Bill C-10 Morally Dubious

It has come to my attention that Bill C-10 alters the Canadian Income Tax Act in such a way that it gives the Minister of Heritage excessive discretionary control in deciding which film and television productions may be allowed tax credits. It also allows the minister to communicate about which productions get tax credits and which ones have their credits revoked. The motivations behind these amendments can only be guessed at, but the out comes are morally dubious.

Some of the language in this bill is inexcusable in light of the fact that our military is fighting against the moral fascism of Taliban insurgents. Shame! Shame!

How could it be that this pernicious text was passed by the house? I have taken the liberty to copy the pertinent text from Bill C-10.

120. (3) The definition “Canadian film or video production certificate” in subsection 125.4(1) of the Act is replaced by the following: “Canadian film or video production certificate” means a certificate issued in respect of a production by the Minister of Canadian Heritage certifying that the production is a Canadian film or video production in respect of which that Minister is satisfied that (…); and (b) public financial support of the production would not be contrary to public policy.

(…)

(12) Section 125.4 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (6): (7) The Minister of Canadian Heritage shall issue guidelines respecting the circumstances under which the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of “Canadian film or video production certificate” in subsection (1) are satisfied. For greater certainty, these guidelines are not statutory instruments as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act.
(3.3) The Minister of Canadian Heritage may communicate or otherwise make available to the public, in any manner that that Minister considers appropriate, the following taxpayer information in respect of a Canadian film or video production certificate (as defined under subsection 125.4(1)) that has been issued or revoked:

(a) the title of the production for which the Canadian film or video production certificate was issued;

(b) the name of the taxpayer to whom the Canadian film or video production certificate was issued;

(c) the names of the producers of the production;

(d) the names of the individuals in respect of whom and places in respect of which that Minister has allotted points in respect of the production in accordance with regulations made for the purpose of section 125.4;

(e) the total number of points so allotted; and
(f) any revocation of the Canadian film or video production certificate.

Letter to Robert A. Morin, CRTC Secretary General

Re: Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-6

Dear Mr. Morin,

I support a policy of fully itemized public disclosure of all aspects of Canadian program development and Broadcasting. We need to be specific about the kinds of programming Canadian culture needs for optimal health. There must be clearly designated percentages of our culture dollars for Drama, Music, Lifestyle, Child to Adult Education, Science, Arts and News. The regulations must be clear and unequivocal. The grossly general word “programming” must never appear alone in the regulations. It is the reason why we are in trouble today.

Canadian culture can only thrive when all people feel engaged. That means we have to know where our culture related tax dollars are going at all times so we can have an intelligent say about how they are spent. Our licensees must be accountable and they must adhere not only to the letter of our regulations but to the spirit of our commonwealth. The recent rebellions of Shaw and Videotron represent vital opportunities to identify legitimate grievances and renew CRTC regulations within an equitable framework that ensures a balance of creative power and social responsibility in Canadian Broadcasting. Telefilm, CBC, and the CTF deserve the same scrutiny as Shaw, Videotron and all the other private broadcasting and distribution enterprises.

I applaud any effort at transparency and thank you for your care and consideration.

With sincere respect and concern,

Kimberly Smith

Screenwriters vs General Electric?

I was listening to CBC Radio One this morning and I heard an interview with a woman from Hollywood who was saying the Writer’s Guild of America was foolish to think it could win a strike against the powers that be in Hollywood. Then the reporter dropped this bomb…. General Electric owns most of Hollywood. Think about that.

I wonder what would happen if screenwriters were as smart at business as the people running General Electric. Maybe they would focus their creative energy differently. What would happen if the best screenwriters did not work under contract to “General Electric” and their ilk, but worked as part of community based, worker co-ops? What if screenwriters embraced the idea that Dramatic Art really does have a deeper more powerful purpose than making profit for General Electric? What if they used their power wisely to work with people at the grass roots to explore and express their own unique stories? What if these stories started to wake people up to their higher potential? What if these new emerging stories coming from communities all across America are owned by the communities who make them? What if the Screenwriters are co-owners with their communities? And what if there isn’t a single mega corporation on the planet able to strike a deal with any screenwriter with real talent? These community driven projects would be the seeds to a cultural renaissance the world has never seen. These community driven, co-operatively owned movies and television series would spread through direct marketing all over the internet. The old guard is losing it’s grip on power. Their distribution system is obsolete. A new world order is arising where corporate monopolists will lose substantial market share and the co-operators will prosper.

