OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) today applauded the Quebec government’s announcement yesterday of a $51-million temporary assistance program for the audiovisual sector as film and TV production resumes in the province.
At the same time, the CMPA called upon the federal government to create a national program to help productions reopen across the country. So far, Quebec is the only province to announce funding dedicated to helping the production sector to reopen.
Part of the government of Quebec’s Cultural Economic Recovery Plan, the assistance program announced yesterday was created by the Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises (SODEC), a Crown corporation reporting to the Quebec minister of culture and communications, Nathalie Roy. The program provides temporary financial aid to enable the resumption of film and TV production activities that have been interrupted since March 14 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued today, the CMPA said it commends the government of Quebec for taking action to help film and TV projects to resume in Quebec, and also thanked SODEC and the AQPM (Association québécoise de la production médiatique) for collaborating with the Quebec government on the assistance program.
“That said, federal leadership is still needed to provide a comprehensive, cross-country, short-term solution to the lack of Covid-19 insurance coverage for our industry and to address additional health and safety costs. We are hopeful the federal government will act quickly to address these issues, particularly the lack of Covid-19 insurance,” reads the CMPA statement.
As previously reported by Cartt.ca, production companies can’t resume activity without appropriate (and affordable) Covid-19 insurance coverage.
“The CMPA, in partnership with the AQPM, is continuing a constructive dialogue with the Trudeau government regarding a federal indemnification fund that would enable Canadian productions to resume shooting this summer. We stand ready to work with the government to put this national program in place, and reopen productions from coast to coast to coast as soon as possible,” concludes the CMPA statement.
