A Writers Guild of Canada report, published last week, found a decline in the number of episodes across every TV format – a first since it started publishing its “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” report.
Between 2018 and 2023, the report says one-hour drama episodes decreased by 45 per cent; the number of half-hour adult episodes dropped by 16 per cent; episodes of half-hour children’s live-action series decreased by 48 per cent; the number of half-hour animation episodes fell by 79 per cent; the number of 15-minute animation episodes fell by 33 per cent; and the number of 10-minutes-and-under animation episodes decreased by 69 per cent.
In fact, the guild said the number of WGC members working on Canadian TV decreased by 11 per cent compared to 2016.
“The decline of Canadian content production highlighted in previous WGC EDI reports continues to affect Canadian writers and diminishes opportunities for screenwriters from underrepresented communities,” the report said.
“The WGC welcomes the inclusion of online streamers in the Canadian broadcasting system and continues to advocate for policy measures to protect Canadian screenwriters, including placing screenwriters at the core of the definition of Canadian and Indigenous content.”
The latter is in reference to an upcoming phase in the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which will define what Canadian content is so the system could reap the benefits of mandatory and in-kind contributions from online streamers.
But the legislation appears to have unintended consequences: Beside legal challenges from major streamers, Netflix announced last week that it is pulling back on program funding in Canadian development programs as a result of the CRTC’s order for streamers to make a base contribution of five per cent of its revenues toward Canadian content.
The report also found that indigenous writers “continue to see little to no gains.” While the report found that the percentage of indigenous writers joining the WGC is growing – at eight per cent in 2023 compared with one per cent in 2016 – the percentage of working writers is only 3.7 per cent, accounting for 3.5 per cent of writers’ earnings.
On diversity – which encompasses people of colour, LGBTQ2S, Black, people with disabilities and indigenous people – the WGC said the percentage of new diverse members dropped to 49 per cent last year from 56 per cent in 2022.
But the percentage of diverse writers working has increased steadily from 26 per cent in 2019 to 40 per cent in 2023. The percentage of writing jobs going to diverse writers has also increased and now sits at 44 per cent, the guild reports, adding that’s because diverse writers are working on more than one TV series.
The percentage of indigenous writers and writers with disabilities working on Canadian TV, while low, doubled last year to four per cent from two per cent in the year prior.
There are other setbacks, the guild identified.
Representation of Black writers working on Canadian TV decreased in 2023 to 7.9 per cent; representation of indigenous writers in animation is “marginal,” as both the percentage of writers working and writing credits sit around one per cent or lower; overall diverse writers working in animation continue to “face barriers to access work opportunities and receive proper compensation; and the share of diverse executive producers sits at 27 per cent in 2023, up slightly from 25 per cent, but still lower than the 40 per cent share of working diverse writers.
“While the percentage of writers in live-action increased from 42.6 per cent in 2022 to 45.3 per cent in 2023, the share of writers working in animation has not seen any movement since 2021 and remains at 29.8 per cent,” the report said. “While 29.8 per cent of earning writers’ work in animation, they represent only 14.3 per cent of writers’ earnings.”
The report’s methodology, which includes WGC membership and production data, is based on 76 series – 53 live-action and 23 animation – that were in production in 2023, in addition to the 372 series covered in the period from 2019 to 2022.
“The WGC collects information on writers room configurations, earnings and credits from members, productions and publicly available industry sources,” it said about its data. “Membership and demographic data are collected and maintained by the Guild.”
