Montreal: Reallocating even $5 million of National Film Board resources to feature films represents ‘a major change and could not be undertaken quickly or lightly,’ says Sandra Macdonald, nfb chairperson and government film commissioner.

Macdonald says the nfb will ‘wait and see’ what response government makes to key ‘new money’ recommendations in the advisory committee’s report.

‘If there is an important change and we have a new synergy developing around Canadian feature films then that would be an environmental factor that we would naturally look at the next time [in 2000] we develop an action plan,’ she says.

Macdonald says the nfb is willing to discuss the recommendation but only in the course of ‘normal future planning.’

‘That’s why it couldn’t be fast.

‘It’s important to me that the right nuance gets out,’ she says. ‘I don’t want to leave the impression that our knee-jerk reaction is impossible. We should wait and see if the big pieces come along before we have a discussion about what to do with a little piece like ours.’

The nfb carefully weighed a decision to drop out of feature production more than three years ago, and has since seen its appropriation decline 32% to the current $55 million from $81 million.

‘C’est la guerre’

The nfb was dragged into the policy review issue early when a Toronto consumer press story reported the existence of a plan to scrap the 59-year-old institution and reallocate all or most of its resources to private-sector feature film producers.

At that point, in mid-January, the board went into survival overdrive – taking a public position in its own defense and in doing so running afoul of independent producers.

Macdonald says it’s unfair to keep repeating the nfb is overburdened by top-heavy administration, or that nfb programs do not sell in the marketplace. ‘The third thing is that today the nfb’s budget is relatively small potatoes in terms of the national public investment [in audiovisual production], which is well over $1 billion.’

At $55 million a year, the nfb receives less than 5% of all federal appropriations for audiovisual production. Telefilm Canada receives $78 million, the Canadian Television Fund has $100 million and cbc/src receives $834 million.

In a research document called ‘Some Myths and Realities,’ the nfb says in the last fiscal year alone, six Canadian pubcos received an aggregate of close to $179 million in direct and indirect benefits, not including broadcasting licences from cbc/src.

The document goes on to say the nfb has a competitive industry gross recoupment rate of 16% on programs with administration costs now under 20%.

A past president of the cftpa, Macdonald says the ‘government support’ information isn’t meant to denigrate independent producers, although independent producers, or at least their associations, have apparently told Macdonald ‘it’s war.’

‘In the mix of all the things we do,’ says Macdonald, ‘I’m trying to make sure people understand the nfb plays a useful role in its own niche. I’m not taking a swipe at anybody. I think we’re doing a respectable job and the point is how can we judge that?’

According to the government film commissioner, the nfb delivered 117 productions or coproductions last year, had 5,000 program broadcasts with a cumulative audience of 120 million and sold its films to over 80 countries.

‘Three million Canadians saw an nfb film in a theater [in ’98],’ she says. ‘And who else can say they had 14 million viewings [of programs] in schools last year?’