Montreal: Canada’s principal distributors association, CAFDE, says Canadian feature films should benefit from the same ‘on-screen’ flexibility afforded European films and films from other countries.

CAFDE president Richard Paradis says European producers are casting stars from other countries and winning unprecedented market share. ‘They are working two markets at a time, and we’re not allowed to do that; we are not even allowed to use non-resident Canadians, which is unbelievable.’

In a November submission to the Canada Feature Film Fund advisory committee, CAFDE says eight-out-of-10-point eligibility criteria ‘seriously limits creative possibilities, if a foreign writer or director is involved.’ The distributors are pushing a new 12-point formula that would ‘balance out’ each distrib’s involvement in features, ranging from projects with ‘6 points for some [films] to 7-8-9-10 and [12] for others.’

‘By changing the points to eight out of 12 [i.e. four main actors rather than two], we could ensure productions retain their Canadian elements, while providing sufficient flexibility to create marketable and exportable films,’ CAFDE says.

One veteran distributor, who asked not to be named, says the eligibility [content] issue is not just about English-language films. ‘It’s national. It’s a common-sense position. If you want to open our cinema to the world you have to open up the rules.’

‘Both the CFTPA and the APFTQ said openly they want this looked at,’ says Paradis.

Paradis says there has to be some consistency between CFFF policy objectives – 5% of the box office in both the English and French markets – and regulation. He says the time for excuses (actors, writers and directors moving to Hollywood, for example) in the English-language market is over, otherwise government should make the admission the objectives only apply to the French-language theatrical market.

ACTRA counters

Garry Neil, ACTRA policy advisor, says CAFDE’s latest charge is prompted by the influx of new dollars and is wrongheaded.

He says the problem isn’t the lack of qualified Canadian performers for lead and second lead roles, but the lack of ‘universal stories people want to see.’

‘I have a lot of respect for my colleagues in the Writers Guild of Canada and I don’t want to say they are the problem. The real problem is we don’t spend enough money in this country on development of scripts.’

Neil says the Canadian distribs aren’t really talking about casting foreign A-list stars, ‘because they can’t afford them, and anyway if they could, then frankly they don’t need public money.’

He says ‘the real story’ is a push by distribs to use ‘second- or third-rate American performers, like in the [tax-shelter days of the] 1970s. I don’t buy that on a business basis let alone on a cultural basis.’ He says members who live and work in Hollywood would be acceptable to ACTRA.

Duelling models

Neil says breakout international indie films create stars. ‘Hugh Grant wasn’t a huge international star when he made Four Weddings and a Funeral.’

The distribs like to point to another international success, the 2000 Palme d’Or winner Dancer in the Dark, a recognized Danish film with a Danish director (Lars von Trier), about a Czech woman living in the USA played by an Icelandic actor (Bjork), with a French colead (Catherine Deneuve). The film was shot in Sweden and sold around the world prior to its Cannes premiere, says the CAFDE submission document.

ACTRA’s 12-point proposal

ACTRA has tabled its own 12-point eligibility revision with the CRTC, Canadian Heritage and Telefilm Canada. (UDA is represented on the advisory committee, ACTRA is not.) ACTRA has proposed a 12-point system, with four points for performer categories, two points for the lead, and one for the second and third lead, with the requirement the lead and one of the two other roles be Canadian. The overall minimum CRTC requirement would then move from the current 6/10 points to 8/12. But ACTRA will not support 8/12-point criteria, or foreign leads, in films produced through the CFFF, says Neil.

Distrib preoccupations

CAFDE has several preoccupations with the new 2002/03 CFFF guidelines, expected to be released by Telefilm any day now.

The distribs want additional compensatory production financing from the fund if Telefilm’s support for minimum guarantees is reduced to 35%. They want a clarification of the status of films grandfathered before March 31, 2001, and they are also seeking a minimum $500,000 performance envelope for companies with a proven track record, says Paradis.

‘Our problem in these first years of the new policy is that we do not have the films. The production sector in English Canada hasn’t changed its way of doing things or adapted to the new market obligations.’

(Preliminary data on market share for Canadian theatrical films in 2001 is as follows: 6% for Quebec films in the Quebec market, less than 2% nationally including Quebec, and as low a 0.5% for Canadian films in the English-language market.)

High-risk marketing

Increasingly, most distribs won’t be able to afford to market low-budget auteur projects. ‘The distrib is at 60% risk, even with the assistance,’ says Paradis.

‘If you are a distributor who is doing quite well, like Alliance Atlantis [with a 16% share of the North American box office for Lord of the Rings], for example, maybe you can take on one or two quality films that aren’t going to do so well at the box office but are worthwhile.’

CAFDE says a film’s P&A allocation should be based on actual ‘market research and consultations,’ in other words, ‘marketing budgets should not be automatically attributed across the board to projects.’

Comparative data from CAFDE member companies on marketing costs and box-office receipts for recent Canadian theatrical releases ‘demonstrates the high risk involved for the distributor,’ says Paradis.

(Telefilm picks up 75% of a film’s marketing budget, half in the form of a grant. The distributor pays for 25% of the budget and is obliged to reimburse half of Telefilm’s contribution, representing 37.5% of the budget, on an equal-dollar basis against receipts.)