Middle ground is where Epitome Pictures prez Linda Schuyler sits and from this vantage point the recently elected chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association intends to herd the scattered film and television interests over to the same side of the fence.

As leader of the production flock, Schuyler’s agenda centres on a strategy of bridging solitudes: mending the rifts between the small indies and large pubcos that represent the cftpa membership; closing the gaps between private producers and the cbc; and finding the common ground where broadcasters and producers can unite to lobby for the establishment of the ctcpf as a permanent purse.

As producer of Degrassi Street and Liberty Street series’ (both programs making impressive sales inroads on the international marketplace) and currently in production on 22 hours of prime time soap Riverdale, Schuyler commands the respect of the large publicly traded companies. Yet as president of the relatively small Epitome Pictures which produces on a modest project-by-project basis and prides itself on its 10/10 CanCon programming, she has the little guys on side.

Schuyler hopes to straddle the interests of the cftpa’s 300-plus members and waylay criticism that the big players control its agenda, a perception she maintains is largely the result of large producers having more of the human and financial resources required to spearhead cftpa lobby efforts and labor negotiations.

Although a vocal supporter of Canadian stories, Schuyler is also taking care not to step on the t’es of companies who aim to produce industrial projects for the American marketplace.

‘I am an ardent nationalist but I recognize that we need various types of production to keep our infrastructure in place. Without service work those of us doing 100% Canadian wouldn’t have the quality crew, labs and support we need to compete on the world stage.’

Still, Schuyler admits serving as moderator among these conflicting interests will be a challenge. ‘At times it can be hard to serve the needs of the disparate ends of the membership,’ she says, but to this end she has pushed the chairs of the recently formed cftpa committees (mainly entrenched producers) to seek the participation of a wide variety of reps to work on their initiatives.

‘I would hate for there to become splitsŠ’

The divide between the cbc and the independent sector it is increasingly forced to rely upon is another gap Schuyler intends to breach in the upcoming year.

Having produced all her series with the public broadcaster as a first window, Schuyler’s relationship with the cbc can be termed tight, and with the ctcpf setting aside 50% of its monies for productions airing on cbc, she says it’s time for the public and independent sector to look to each other not as threats but as partners with a common goal.

The current source of butting heads is in the documentary and kids programming genres, says Schuyler. cbc’s taking all the rights for a small licensing fee is an area of contention where Schuyler is hoping to hash out more innovative deal-making and ownership strategies. Corporate sponsorship is another thorny issue with both sides laying stakes on the limited number of sponsors available. ‘It’s unrealistic to say this should be just their domain or ours, we have to find a way we can approach sponsors in an organized fashion.’

To foster open dialogue, the cftpa is looking to support a cross-country discussion forum led by cbc’s arts and entertainment executive director Phyllis Platt, tentatively slated for the fall.

On the kids front, one of Schuyler’s top priorities is to increase the quality and quantity of programming. A series of meetings, recently wrapped with the cbc’s new head of children’s Adrian Mills, has Schuyler optimistic. Not only d’es Mills have the tvo-honed skill of ‘doing a lot with a little,’ he has told the cftpa that a long-term plan to revitalize the kids schedule is in the works and strong ties with the independent sector will provide a base for the revamping.

Targeting lack of shelf space for children’s tv, Schuyler’s agenda includes coming up with innovative approaches to corporate sponsorship, allowing children’s shows to ‘pay for a play’ in time slots other than the relegated windows. With low funding thresholds forcing producers to piecemeal budgets together, she is also seeking ways to top up licence fees without taking funding away from other production sectors.

Forging a common front is Schuyler’s strategy to win the battle to establish the ctcpf as a permanent fund; its mandate is officially over at the end of 1998/9. In late April a pre-election round table with Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps brought out cftpa reps and broadcasters to set the agenda for future summits skedded for the fall.

Broadcaster access to the fund is a prickly point, demanding the right to dip into the ctcpf and accessing Telefilm’s equity investment program being particular tender spots.

‘My feeling is it wouldn’t be so bad if the producing faction of the broadcaster has access to the funds as long as there’s no self-dealing,’ she explains. ‘If a Baton wants to produce for the cbc they should have access like any other producer but if they want to produce for Baton then no way’ ­ and that’s the crux of where the two sides differ.

But on broadcasters seeking to leverage licence fees as equity investment in Canadian copyright (while their contribution to the license fee drops), Schuyler takes a hard line. ‘Producers shouldn’t give away any piece of their equity without a huge fight, unless they are getting some real value in return ­ at the end of the day all we have are our shows.’

But this debate was left on the back burner at the closed-door meeting with Copps, says Schuyler. ‘The issue was delicately tabled by one of the broadcasters but it didn’t become a topic of discussion ­ it didn’t seem like the appropriate place to bring this forward.’

And to avoid the divide and conquer road to defeat, Schuyler is aiming to keep broadcaster/supplier wrangling out of the public forum, to be hashed out instead at the board level.

There are certain areas we have to agree to disagree on. The moment we allow the fight to get messy, the harder it’s going to be to create funding stability.’

The cftpa is currently embellishing its Nordicity industry study with stats from Britain and Australia, a strategy designed to give the Canadian government a perspective as to how little of their public purse flows into the production sector in comparison to other countries. Proving ‘we get our culture very cheap in this country.’

The next step is an August/ early September mini-blitz of key government players, including Finance Minister Paul Martin and reps from the ministries of industry and revenue. To keep a channel of ctcpf money flowing, the cftpa is looking at distribution undertakings from telephone companies as well as a continuous government allotment.

Schuyler has worked miracles before. As vice-chair of the cftpa heading up the Ontario Producers panel she helped former chair Tom Berry successfully orchestrate a similar effort centred on data gathering and systematically targeted meetings convincing the Ontario government ­ that didn’t look too fondly on hand-outs to business ­ to put a provincial tax incentive in place.

With the American industry preparing the path for high-definition television, another funding muddle is opening. While promising to make Canadian product far more internationally marketable over the long-term, hdtv’s hiked production costs will cause a financing crunch, Schuyler is toying with the ideas of an additional tax rebate for shooting in digital or some form of top-up, but she’s quick to point out only on the condition that it isn’t scraped from the bottom of the barrel of an existing fund.