MONTREAL – Self-described key players in Quebec’s audiovisual industry have joined forces following last week’s announcement of cutbacks in the latest provincial budget and the “threat” these pose to the industry as a whole.
A number of professional associations representing different sectors of the targeted industry, as well as more than 50,000 people, issued a joint press release saying that while they plan to answer the call of Ms. Hélène David, Minister of Culture and Communications, to submit briefs before a parliamentary commission on Quebec's tax systems in September, they deemed it necessary to act in the interim and "inform the government of the immediate ramifications of its decision".
“In concrete terms, thousands of jobs would be affected in the short to medium term if the government moves forward with these cuts”, reads the release. “In fact, a number of Quebec productions risk never seeing the light of day as a direct result of these announced cuts, while many foreign productions will set up shop outside of Quebec if the fiscal parameters aren't quickly secured.
“Not only will local and foreign productions be in jeopardy, but the companies offering them a variety of services will also find themselves having to reconsider investments and, eventually, resort to employee layoffs to offset a forecasted drop in activity. Certain targeted sectors are among the most sensitive to the cutthroat competition played out on the global stage with regards to tax credits, most notably production services, digital special effects, dubbing, co-productions and animation.”
The release stressed that tax credits on media productions should not be seen as an expense, but rather as a profitable investment.
The Coalition For The Maintenance Of Tax Credits In Production consists of: the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists Montreal (ACTRA Montréal); the Association Nationale des Doubleurs Professionnels (ANDP); the Alliance Québec Animation (AQA); the Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l'image et du son (AQTIS); the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ); the Canadian Association of Film Distributors & Exporters (CAFDE); DOC Québec; the Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec (GMMQ); the Quebec Council of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC Québec); the Quebec English-Language Production Council (QEPC); the Regroupement des producteurs indépendants de cinéma du Québec (RPICQ); the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC); the Union des artistes (UDA) and suppliers of production services such as Technicolor.
According to the release, also joining the coalition are the majority of visual effects companies and a dozen of the most important English-language film and television producers.
