TORONTO – As the CRTC’s three-week hearing on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act got underway Monday in Gatineau, the Motion Picture Association – Canada (MPA-Canada) published results of a new survey it commissioned from spark*insights that shows Canadians see global studios and streaming companies as valuable contributors to Canada’s film and TV sector.
MPA-Canada advocates for the major international producers and distributors of movies, TV and streaming programming in Canada. Some of the global studios it serves include Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO).
According to spark*insights’s August 2023 online survey of 3,000 Canadian adults, Canadians value the contributions of global studios and streaming companies that make films and series in Canada, employing Canadian creative talent and exposing global audiences to made-in-Canada content on streaming services.
“The study found most Canadians do not place a higher value on content made by Canadian companies,” says a press release announcing the survey’s findings. “They appreciate both: global productions filmed in Canada and Canadian owned content.”
Canadians see a variety of ways global studios and streamers can continue to bring value to Canada and for creative workers, and they feel public policy priorities should reflect this, according to the survey. Some of top-ranked ways to bring value include: more filming in Canada, with productions employing Canadians and buying supplies from local businesses; more spending to help market productions shot in Canada internationally; and more education programs for Canadians who want to work in the field. Based on the survey, the lowest-valued item on the list was “making it easier to find Canadian content on streaming services.”
“By a roughly 3:1 ratio, Canadians think the priority for public policy should be more productions shot in Canada, using Canadian talent, and exposed to global audiences, rather than more movies and series owned by Canadian production companies,” the press release says.
“By a 3:1 margin, people reject the idea that to be valuable to Canada a movie or series must be owned by a domestic production company. Irrespective of ownership, they see value in content based on Canadian books, filmed in Canadian locations, or using Canadian creative talent,” the release says.
One of the study’s designers, Bruce Anderson, said in a statement: “People believe the best way for global studios and streamers to contribute to Canada’s goals is to allow them to choose how they can bring the most value, drawing on their global expertise and harnessing their unique business models. They believe this is the best way to deliver opportunity to Canadian creative workers. The results describe a preference for policy flexibility rather than too much government prescription, likely because people see a lot of dynamic change within the marketplace.”
MPA-Canada says these survey findings “are directionally consistent with previous polling by spark*insights commissioned by MPA-Canada over the past few years.”
