Telefilm Canada is circulating a draft proposal addressing the governance and administration of Canadian TV funding that it hopes will be adopted in the coming weeks by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

In the draft, obtained by Playback, the federal film, TV and new media agency calls for a one board-one administration model that would see the board of the Canadian Television Fund assume all responsibility for the TV sector while Telefilm handles administrative duties.

According to the document, which is being reviewed by stakeholders in the production and broadcast sector, such a setup would result in $5 million in annual savings thanks to the elimination of duplicated administrative costs such as human resources and communications. The draft also addresses producer and broadcaster concerns regarding governance. Both Telefilm and CTF boards oversee separate funds – the Equity Investment Program and Licence Fee Program, respectively – and apply different criteria for funding, but generally both are needed to get a show off the ground.

Minister of Heritage Liza Frulla is currently reviewing several options, including Telefilm’s proposal, in an attempt to simplify the federal system for television funding. Sources say there are three proposals under consideration: an ‘enhanced status quo’; a divorce between Telefilm and the CTF (which stands to confuse rather than clarify the funding situation); or some version of the Telefilm document.

‘Driving the industry crazy’

When reached at his Montreal office, Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson said the draft takes into account recommendations made in the Lincoln Report to align and streamline the funding process.

‘When you’ve got two boards that have somewhat different and somewhat conflicting purposes, that are separate from each other and yet somehow have to make a decision on the same issue, they come at it from different approaches. Not surprisingly, they make different decisions,’ he says.

‘And, not surprisingly, it’s driving the industry crazy.’

The document points to administrative strengths at Telefilm, such as its decentralized infrastructure including four regional offices. It also highlights opportunities for synergies under a merged system between TV, feature film and new media, pointing out that content is increasingly being developed across platforms. But it does not address the number or kinds of jobs that might be eliminated by such a merger.

The proposal also hands full responsibility for ‘all components of the Television sector’ to the 19-member CTF board, made up of representatives from major broadcasters, cable and satellite companies and producers, plus five members appointed by the minister of Canadian Heritage. Currently, the Heritage appointees include the chair of Telefilm’s board and a deputy minister from the ministry. Under the new proposal, Heritage would appoint three Telefilm board members to the CTF board.

To ensure against conflicts of interest and that the appropriate balance of cultural and industrial objectives is maintained, such issues would be referred to the CTF’s independent committee. This subcommittee would include the three Telefilm board members who sit on the CTF board and would be used to arbitrate issues that the main board cannot resolve.

The Telefilm proposal addresses many concerns among a wide range of industry stakeholders, including producers who desperately want a single administration and a voice on the board of whatever form the new fund takes.

The idea behind the independent committee will certainly find favor with those concerned that Heritage would abdicate the public interest to a board made up largely of vested interests such as broadcasters, producers and BDUs.

The one admin-one board proposal is also particularly attractive in the area of sorting out policy and guidelines. Under the current system, once the CTF board has addressed an issue, it has to be taken before the Telefilm board, which in turn often wants changes, and therefore the policy goes back to the CTF. It is not, by any standard, a streamlined process.

In terms of synergies, too, the proposal makes sense. Clarkson, CTF president and CEO Sandra MacDonald and representatives from Heritage were at the Doc Policy Summit held in Toronto during Hot Docs, where data was presented indicating that 50% of all documentary features are supported first and foremost through broadcast funds.

Heritage has embarked on a round of consultations with an eye on making an announcement at the Banff World Television Festival next month.

Will the Telefilm draft pass muster with the minister? Who knows? Frulla could be in the middle of an election campaign by then and too busy to announce anything new regarding the governance of the CTF.

But so far, Telefilm appears to have addressed several of the major issues concerning TV funding in this country, and that should give it high marks among broadcasters and producers.

Clarification: In a recent column, I referenced a passage in the federal government’s official response to the Lincoln Report saying that the government wants to see private funds created as conditions of licence to be integrated into the Canadian Television Fund. I was not referring to funds already in existence or those created through capital endowments such as the Independent Production Fund.