Montreal: Distributors want to know exactly what is on the table in the current round of negotiations between the American majors and the Quebec government.

Quebec’s minister of culture and communications and the studios, represented by the Motion Picture Association of America, are negotiating the renewal of the Valenti-Bacon accord, which defines the rights and obligations of the seven major U.S. distributors in the Quebec market.

Richard Paradis, president of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters, says the distribs want to be sure ‘the government understands the preoccupations and particular requirements of the Quebec market.’

CAFDE expects to meet with Culture and Communications Minister Diane Lemieux by the end of September.

Distributors have been unhappy about the excessively secret nature of the negotiations. Lemieux’s office says the minister won’t make any comment on the issue, nor is there any indication of terms of reference for the negotiations on the department’s website.

Paradis says the distribs don’t want to be caught off guard in December, when the current agreement is due to expire, and certainly don’t want to be presented with a signed-and-sealed deal which further enhances the studios’ market position in Quebec. ‘We don’t want to give the Americans a present at Christmastime,’ he says.

‘Let’s make sure everybody is aware of what’s being negotiated, and that what is negotiated is to the benefit of the Quebec industry and not the American industry,’ says Paradis. ‘Let’s not [have] agreements that increase their market share. It’s phenomenal the money they take out of the country. So the principles behind the original Bacon-Valenti agreement still stand today.’

Those principles, first set out 15 years ago, were intended to limit the scope of distribution activities by the majors in this market.

The Valenti-Bacon agreement excludes MPAA members from all provisions of the Quebec Cinema Act, effectively allowing them to distribute films in Quebec in which they have worldwide marketing rights or financial interest of no less than CDN$10 million per film. The financial threshold includes all costs, including costs related to the production of prints for theatres and copies for the video

market.

The distribs say the benchmark dollar threshold is ‘basically peanuts’ in view of the average costs associated with Hollywood movies, with average production budgets in the order of US$58 million and US$30 million for distribution and marketing.

Paradis says the majors have hired a Quebec lobbyist and appear to be pushing for a ‘status quo’ renewal, with the only significant change being the removal of all requirements related to video distribution. ‘This is our understanding, because we’ve never heard that straight from them [the MPAA],’ he says.

The majors’ share of the Quebec theatrical market is in the order of 80% to 85%, and ‘it’s tough competing with the giants. Most Quebec

distributors are suffering,’ says one

distributor.

The Valenti-Bacon agreement (named for the U.S. movie industry’s head lobbyist and MPAA president Jack Valenti and former Quebec communications minister Lise Bacon) does not cover the U.S. mini-majors, including distributors such as New Line Cinema, Miramax Films and Sony Classics, which sub-distribute the distribution of their films in Canada.

‘We feel at this time, particularly with the globalization in the marketplace, that it is critical we maintain a minimum of rules which provide for the livelihood of local distributors,’ says Paradis. ‘As for the Quebec market, the reasons for the agreement 15 years ago still stand. [But] what we have to do is change the dollar value [benchmark] to reflect the new costs and realities.’