Reports that the National Film Board’s English headquarters in Montreal will be dismantled and relocated to Toronto are greatly exaggerated, says nfb English Program director general Barbara Janes.

‘We felt some adjustment is required because there is a disproportionate amount of money spent in English Program in Montreal as compared to Toronto. We are interested in making sure there is a better reflection of the Toronto filmmaking community in the size of allocation in Toronto for documentary (production).’

In terms of plans to move staff, she notes: ‘I haven’t said anybody is moving to Toronto,’ although she d’es point out that if Toronto’s budget is increased, ‘we could need an extra producer or two to handle (the new funds).’

Rumors are the nfb Ontario Centre has been given word internally of one new producer on staff in the upcoming fiscal year and an extra $1 million added to its annual overall allocation of approximately $3.5 million for English Program.

Janes emphasizes that she is talking exclusively about documentary filmmaking. She is not saying much about plans for dramatic filmmaking except to comment that ‘it’s not a high priority.’

Planned changes at Montreal headquarters, where Studio B employs dramatic staff filmmaker Cynthia Scott, among others, may or may not affect Scott’s current quest of bringing The Stone Diaries to the big screen. If the project d’es go ahead, says Janes, it will be a coproduction. Studio A, the animation studio, will be largely left intact.

Middle management, including the Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver center heads, may be moving their posts or heading for early retirement. Says Janes: ‘In advance of possible budget cuts, I have discussed with all my middle managers possible changes to their situations and two of them are eligible for early retirement. Everybody in the management group knows, given the budget cuts, it would be likely their job category will be reduced.’

In Quebec, English documentary filmmakers are calling the proposed plans ‘an ironic and untimely gesture in these times when there is a hue and cry for national unity.ŠThis is nothing short of betrayal.’

The comments were made in late December in a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and signed by Barbara Doran, Erica Pomerance and Ina Fichman, three of 80 members of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus in Montreal.

The letter, a copy of which was sent to nfb chairperson Sandra Macdonald, says Toronto is already well-served by the cbc and the presence of most of Canada’s larger producers and distributors, and claims a shift to Toronto would force Quebec anglophones to head down the 401, or south to the u.s.

Based on a new cifc funding study of coproductions with the nfb for the period 1989 to 1995, the filmmakers point out they bring considerable financing into the province.

In the last five years, the cifc says its Quebec coproductions with the nfb in Montreal amounted to $19.7 million. On average, the study says cifc members contributed 50% to 75% of production costs, or $12.3 million, via broadcast fees, presales and other contributions.

‘This money and the jobs associated with it will also disappear from Quebec as independent producers will have no other choice but to move and take their coproductions elsewhere,’ says the letter, which concludes: ‘We are also asking that you reconsider the budget cuts that have prompted this move. In these days of debt crisis hysteria, when the ax is flying, it is important to stand back occasionally and consider whether you’re cutting off your own legs.’

Also on the nfb slate for major changes, if not a gradual dismantling, is the division of technical services in Montreal, an operation long criticized for inflated internal costs and inefficiency.

With files from Leo Rice-Barker in Montreal.