian content from the Canadian broadcasters, regulate the OTT services, or leave an un-level playing field,” Rapkowski said. “Neither of those options are great. It’s a very complex issue and I don’t have a solution to it but it is something we need to look at it because it does have the potential to erode the fabric of what we’ve established.”
Rapkowski and CAFDE member Elevation Pictures of Toronto, represented at the committee hearing by its executive vice-president and general manager Naveen Prasad, encouraged Parliamentarians to study the role the regulator could play to protect Canadian feature films.
“Is Netflix supporting Canadian content? In some regards they are but not to the degree broadcasters have been considering the program expenditure requirements on overall Canadian content,” said Prasad. “I ask that (the Department of Canadian) Heritage and the CRTC work together to set meaningful benchmarks for the programming of Canadian films across all broadcast windows,” said Prasad.
On Thursday, the CRTC will release a major regulatory framework for Canadian television, the result of its “Let’s Talk TV” hearings. Thursday’s announcement by the CRTC, to come in a speech by chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, is expected for focus on Canadian content requirements for broadcasters.
“OTT services like Netflix effectively operate beyond the bounds of the Canadian regulatory system undermining many of the tenets that the film and television industry are based on.” – Richard Rapkowski, Entertainment One
Prasad referred to the last study done by the Commons’ Heritage Committee, in 2005, on Canada’s feature film industry which noted, as he said Monday, “an absence of broadcasting policy to support Canadian feature films.”
A decade later, Prasad told the committee Monday, “there are no broadcast regulatory requirements to truly support domestic feature films.”
Among other things, Rapkowski encouraged policy makers to consider “the need for renewed broadcast support, especially from the CBC, for Canadian feature films.” He said members of his trade association have contributed over $400 million over the last decade to the production of Canadian feature films.
“As it stands, OTT services like Netflix effectively operate beyond the bounds of the Canadian regulatory system undermining many of the tenets that the film and television industry are based on,” Rapkowski said. “The broadcasters are obviously pressuring to reduce their (Canadian content) commitment in the face of that and I don’t think that’s going to help the Canadian film industry.”
The Commons Heritage Committee, chaired by Conservative MP Gord Brown, is in the midst of a broad study of the Canadian feature film industry. The study is expected to make recommendations later this spring on what changes, if any, are required to foster a healthy, vibrant Canadian feature film industry.
So far, they’ve been told that while Canada’s system of tax credits for film production is sufficient, it takes too long for those credits to be returned to an investor forcing investors to incur additional financing costs. They’ve also been encouraged to re-consider broadening the definition of a ‘Canadian’ production so that more productions qualify for tax credits.
