MONTREAL – English-language film and TV production in Quebec for 2015-2016 fell to its lowest level in twenty years, says a new report from the Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC).
The Canadian Regional Audiovisual Production Report, 1996-97 to 2015-16, bills itself as the most complete source of information on official language minority production (OLMC) in Quebec. This study tracks Canadian regional and linguistic independent audiovisual production trends in three general categories: domestic production, audiovisual treaty co-productions, and foreign location and service production. In addition, production is broken down by majority and minority language in English and French, mostly OLMC programming in Quebec.
According to the report, domestic OLMC production fell from its peak of $306 million in 1999-2000, to a record low of $127 million in 2015-16. During this time, the Quebec share of national English-language production fell from 22% to 7%.
TV production has been declining consistently from its $184 million peak in 2006-07 to $110 million in 2015-16, which has resulted in the loss of TV talent to Toronto, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, continues the report. Programs that have not been financed by the Canadian Media Fund (CMF) have been hardest hit, falling from $85 million to $49 million in the last four years.
Theatrical production has been extremely volatile, the report adds, moving from a peak of $132 million in 2009-10 to a record low of $18 million in 2015-16.
The CMF’s Anglophone Minority Incentive (AMI) fund is the one bright spot in this picture. CMF-funded TV production has increased from $42 million to $61 million over four years, including many successful drama series such as Bellevue, Mohawk Girls, 21 Thunder, The Disappearance, and 19-2.
“These trends demonstrate that with a strong regulatory regime, English-language production can thrive in Montreal”, said QEPC executive director Kirwan Cox, in the report’s news release. “Without strong measures such as the CRTC’s Canadian content quota and the CMF’s Anglophone Minority Incentive fund, Quebec’s official language minority production will continue to decline.”
QEPC has over 2,500 members representing about 80% of the people working in the English-language production industry in Quebec. Its members include major producers of English-language television programs, feature films, and other media, as well as ACTRA-Montreal.