So I say to the Writer’s Guild, strike long and hard. Never go back! You have nothing to lose and the whole world to gain. Just let go of Hollywood. Move back to your home towns and get authentically involved with the vital work of grass roots cultural and economic renewal. Stake your claim while you can…

Smarter Gentler Communities With Video

The language of motion pictures has been mastered by a relatively small proportion of our population and this has resulted in a power imbalance that threatens the integrity of Democracy. Acquiring literacy in the language of motion pictures is essential for all people because the language of motion pictures dominates public discourse and increasingly business and personal communications.

One way to effectively engage people of all ages and abilities in the process of acquiring literacy in the language of motion pictures is to make a social, recreational game of it. Communities can establish Video Improvisation Ensembles as a non traditional alternative to Community Theatre and Team Sports. These Video Improvisation Ensembles can be open to people of all ages who then learn how to play cooperative activities called “Movie Games”. These games are challenging and fun and they teach the fundamental grammar of motion picture language through a process of group play. The more people play the games, the more their capacities for meaningful collaboration and creativity increase as well as their literacy in the language of motion pictures.

View Finders International Film Festival for Youth started offering workshops in the Video Improvisation Ensemble process to teachers and students in 2007. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Literacy Nova Scotia also embraced this process in 2007 and has introduced it successfully to adult educators and learners. The Kings Community Economic Development Agency recently had their staff trained in this process too. So it is clear that the video improvisation ensemble process is catching on in Nova Scotia.

You can learn more about this process at http://www.creativeaction.ca/mgames.html

Canadian Film / T.V. Busness Development???

When I joined the Director’s Guild of Canada as an Associate Member in 1988, most people in the industry bemoaned what they called “the crisis in English Canadian Dramatic Film and Television”. The ratings were horrendously low – somewhere between two and five percent of English Canadians watched domestic drama. That certainly was bad considering English Canada was the only developed nation on the planet that significantly preferred foreign drama over domestic. But what is even more appalling is the fact that almost twenty years later the ratings are still down around five percent. How can this be when we have some of the most respected and critically acclaimed filmmakers in the world? The facts point to the way we use public and private money to develop, produce and distribute films. Our business model is the problem.

Over the past twenty years, our artists have improved tremendously, but our business development system continues relatively unchanged. Only a handful of individuals benefit while the majority of English Canadian viewers tune out. Its time for a new business model that facilitates a renewal of English Canadian Culture in such a way that our ratings rapidly shift from five percent to ninety five percent. We need a business model that is accessible and equitable. We need a business model that encourages artistic risk taking and engages citizens at the grass roots – and we need the successes that result in regional – even local prosperity and national pride. We also need a business model that facilitates sharing power and wealth.

Most responsible businesses would have closed shop fifteen years ago if they had the stats our Canadian Film and Television industry has. Who is clinging to this wasteful model? Who is really benefiting from it? And why are ninety five percent of English Canadians still tuned out?

A Challenge to The CRTC

I am very pleased with CRTC chair, Mr. von Finckenstein’s speech to the 2007 Banf Television Festival. It bodes well that we have such a clear thinking, fair minded person guiding the CRTC at this time.

Read his speech here. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/SPEECHES/2007/s070611.htm

However. Small Businesses and Cultural Communities across Canada have been and are suffering as a result of ill conceived CRTC regulations in the past. There once were 180 public access community channels across Canada, but buy outs and amalgamations are radically reducing meaningful public access.

My complaint is specifically with the CRTC regulations for public access community television. (but you could apply some of this to major television broadcasters) I point to three very simple to fix but profound problems.

1) the words, “program” and “programming” are too general and allow Cable Companies to shirk their “Local Content” /cultural obligations. Be specific. Require a certain percentage of local DRAMA programming, NEWS programming, ARTS/Variety programming, DOCUMENTARY/LIFESTYLE/Information programming.

2)Allow Local Small businesses the right to advertise on THEIR public access community channel with full motion, locally produced commercials. This will give them the incentive to sponsor locally produced DRAMA programming and other forms of programming.

3)Do not allow Cable Companies to compete unfairly with local independent content producers. A local business must have the right to pick who makes their locally cablecast commercials. A local producer must have the right to solicit sponsorships for locally made Drama series or other forms of programming from local businesses without interference from the Cable provider.

Finally, I would not allow Cable Companies the exclusive right to decide what programming is scheduled on the public access community channel without balanced input from a local volunteer programming schedule review committee that could meet twice a year.

I am certain that these changes will stimulate local small businesses and community cultures in a significant way. They will certainly lead to a grass roots renewal of distinctly Canadian culture from coast to coast to coast. I am also certain that Big Cable Businesses and multinational advertisers will object to these changes. We must not give in to greedy monopolists posing as “television industry experts”.

To recap succinctly: It is not fair that a local small business can’t advertise with full motion commercials in their local community when multinational businesses can through specialty channels in locally paid for cable subscriptions. This is WRONG! It is not fair to allow Cable Companies exclusive control over local content production, scheduling and sponsorships. This strangles democracy and local culture.

