End of an era

Far be it for us to get sentimental, but fare you well, Mr. Lantos. May muses of creativity pursue you. For our part, we’ll be tracking both your films and your choice of Boss or Armani when the inevitable trip to the Oscars arises and North America tries to claim you for it’s own. You’ll always belong to us.

The roughshod treatment of terrified employees; we’ve heard of this. But in the context of what is good in Canadian film and tv production, you fought for all the right things.

As the head of Canada’s largest public production company, the temptation is to follow the denizens of capitalism and shareholders and pay attention to what appeases and sells (Once a Thief, Taking the Falls, The Mighty Jungle), to the exclusion of what merits on the culture index. It is not unnoticed or unheralded that your hand lies behind the likes of Due South, North of 60, and The Sweet Hereafter.

It takes courage – balls, cajones, for old time’s sake – to choose the path of most resistance. Getting any Canadian film or tv series made is an act of will. Producing programs that fail to supply a happy ending – where everyone winds up sure of nothing but the tenacity of pain; where one mocks the Americans via a Mountie, a blind wolf and unrequited love; and suicides within a Northern Aboriginal community are fodder for content that spanned six seasons – is cause for both the celebration and the systemic wistful melancholy affecting your friends and enemies as you pass the reins to Alliance Atlantis Communications ceo Michael MacMillan.

In the course of copious merger-related interviews, all have their own Robert Lantos sentiment. In one way or the other, most echo the infinitely quotable Barbara Samuels (Fogbound Films), who says you remain ‘one of the most brilliant people’ she’s ever met. (‘I always said I will not play chess with him. I will make dinner for him and let him sleep on my couch, but I will not play chess with him.’)

The other common sentiment is encapsulated by cftpa chair Linda Schuyler (Epitome Pictures). ‘I am so envious. If someone gave me a bunch of money to go out and just tell stories, I’d be so happy. The majority of us got into this because we’re storytellers and we get caught up in corporations.’

(For the record, the $23 million cash-out is roughly half of the £23 million the bbc is making from Teletubbies, but we digress).

For our part, we’ll miss the pro-Canadian sentiment.

We still remember the thundering at last summer’s national network hearings. To the broadcaster’s suggestion that Canadian content may benefit from being ‘creatively’ scheduled away from the prime time and u.s. competition, you said that ‘hiding from the competition by ducking the most-watched time periods is the not the way to build bigger domestic audiences.

‘It is tantamount to surrender. If the broadcasters find the business of putting a modest amount of Canadian programming in prime time too onerous, I would be delighted to buy their business.’

Grandstanding, said some, but point taken.

Also remembered is your response to an editorial last year which noted the Canadian industry isn’t producing a ratings draw on the scale of Frasier.

‘The ill-informed self-hate that dominates your editorial lies at the heart of the English-Canadian media’s deeply seated inferiority complex. You kowtow to all things American and are blind to Canadian triumph even if it is a fact. You prefer to overlook the facts. They paint Canadian production in a bullish light. That takes the wind out of your self-loathing.’

It was a little harsh and mostly wrong, but that stubborn Canadian sensibility has to be respected.

It’s beginning to read like you’re either a mogul or retiring. You know Canadians don’t believe in moguls and no one is convinced you’re going far away. But it is a fitting time to pay respect. You’ve made a difference difficult to contextualize and there is a debt of gratitude owed.