Producers should shun bureaucratic definition of Canadian, conference told

Canadian content quotas and funding programs are stifling the new media industry’s ability to raise money and develop content for a global audience, industry executives told delegates attending the Summer Institute of Film and Television. Held June 21 in Hull QC, the annual training symposium stepped outside of the television and film box to discuss issues affecting the creation of digital content on CD-ROM and on the Internet. New media professionals take a decidedly different view of Canadian content than many of their counterparts in television and film. During a session entitled "Content as currency: Canada’s Role in the New Media World", panel participants said that Canadian content should be defined as any content made by Canadians. Describing CRTC-imposed Canadian content obligations as "mounties, moose and maple syrup" rules, they argued that looser regulations are crucial in the face of new international competition. "Just by producing the material in Canada, it’s going to be influenced by Canadian culture," Katherine Smith, president of Byte Size Media Inc of Toronto told the new media session. Steven Comeau was even more explicit. The president and co-founder of Halifax-based Collideascope Digital Productions divided the world into "Things that are Cool" and "Things that Suck". What’s "cool", he said is the loose definition of Canadian content used by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) for film and video tax credits. What "sucks", in Comeau’s view, is the Cancon requirements imposed by Canadian Television Fund. While last year’s decision by the CRTC to forbear from regulating new media and the Internet was welcomed by new media producers, Comeau warned that it also opens the door for multinational companies to barge into the country. The best defence, he noted, is for multimedia producers to become more creative in their financing models. The lack of capital for new media projects is an ongoing concern in Canada. Chantal Payette, president of Whatevermedia, told delegates her company will solve the problem by leaving Toronto and moving to California, adding that her calls from venture capitalists in New York are more likely to be returned than those from Toronto. She singled out the Bell New Media Fund as being one of the few sources of Canadian funding for new media projects, but even then, companies must partner with a broadcaster to be considered. Payette also believes Canada has been lax in promoting its talent. She cites the example of an international conference she attended recently in New York. Most countries of the world were represented; Canada was not. Artech Studios is something of an anomaly in the Canadian new media industry. The Ottawa-based company has been operating for 18 years and employs 75 people.Figures released by session moderator Bill Sweetman of MultiMediator Strategy Group Inc showed that most new media firms are three to five years old. The vast majority – 70 per cent – have 10 or fewer workers. Those companies tend to be in Ontario. Sixty per cent of new media operations are in the province, with 11 per cent in British Columbia and eight per cent in Quebec. The remaining 21 per cent is divided among the other seven provinces.Rick Banks, co-founder of Astral Media-owned Artech Studios, said producers can satisfy the government’s concerns over Canadian content by using local material that has international appeal. His firm, which manufactures computer games, has sold over two million units worldwide. "We never published a title in Canada only," he boasted. "We’ve always sold internationally." While there are Canadian companies that manufacture video games, he noted there are none that publish the material. Most of those companies are American.

Producers should shun bureaucratic definition of Canadian, conference told

Broadcast | June 28, 2000

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