Renewing English Canadian Dramatic T.V. & Film

Imagine ordinary people across Canada being as passionate about drama as they are about hockey. It can happen if we set up 180 small teams of professional movie makers to be community artists in residence across Canada. Each team will mobilize and work with their home communities to create dramatic features or series that involve ordinary citizens in the process – much the same way hockey is coached and nurtured. When community projects are completed, they would go to regional competitions, then to national and the top ten would receive world marketing budgets. Ordinary Canadians will tune in -or log on to Canadian drama in numbers that will astound industry experts. A democratic revolution in Canadian cinema will blast a wave of participatory creativity around the world.

This renewal requires an investment of 90 million dollars that can come from re-purposing a fraction of Canada’s existing development and production revenues. It would employ at least 3600 professionals from coast to coast and it would result in 180 community driven dramatic features or series pilots. Each project will be geographically and culturally distinct. All productions will not only be 100% Canadian – each one will be owned by the community that makes it. Best of all, each production, no matter what standard of technical quality it is measured by, will be a community accomplishment and the very process of making the movie will stimulate and transform people for the better.

A whole new genre of dramatic film and television will emerge and distinct communities across Canada will be its originators! Canadian film and television festivals will see a radical growth in attendance because each competitor will have a whole community attached to it. The best dramas from every region and locality in Canada will be as avidly followed as hockey teams are now. And the whole thing will be more meaningful and relevant to ordinary citizens than ever.

Skeptical? Post a comment. Let’s debate this vision and improve it.

Movie Making As Community Building Process

Canada can stimulate local cultures and economies at the grass roots by changing the way it invests in the creation and production of dramatic film and television. Instead of funneling money through a complicated maze of separate application processes that are insulated by a catch 22 system that rewards a shrinking number of “industry players” rather than the majority of serious, community minded artists, Canada can initiate a new streamlined investment process that is equitably distributed to communities across our nation. The price tag is a very affordable ninety million dollars – a fraction of our current investment in film and television drama. This amount would result in the completion of 180 original feature length movies. Some will be dramatic features and others will be series pilots depending on the wills of the communities involved. All of these productions will be owned by the communities that make them. All of the financial profit, if any, will stay in Canada. Each of these productions will stimulate their communities in vitally important ways that are imminently democratic, culturally powerful, and fiscally responsible.

I invite anyone to debate this with me in the spirit of practical innovation. Challenge these ideas. Improve them. Work with me to renew English Canadian dramatic film and television in a meaningful way that reaches beyond the confines of industrial dogma.

The Future of Dramatic Cinema and Television

The business of dramatic cinema and television needs to change. Power must be decentralized and shared more widely and democratically. The biggest obstacle to this is the fact that the dramatic film and television production industry, as it is currently constituted, is a self serving box. This is a problem because the box is a power trap that sucks creative energy away from the life giving forces that nourish healthy communities and make dramas that are relevant, hilarious and inspiring. So do we serve the box or do we serve people?

There is a paradox at work here. The harder we try to meet the demands of the market place or ape some box office hit, the more we will fail our artistic integrity and the people who are our audience -and therefore most of us (including our audiences) will make less money while only a shrinking few make more. This is ludicrous and irresponsible. It results in cultural homogenization. But if we use our cinematic skill to nourish individual communities everywhere, we will not only regain audience loyalty, we will renew the art of cinema in a truly authentic way -and there is a good chance that wider prosperity will ensue.

Seeking strategic advice from established industry professionals may seem rational when it is not. Ironically, I am an industry professional, but I believe a more balanced approach is required. One that makes community development part of the equation. The film and television industry has been and still is dominated by priorities that diminish social responsibility and inadvertantly foster public apathy. The forces of the market place tend to exploit and dehumanize rather than nourish healthy, active people and communities. The facts speak for themselves.

So how do we renew cinematic art and audience loyalty? We make the cinema development and creation process relevant to ordinary people as well as artists. We change our focus from chasing a capricious and ruthless market to long term community cultural and economic development. We support our professional film makers to be community artists in residence across our country. We charge them with the task of involving people cinematically in their own unique stories, dreams and issues. We simply choose, for the time being, not to compete in the world market. We regroup more as a creatively inspired people rather than uncritical minions of an industrial process. We choose instead to enlighten, entertain, and nourish our communities at the grass roots. When we do this, a new kind of cinema will emerge. Money from hits will go back to the communities where they were made instead of to centralized media corporations. The financial energy of successful cinema will be shared more equitably. The world will be a better place.

The age of greed and celebrety must pass. The age of authenticity, community ensemble, love and craft must arise.