Remove Telefilm from management of CTF board, new report recommends

The authors of a new report on the operation of the Canadian Television Fund are calling for a clear separation between the CTF and Telefilm Canada and a radical shake-up in how the CTF is managed. It's also recommending a $50-million increase in federal funding for the CTF. The strongly-worded report, written by public administration management consultants François Colbert of Montreal and David Silcox of Toronto, describes the CTF as an agency in a state of confusion, as the boards of Telefilm and the CTF seek to set policy for the agency. The different philosophies of Telefilm's government-appointed board and the CTF's industry-led board has led to problems in setting priorities and in the day-to-day management of the fund, the report says. The Canadian Television Fund: A Five Year HistoryTotalProjectsTotalBudgets(in millions $)Total CTF Contribution(in millions $)TotalNew Hours1995-1996201357.0105.01,1151996-1997376628.0196.72,2211997-1998347604.0177.61,9111998-1999432814.6212.62,2781999-2000380632.0196.92,113Source: Canadian Television Fund, December 1999 The CTF commissioned the study after a recent Auditor General's report called for a re-examination of the way television and film production funds are administered. Canadian Heritage is also reviewing the results of its own study of management practices of federal government mechanisms in support of film and television production. It was completed last winter by KPMG Consulting. The CTF receives $50 million from the Cable Production Fund, $50 million from Telefilm Canada, and $100 million from Canadian Heritage. Telefilm Canada administers $100 million through its Equity Investment Program, while the CTF distributes the rest through its Licence Fee Program. Report Highlightsall responsibility and administration of the CTF's two programs should be the prerogative of the CTF board the CTF board should be reduced from 16 to 11 members Canadian Heritage should appoint all board members, through nominations from represented organizations the CTF's conflict of interest guidelines must be made stronger the CTF should actively support the idea of a substantially increased Canadian feature film fund to be administered by Telefilm Canada. the government should redefine the role of Telefilm Canada the CTF should request a $50-million increase in government funding, and develop a strategy, in conjunction with Canadian Heritage, for the future purposes, size and scope of this fund. The CTF was founded in 1996, and by 1998 the report says the fund nearly collapsed "due to a failure to ensure timely decisions." One of the report's main recommendations is for the board of Telefilm to no longer have a say in the running of the CTF. The authors say the fund has become "the servant of two masters". "As one person we spoke to suggested, there is no logic to this way of doing things: no administrative logic, no political logic, no economic logic, no employment logic, and no market logic- the underlying structure is wrong, whether as a business model, as a model of a public agency, or as a reflection of normal human behaviour patterns," Colbert and Silcox write. While the boards and staffs of Telefilm and the CTF now work together much more co-operatively, "these examples of cooperation do not mask the fact that the underlying administrative structure is seriously flawed, and is indeed a time bomb ticking away without anyone knowing what might set it off or when." Telefilm's board has six-members, appointed by the government (the head of the National Film Board is an ex officio member). By law, the board members may not have any financial interest in the film industry. The CTF has 16 members, all of them named to the board by broadcasting and production associations such as the CBC, the Canadian Cable Tele-vision Association, and the Specialty and Premium Television Production Association. The report's authors say the size of the board should be cut to 11 members, if and when the CTF is given full responsibility for the administration of the entire fund. It states: "The division of responsibility, the competing authority of two boards, two chiefs, two staffs, and two programs (for one fund), the possibility of mistrust, the resulting potential for a misstep, are at best a recipe for acute embarrassment or at worst an explosive disaster." The report says the board of the CTF should leave routine decision-making to the organization's managers, and should concern itself only with broad policy. That way, the CTF's managers will be able to run the organization more efficiently, and the industry-appointed board members will avoid conflicts of interest. The report says the purpose of the CTF needs to be reaffirmed and refined; administration of the fund must be made more efficient and accountable to the CTF board; and the CTF needs to be able to more fully meet the increased demands for support in a rapidly growing, and successful, industry. At the same time, it says the CRTC "has, it seems, undercut the requirement for an expansion of Canadian content with its new policies. In its recent decision to allow more latitude to broadcasters in programming, especially during prime time, it has opened the way for the pursuit of industrial; or commercial, rather than Canadian content objectives. This apparent reversal of direction is disconcerting to the production sector, and certainly at odds with the thrust of Canadian government policy since the inception of the CRTC decades ago." The report says the demands on the CTF by regional, minority, native and other interests "have stretched out the available funding. Expectations are much greater than the funds can possibly satisfy, and since market forces were intended to be the primary raison d'etre of the fund, then audience size has to be foremost in policy considerations." The report's authors advocate a separate, substantially increased feature film fund administered solely by Telefilm and say, "in hindsight, it was perhaps unwise to put film and television together (in Telefilm Canada) in the first place, since they are two distinct and different industries. "Telefilm Canada could now and should now focus its attention and policies on feature film activities. The hurdles of distribution are greater, since the distribution system is dominated by American owners, but the rewards are substantial even though the risks are great. "

Remove Telefilm from management of CTF board, new report recommends

Broadcast | April 27, 2000

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