Credit where due

The Canadian government is set to exclude films depicting graphically violent or racially charged subject matter from its production and film service tax credits.

One of these, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (pstc) is responsible, at least partly, for the surge in recent years of u.s. productions coming north to Canada in droves.

Americans whining about so-called runaway productions have been pointing fingers at the pstc – which allows foreign producers an 11% claw back on wages paid to Canadians for services rendered – as the cause of their consternation.

The Ministry of Heritage is set to exclude productions deemed to contain ‘objectionable subject matter including undue violence or violence of a sexual nature, hatred or contempt and the depiction of persons in a demeaning manner,’ as outlined in a letter written by Heritage senior policy advisor Robert Fry.

The letter was addressed to Canadians Concerned About Violence in Entertainment (c-cave), an advocacy group that has been lobbying Heritage Minister Sheila Copps to introduce such policy changes.

Some members of the Canadian production community have said they fear the flow of Yankee bucks will ebb with the introduction of this legislation.

Their fears are not without foundation. While government officials will point out that films deemed to contain pornographic scenes have always been excluded from these tax credits to no adverse effect, they ignore the reality of American cinema.

With a handful of exceptions, American producers are generally more timid than other western producers about employing graphically sexual content in their mainstream fare.

They have not, however, been nearly so squeamish in their use of violence. Few production industries employ guns and explosives with the zeal of Hollywood.

It is Hollywood that brought us Urban Legends 2: Final Cut and Bride of Chucky: gory and senseless with plenty of oozing brains and body fluids – and fun for anyone into that sort of thing.

Surely c-cave would scoff at such films taking advantage of our tax dollars. The question is how would a review board set up to rate these films view them?

The sister credit to the pstc is the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (cptc) which allows Canadian filmmakers to recoup 25% of their labor costs, up to 12% of their total production costs.

Critics of the new policy fear that by excluding ‘questionable’ films, these credits are akin to tools of censorship.

Proponents say they are not telling filmmakers how to make movies, they just question whether the government needs to help finance projects which fail to reflect the values of our society. Besides, they might say, 99% of films shot here will not be affected.

Again, they miss the reality. Although less overt than crossing out scenes with a black marker, the government’s proposal creates an atmosphere of self-censorship where filmmakers could second-guess themselves into mediocrity. This is particularly true of young, unestablished filmmakers, those most likely to experiment and break new ground, but also the ones most in need of public funding.

If one graphic scene excludes you from a tax credit, the solution is simple: cut it.

Under such circumstances, the chill could make for one long, cold and boring winter.