By Douglas Barrett
AMID THE GATHERING storm of comment on what should constitute a Canadian program once Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, is passed, there’s a question that needs to be addressed at the forefront: what is a Canadian producer?
Generally, when we think of a film or television producer we are speaking about the person or persons who have developed the creative property, raised the financing, engaged the key creatives including and especially the writer(s) and director, cast the performers, ensured the production stayed on time and budget, managed all aspects of post-production, and delivered the completed product to…
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OTTAWA – The Royal Canadian Geographical Society announced today Returning Home, Canadian Geographic’s first feature-length documentary, is now available through Crave and other Bell Media properties.
“Returning Home follows Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Jack Webstad on a cathartic, nationwide educational tour while, back home in Secwepemc territory, her family struggles to deal with the multigenerational trauma of Canada’s residential school system,” a press release says.
“The documentary, shot during the pandemic amid one of the lowest salmon runs in recorded history, masterfully connects Canada’s colonial history with the plight of Pacific wild salmon in B.C.’s Fraser River.”
Returning Home can be…
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This is the final installment of a three-part series. For part one, please click here and for part two, please click here.
By Neal McDougall
IN THE FIRST part of this series, I described the foundationally important role of screenwriters in the creation of serialized scripted television, and how Canadian screenwriters must be central to the definition of Canadian content. In the second part, I explored three common arguments on the definition of Canadian content that miss the mark. In this third and final part, I will describe how all of this links to Bill C-11 and the…
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OTTAWA – In a response last week to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s May 2022 report on the impact of the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications on local news, heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez suggested there is enough being done already to mitigate the potential negative impacts highlighted in the report.
The minister acknowledged the Canadian broadcasting system is facing a time of “significant transformation”.
“Canadians’ viewing habits are shifting online, and service providers are adapting to compete within Canada and with service providers from around the world,” his response reads. “The proposed transaction is taking place against…
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This is the second in a three-part series. For part one, please click here.
By Neal McDougall
IN THE FIRST PART of this series, I described the foundationally important role of screenwriters in the creation of serialized television, and how Canadian screenwriters must be central to the definition of Canadian content.
Yet when it comes to the debates about broadcasting policy in Canada, and how to define Canadian content under it, there have been a number of arguments that would have us look elsewhere. These arguments typically misunderstand how such content is made, can be self-contradictory, and ignore the unique…
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GATINEAU — Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez announced today 29 organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick will receive $11.2 million in Creative Export Canada program funding.
This program supports Canadian organizations for projects that generate export revenues and feature Canadian creative content, a press release explains.
The mission of the program “is to increase the visibility of Canadian creative works on the international market and help increase the profitability of exports from Canada’s creative industries,” the release says.
The organizations receiving funding under the fifth intake of the Creative Export Canada program include several television and film production companies….
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Calls for minister to ban ads on the public broadcaster
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a letter obtained by Cartt.ca, Québecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau brings falling advertising revenues to the attention of the Minister of Canadian Heritage while criticizing the recent renewal of the national public broadcaster’s licences by the CRTC.
“In the face of technological globalization of non-Canadian companies that rely on advertising (FAANG, and soon Netflix and Disney+), which is the only source of revenue for traditional television, the CRTC has decided to maintain the CBC’s power to continue to use it,” Péladeau mentions in his letter…
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By Bill Roberts
BANFF – Today the Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) featured a brief, whistle-stop appearance by Pablo Rodriguez (above), minister of Canadian Heritage.
Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, and a strong advocate for Bill C-11, The Online Streaming Act, provided his introduction – but not before extolling “the stellar job” done by BWMF staff in organizing the in-person event and breaking out into several bars of delightful song!
It appeared to me to be a riff on the old Frank Sinatra Summer Wind, but with revamped lyrics appealing to the promise and possibilities of getting…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After a Heritage Committee business meeting started an hour late due to votes (already scheduled), the parliamentary secretary of the Minister of Canadian Heritage proposed a motion to have the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, start on Monday, June 13, while suggesting a study of allegations of the involvement of Hockey Canada in the settlement of a sexual assault lawsuit could be conducted before the end of the current session.
A Conservative member had proposed an amendment on June 6 to hold a hearing on the issue before the clause-by-clause phase.
At…
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Contribution of foreign streamers updated to $1B
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez took an aggressive stance in responding to Conservative members’ questions today at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, on whether platform users would be regulated under Bill C-11.
He started by saying that “platforms are in, but users are out.” This triggered arguments from Conservative Rachael Thomas who, amongst others, said platforms are fed by users and therefore by regulating the platforms, you are regulating the users.
The minister answered saying the platforms can only be captured if they stream commercial…
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