Canadian content finding home in Europe: report

Canada Media Fund (CMF)-supported content has seen a healthy export market in Europe, rivalling Canada’s number one export market in the United States, according to a new report sponsored by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). Data released in the Tuesday report tracking Canadian television pre-sales found that Europe only marginally trailed the U.S. in purchases, with $155.1 million compared to the latter’s $155.3 million over a 10-year period, between 2006 and 2016. The United Kingdom led Europe with $90.4 million. Pre-sales from the U.K. alone made up 29 per cent of the Canada’s television export market, versus 50 per cent from the U.S., the report said. “Findings from these studies will help policymakers and producers work together to develop a comprehensive export strategy that will bolster the discoverability of Canadian programming abroad and maximize the potential for even greater export sales,” CMPA President and CEO Reynolds Mastin said in a Tuesday press release. Among some of those strategies outlined in the report include the need for a television export strategy, a national authority for promotion and sales, and "greater investment in development and flexibility in the policies that govern access to public funding and tax credits.” It also called for incentives for more co-productions and co-ventures with the U.S., with the prospect of tax credits, which would allow for “highly exportable dramatic series that are currently in great demand in the US, on digital platforms, and around the world,” the report said, adding $133.5 million, or 83 per cent of Canadian sales, came from dramas. In an accompanying CMPA report looking at the feature film segment, in the same 10-year period, films funded by Telefilm Canada garnered $670 million in total international sales. Canadian films that generated the most sales included those that were higher budget, shot in English and co-produced internationally, with France being a leading partner of choice, the report said. Thirty-six (for television report) and 30 (for feature film) interviews were conducted with national and international producers, distributors, sales agents, funders and major international markets to identify trends and challenges. The study, which used multiple sources of information, used CMF data to examine foreign sales trends for the television report, while box office admissions and revenues were examined in the film report. Late last year, an industry association called the Canadian Association of Content Exporters, was formed to help develop domestic content for export abroad. Around the same time, a report suggested the creation of a federal agency to help boost exports of domestic cultural products. Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has also promised to release a cultural export strategy this year.

Canadian content finding home in Europe: report

Brief | May 30, 2017

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Canadian content finding home in Europe: report

Brief | May 30, 2017

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