GATINEAU – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais took an unusual step Wednesday in publicly batting back a press release issued by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) over the Commission’s new rules surrounding Certified Independent Production Funds.
In a letter to ACTRA president Ferne Downey, Blais was primarily upset that ACTRA characterized the decision as one which was made without any public process. “You mention that Canadians deserve open hearings on important decisions. I agree. This is why we held the Let’s Talk TV conversation that garnered more than 13 000 comments from Canadians. This is why I am very disappointed in how you and your organization has characterized our process,” reads the Blais letter.
As part of the Let’s Talk TV decision, the CRTC said publicly it would also examine policies on independent production funds and repeated the intention in its 2015-2018 Three Year Plan, he added.
The Regulator also published a call for comments in October of 2015 on the policies relating to the funds.
Blais noted in his letter that ACTRA did not to take part in that process. “This Commission decision was taken following an open and accessible public consultation process during which your organisation did not participate,” he wrote. “What appears to be your chief concern was in fact directly addressed in our questions 11 and 13 of the Notice.”
(Ed note: Ouch.)
Blais then added he believes the new policy “ensures that CIPFs contribute to the development of a robust Canadian cultural sector and that they have the flexibility necessary to operate in an increasingly multi-platform environment. In this digital age, the old ways just won’t cut it anymore.”
Writers, directors and actors disagree.
“There is nothing new here.” – Jean-Pierre Blais
“The CRTC preserved the integrity of the certification of Canadian productions and decided that all productions meeting the existing standard minimum threshold of six points can now be considered for funding,” he continued. “That is and continues to be the standard used by CAVCO and the CRTC’s own Canadian Recognition rules. There is nothing new here. Independent funds can now provide support to all Canadian programming that is recognized to meet the long standing 6 point minimum. The Canadian cultural sector needs to be forward looking to offer compelling high-quality content to Canadians and to global audiences, in ever more digitally connected, borderless world.”
“…There should never be a ceiling for the international success of our creative industries and it is only through reaching for any and all opportunities that they will succeed. Our policy on independent productions funds seeks to strengthen these opportunities for writers, directors and actors by expanding the number and type of productions that can be funded, encouraging efforts in the promotion and discoverability of Canadian productions, encouraging risk-taking through the funding of script and concept development and making sure that funded productions are available to Canadians and a world audience on the platform of their choice,” he concluded.
