That’s one large step for indigenous

Shadow, schmadow. That lowly vermin may have seen more winter but nothing rains on this month’s parade. Roll call, please.

The Canada Television and Cable Production Fund has been renewed at $300 million for three years. Those media types twitching on the Traders set during Minister Copps’ announcement weren’t unnerved by the wall-to-wall ceos. It was more the sense that the 100 usually sober suits were going to break into an Ally Mcbeal-type Oogaachacha or burst into the chorus to We’re In the Money en masse.

Also, after decades of miserable Canadian feature film policy, the Heritage Minister kickstarts serious public dialogue with profile on feature film financing. If the initiative translates into support comparable to the ctcpf/tv equation, well, again, Oogaachacha.

Atom Egoyan gets the best director Oscar nod (the hereafter doesn’t matter, this part is just sweet), The Old Lady and the Pigeons are too Oscar-bound, there’s reason to be optimistic that the Alberta and Saskatchewan production industries could get a badly needed boost from provincial tax incentive programs by the end of the year. We could go on.

But from the cat-bird seat, it’s been a particularly sweetheart month for indigenous Cancon. As per Alliance ceo Robert Lantos on the impact of the ctcpf renewal:

‘For the highly distinct, culturally significant Canadian shows, this is an insurance policy on their longevity. In the absence of this level of government contribution, we would have to spend more of our resources and our energy on the non-Canadian specific production.’

Ah, the rub. Outside the February euphoria, the point needs to be made that while incentives can be in place to encourage culturally relevant Canadian programming, without the Canadian broadcasters onside, it’s a difficult equation; a volume of drama production working to qualify for the Distinctively Canadian Bonus and nowhere to go.

The jury is still out on whether the math on indigenous production fares better with the long-term ctcpf, or no.

Producing Canadian is evidently inspired by the fund, but does it still make better business sense for the broadcasters to telecast an Outer Limits than a Due South? Will the commission decide a La Femme Nikita is worth as much on the log books as North of 60?

The climate spawned this month suggests not, but the fallout from this fall’s Canadian content hearings is tbd.

The partnership theory worked for the ctcpf.

It remains to be seen how it plays when the money goal is at odds with the indigenous directive.