Pending Canadian Television Fund approval, the 2005/06 season could see 11 one-hour dramas on Canadian airwaves, including new series such as CTV’s Whistler and Global’s Falcon Beach, as well as returning series such as This is Wonderland on CBC. A twelfth series, Charlie Jade, a new Canada/South Africa copro sci-fi series from CHUM, shot overseas and debuted this month. The three national nets have ordered a total of 221 hours of drama, including four new one-hour series, all evidence that the crisis in Canadian drama could be coming to an end.

Or is it? Some lobbyists insist the funding system is still broken while others suspect that private broadcasters are looking for Brownie points, given that several national nets are up for CRTC licence renewal over the next two years.

Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada, a member of the Coalition of Canadian Audio-visual Unions, says that a return to 1999 levels of 12 one-hour dramas would be an indication that the drama crisis had come to an end, but remains skeptical.

‘It’s great that everyone says they’re embracing drama, but I want to see where the money in the system goes, because our argument as unions has always been about money,’ she says, stressing that it’s not just public funds she’s referring to. ‘We don’t expect the CTF to be the panacea and trigger all of the production; that’s not possible. What is possible is for private conventional broadcasters to put in more money, and that’s what [the CCAU] has always been talking about.’

Stephen Waddell, national executive director of ACTRA, says the CCAU is happy that broadcasters have stepped up to the plate to produce drama at levels approaching those seen in 1999. He worries, however, that the recent glut of CTF drama applications does not reflect a genuine commitment to drama on the part of Canadian broadcasters. He suspects that the truth may have more to do with the fact that the major broadcasters are due for licence renewals over the next two years.

‘We suspect that this is a blip given the timetable for CRTC licence renewals, and we don’t believe that there is a long-term commitment by Canada’s private broadcasters to drama production,’ he says. ‘If and when those licences are extended, unfortunately we’re going to see broadcasters return to their ways, which means trying to produce as little as possible and simulcast U.S. product.’

Despite heavy drama orders, the CCAU remains convinced that regulatory changes are the only way to ensure that broadcasters will commit to Canadian drama in the long term.

Between 1999 and 2005, the amount of indigenous English-language one-hour drama on Canadian airwaves sank from 12 to four. The ‘Canadian drama crisis’ became common industry-speak as unions and lobby groups blamed the CRTC’s 1999 Television Policy for removing drama expenditure and exhibition requirements.

While the CCAU has pointed to the number of one-hour dramas as the key measurement, half-hour dramas and scripted comedies are becoming more prevalent. Next season, half-hours on CTV include Instant Star, Corner Gas and Degrassi: The Next Generation, with two new shows, Alice, I Think and Jeff@Work, also on tap. Global is looking to produce a full season of its new sitcom The Jane Show, and CBC has a slew of half-hours on its slate, including new comedies Getting Along Famously, starring Colin Mochrie, and Mary Walsh’s Hatching, Matching and Dispatching.

And it’s not just the national nets that are looking to produce more drama. The Movie Network and Movie Central are introducing the new one-hour drama Terminal City and the new half-hour scripted comedy G-Spot, in addition to three returning series. Meanwhile, Showcase is bringing back three series, including the final season of Slings & Arrows, and is looking to introduce two sitcoms, including Chris Bolton’s Rent-a-Goalie.

Even if all the ’05/06 drama applications are successful, CBC executive VP of English television Richard Stursberg says that still might not be enough.

‘The real drama crisis is the fact that Canadians are not watching drama. If they’re not watching, it doesn’t matter how much you’re making,’ he says.

Stursberg wants to increase the amount of indigenous drama on CBC by 50% and to ensure that it is programmed when the most Canadians are watching TV, something he says distinguishes the Ceeb from the privates.

According to Manitoba producer Kim Todd, the renewed interest in drama is partially a reflection of the cyclical nature of audience and broadcaster preferences.

‘I think we’d hit the low with drama and couldn’t have gone any lower,’ she says. ‘Now it looks like the cycle is coming back around.’ Original Pictures, Todd’s Winnipeg-based production company, is coproducing Global’s new one-hour drama Falcon Beach, 13 episodes due to start production June 20.

Another reason for the increase, according to Bill Mustos, senior VP of dramatic programming for CTV, is that audiences might be starting to tire of reality TV.

‘There does seem to be a bit of a swing away from reality towards scripted drama,’ he says, pointing to the success of his network’s imported dramas such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. ‘That is not to say that the ratings for shows such as The Amazing Race aren’t at top levels, but I think there seems to be a feeling that the pendulum is beginning to swing.’

While Mustos is encouraged that recent CTF applications indicate a potential rise in Canadian dramatic production, he points out that it also means increased competition for funds.

‘The corollary concern is the demand that this places on CTF and Telefilm. That said, CTV has established itself over the last seven or eight years for doing a certain quality and quantity of Canadian drama and we think that’s going to hold us in good stead with the funding agencies.’

Next year, CTV is looking to add a one-hour drama and three new half-hour series to its three returning series.

In 2003/04, among the worst seasons for drama since 1999, CTV aired three one-hour dramas – Cold Squad, The Eleventh Hour and Sue Thomas – in addition to season three of Degrassi: TNG and the first season of the half-hour comedy Corner Gas, similar to the broadcaster’s 1999 levels. The next year it added Instant Star.

As is true for many broadcasters, Mustos does not see the CRTC’s 1999 Television Policy as the beginning of the end for Canadian drama.

‘Choice is good and having the ability to choose what kind of broadcast strategy you want to pursue is absolutely appropriate and different broadcasters are going to choose different paths,’ says Mustos. ‘That kind of flexibility is critical to their defining themselves on the broadcast landscape.’

Meanwhile, Global’s head of Canadian production Anne-Marie Varner says that going forward, the caster will be looking to original Canadian drama to define itself on the broadcast landscape, somewhat of a surprise, especially considering Global’s focus on reality TV over the past several years.

‘The [reality] shows that we really hang our hats on are the ones that are still performing exceptionally in the schedule. We will have them for some time to come, however, we’re always looking for the next great thing and we really think that original drama will be our opportunity to define ourselves,’ says Varner, explaining that Global would like to emulate the original programming success of a U.S. outlet such as HBO.

One of the things that makes this strategy possible, according to Varner, is tighter relationships with producers. She says closer collaboration between broadcasters and producers has resulted in programs that are increasingly well suited to Global and thus have a greater potential for audience success.

‘I think there’s a much bigger and broader dialogue happening between producers and broadcasters with respect to what our needs are,’ says Varner of the development of Global’s new dramatic programs, Falcon Beach and The Jane Show.

Varner agrees with Mustos that the resurgence in drama is evidence that CRTC regulations are not the only way to solve the drama crisis, and points to the commission’s recent incentives for English-language drama as a positive alternative. However, she also points out that it’s unlikely the CTF will be able to support every drama application it has received, and says it’s too early to say the crisis is over.

‘There have been some major steps with respect to support from the funding bodies and the regulators, but I don’t know if the crisis in Canadian drama is really at an end,’ says Varner.

-www.ctv.ca

-www.cbc,ca

-www.canada.com/globaltv