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?
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