Montreal: Arden Ryshpan, on location production liaison with STCVQ and ACTRA, says, ‘competing interests within government’ have made it difficult for SODEC to designate funds to encourage foreign production when there is not enough money to fund indigenous production.

‘And here is poor SODEC with two mandates to be filled and people fighting over it. Unfortunately that position has not changed in over 10 years and so the situation is still not resolved,’ she says. ‘That means that there have been years when the Quebec Film & TV Office (SODEC) barely operated and there was little or no money for the regional commissions.’

The upshot, says Ryshpan, is that the two principal film commissions (Montreal and Quebec/SODEC) run separate operations ‘and between the two of them they are still under-funded by $1 million or more compared to Vancouver and Toronto.

‘So all of these things have contributed to us not having the kind of profile that we should have,’ she says.

‘But it’s more than just the money,’ adds Ryshpan. ‘It’s ensuring all of these different film offices work together in some sort of logical, structured way so that when a producer thinks of shooting here they know where to go and who to talk to, [and] there is one port of entry. I don’t care if it’s the city or the province. The province is the logical place to go because that’s how it is elsewhere. And they need to be promoted in English.’

Competitive advantages

‘Quebec, provincially, has never put in the required resources for the film commissioner. It’s never been adequately funded and I think that is the fundamental problem,’ says Fortner Anderson, business agent, Quebec Council – Directors Guild of Canada (DGC).

Anderson says there should be a careful analysis of Montreal’s competitive advantages in relation to the Prairie and Atlantic provinces and Ontario.

‘Montreal has established its reputation for excellent locations, crews, studio and post-production facilities, but that work has only been spottily promoted in Los Angeles and New York. Obviously, we can’t compete with the weather in B.C.,’ he says.

Anderson says the industry in Ontario recently received ‘government seed money to do a detailed analysis of their competitive position in regards to Montreal and Vancouver, and now they’re going back and asking for another chunk of change for promotional efforts in Los Angeles. But it’s a much more concerted effort.’

He says it’s also important to harmonize the needs of French-language film and TV with the English-language service industry. Overall, service shoots are a distinct minority – 20% to 30% – in Montreal.

Moliflex-White business development VP Martin Fontaine says there’s a need for a unified organization representing all sectors of the Quebec industry.

‘Let’s try to market the whole region and province all together,’ says Fontaine. ‘The business has changed a lot. Twenty years ago it was only a matter of location, but now 50% of the first questions [asked] are on fiscal issues. We need a fast-track committee that can respond.

‘Cinema is a big job-creator and [government] is quite happy about it. The movie and TV industry in Montreal brings in more than $1 billion a year, and compared to other sectors, we are not receiving a fair share.’

SODEC’s Martine-Andree Racine agrees an all-industry, private-sector organization, perhaps similar to the defunct Film-Quebec, could play a major role.

‘It would also help in developing the local industry if the industry is united and there is an improved consultation process,’ she says. ‘There are several possibilities, but we should be united in improving our offer on the international market and in improving aspects of the [work] done here so that everybody is aware of the requirements.’

On marketing issues, Cite du Cinema/Technoparc’s Michel Trudel says, ‘If everybody makes sure our foreign clients have exactly what they need, they’ll continue to come. That is the best marketing you can have.’

Trudel adds that government has to commit more financial resources to promoting Quebec in the U.S. and internationally, and the province should take action by matching its own production service credit – 11% base – with the recently expanded 16% federal PSTC.

‘Mel [Hoppenheim, Cite du Cinema president] and I are [doing] everything we can to make sure everybody has work,’says Trudel.

Build a foundation

George Mihalka, president, Quebec Council – DGC, says the guild supports efforts to attract major studio shoots, but he also wants to see a more concerted effort to attract episodic TV production to Montreal.

‘More episodic production, shows that hire positions higher than grips and electrics, would benefit DGC, ACTRA and STCVQ members,’ says Mihalka. ‘We like the big shows – our technicians are learning a lot, but our position is that a [$1 million-per-hour] TV series offers a much better opportunity for local directors, production designers, cameramen and local actors.’

Mihalka (Dr. Lucille, Omerta III) says the industry now needs ‘a concerted effort [from] the producers association, respective technical and artistic guilds, the technical services sector and the film commissions.

‘And we should copy what they’ve done in B.C.,’ he adds, referring to the five-point action plan announced last fall by the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C.

‘We need to build with a foundation,’ Mihalka says. ‘Everybody who stands to gain from making films in this city has to come together and prove they respect each other’s domain and wages, so the outside world has the impression we actually get along. Secondly, we need to get [the Quebec government] to increase their support tenfold in creating Film-Quebec.

The defunct all-industry lobby group Film-Quebec fell apart because of a lack of resources and internal divisions. The most notable example occurred in June 1998 when the APFTQ producers association dropped out.

‘The industry can go off and do what it does,’ says Ryshpan, ‘but if the [provincial and municipal] levels of government don’t sort out their problems all they end up doing is bringing their problems from their place to our place.’

Producers regroup

The DGC says English-track Quebec episodic TV production was down more than 50% in ’02, due in large part to cutbacks, death or bankruptcies at companies such as Telescene, Filmline International, Cinar, Prisma, Blackwatch, Kingsborough Greenlight and TVA International.

‘Look at the volume of production that has vanished, and all of it was 100% content. The value of Cinar productions alone, between their voice-work and live-action stuff, was enormous for ACTRA members,’ says Ryshpan.

‘And so now we have this huge machine we have to feed and the only way to feed it is service production,’ she adds.

According to Anderson, the APFTQ producers association has to do more to ‘create a stable labor market with industry standard conditions.’ He claims a number of unresolved collective agreement contract negotiations ‘will go on until there’s a lock-out or a strike. I think that is seriously weakening the Quebec industry.’

In Quebec, the DGC reps English-language film and TV directors, production designers, art directors, production managers, accountants and ADs, and ‘works on a project-by-project basis following industry standards.’