A wave of complaints descended on the offices of the Canadian Television Fund this month, following word that the agency may cut its regional and SME bonuses, a move that critics say stands to hurt companies and fledgling production centers across the country.

Word that the bonuses are being rethought circulated after CTF president Sandra Macdonald met in mid-September with the heads of the provincial funding agencies to discuss future policy. CTV then seemed to confirm the news, when it suddenly reversed a decision to reallocate some of its documentary funding, citing coming changes at CTF.

The fund currently offers a 2% bonus, against production budgets, for projects made by qualifying small- or medium-sized companies, and a 5% regional bonus for shows shot outside of Toronto or Montreal.

Several groups, in proposals filed during the summer, have called for these policies to be dropped or rewritten. The CFTPA wants SME (small and medium enterprises) removed as a ranking criteria, and has proposed several ways to streamline the CTF process. The APFTQ, the Quebec producers association, wants Vancouver to be disqualified from the regional perk, arguing that the West Coast’s industry is now on par with that of the two major centers, while Film Ontario wants the bonus axed altogether.

‘What we object to is the fund providing additional incentives for Ontario producers to go somewhere else,’ says Film Ontario’s Marcus Handman. ‘We think it’s inappropriate and we’re urging the fund to move away from that kind of discriminatory policy.’

Inter-regional copros have become common in the last few years as larger Toronto and Montreal prodcos have partnered with small regional players and taken production dollars to other provinces. Ontario’s modest production tax credit has driven many shoots to other territories, most notably the Prairies and the Maritimes.

B.C. Film and the B.C. branch of CFTPA were both quick to respond, and in separate Sept. 19 letters to Macdonald defended Vancouver’s regional status, citing the current production slump. TV production in the province has dropped from $360 million in 2000 to $116 million in 2002.

‘This is certainly not the time to remove regional incentives,’ wrote Tom Rowe, chair of the B.C. Producers’ Branch. ‘Any further disturbance to our fragile economic condition at this time would greatly impact our ability to produce quality Canadian regional programming.’

Michael Chechik, president of Vancouver’s Omni Film Productions, makers of Keys Cut Here, calls the proposals ‘outrageous’ and says without SME there are too few protections for smaller companies. The regional bonus has also been an important part of Omni’s CTF-backed shows, including the teen soap Edgemont. ‘It’s hard enough as it is,’ he says. ‘These bonuses are entirely fair.’

TV-makers insist the regional bonus is needed to offset the cost of traveling to Toronto or Montreal to meet with decision makers – the so-called ‘$1,000 cup of coffee.’

‘There has to be some counterbalance if you want voices from outside those cities,’ says Jamie Brown, CEO and exec producer at Frantic Films in Winnipeg.

The Documentary Organization of Canada is also defending the bonuses, suggesting that SME could be rewritten to include only companies that earn under $5 million per year. Companies must now gross under $25 million to qualify.

CTF is saying little, except that its board met recently in Ottawa to go over the proposals, and that the agency will release its new guidelines sometime this fall, following further discussions.