Laszlo Barna is executive producer of Barna-Alper Productions, and chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.

In your last issue, Sean Davidson taunted Canadian television producers with the question ‘Is our business lobbying the government or the business of producing TV?’

The answer is simple.

We’re in the business of producing TV. But we have to face facts: in a country like Canada you need the government on your side to get business done.

We face a very big challenge: we have a small marketplace and we live next to the world’s most powerful entertainment industry. In light of this, how do we compete against expensive, well-scheduled and extensively advertised American shows like Friends and West Wing? Every other country makes their own programming – dramatic, format or lifestyle. Why should Canada, as Mr. Davidson proposes, ditch drama because it’s too expensive? Canada consistently places in top-10 lists of countries to live in. Should we lower our storytelling expectations and run our production industry like a developing nation? One-hour dramas produced for $50,000. That’s not an option I’d consider. That’s not an option Canadian audiences would settle for.

Why then is Playback promoting a pessimistic and defeatist course of action when Canadian producers, writers, directors, have proven over and over again that they can deliver high-end dramas that audiences tune in and love. Shattered City, Trudeau, Tagged, Milgaard – all illustrate our abilities well. More over, we fictionalize and serialize the world of Canadian newsrooms, coroners’ offices, homicide squads, and law offices – and along the way explore Canadian issues and priorities. Why would we back off now? I for one, like many of my colleagues, became a producer because I was, and still am, passionate about our stories and unique place in the world as Canadians. Should we give up on our cultural sovereignty because it involves lobbying?

For the record, I spend much of my time in Ottawa and other provincial capitals as chair of the CFTPA – while it is a time-consuming activity to meet with elected and non-elected officials, there is nothing vapid about making the case for a vision of our country. Let me assure you that our pleas, as evidenced by the last federal budget, do not fall on deaf ears and do make a huge difference. The simple truth is, if you don’t talk to the government, you’ll never be heard.