Richard Paradis, president of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters, says distributors are onside with Telefilm Canada’s performance policy orientation for feature films.

‘As we told Telefilm, get us the films and we’ll work them to the bone in marketing them to get people into the theatres. After two years, we feel there are some signs of a shift in English Canada, although it is still at the very beginning stage,’ he says.

That said, Canadian distributors would still like to see significant improvements in areas such as screenwriting and development, notably on the English side. Paradis says the immediate issue isn’t that money isn’t going out to screenwriters, but that producers and distributors aren’t particularly encouraged by what they’re reading. ‘After two-and-a-half years into a five-year new Feature Film Policy, there still seems to be a problem in the development of the right scripts,’ he says. ‘There has to be an increased effort on the part of Telefilm to clean up the whole screenwriting agenda.’

Meanwhile, CAFDE has put forward a revised 12-point proposal, expanding the number of qualifying roles for performers in content productions.

‘We are awaiting the finalization of the [Macerola committee] report on Canadian content,’ says Paradis. ‘There has to be much more flexibility in being able to at least entertain the idea of having a foreign lead in some Canadian films every year. And we shouldn’t be condemned to have go through coproduction to ensure we can make film product that appeals to consumers, and by that we mean [the involvement of] recognized stars.’

Paradis says CAFDE member companies are relatively healthy businesses, staffed with savvy industry people who work an edge through a variety of approaches – by sub-distributing some or all of their product through larger players, by exploiting unique access to foreign product [mostly from France] and by adopting appropriate niche-release strategies for Canadian releases.

He says a majority of current members are probably secure for at least another two years as they battle for rights and market share.

Otherwise, ‘the problem of Canadian distributors having access to independent American films is probably worse than before, in the sense there are fewer [U.S.] independents and the major studios [with their multiple release or brand labels] are now keeping a very close eye on what’s being developed.’

CAFDE has not been critical of exhibitors on the issue of access to screens for Canadian movies. ‘If we get the films, we’ll get the screens,’ says Paradis.

The association presently consists of nine Canadian-owned and -controlled companies: Alliance Atlantis, Christal Films, Domino Films International, Film Tonic, Equinoxe Films, Lions Gate Films, Seville Pictures, TVA Films and THINKFilm.