Érik Canuel
Director – Nez rouge, Le Dernier tunnel, Le Survenant and the upcoming Bon Cop, Bad Cop

‘What has been going on here for the past five to eight years is great for Quebec cinema. The industry has been growing like crazy. It’s due in part to SODEC, which is trying to diversify the style of Quebec filmmaking. The box office has gone up a lot; more people are going to Quebec movies. Allowing more commercial ventures to be financed has contributed to this success. More people are going to these movies than would have gone to auteur films.

‘I have a great relationship with SODEC. I’ve made five features in five years! They invited me to [Cinéma du Québec à Paris] last year and showed two of them – Nez rouge and Le Dernier tunnel.

‘When we approach SODEC, we prepare a pitch, which isn’t always accepted the first time. SODEC has great readers. Before coming back to the table, we request to read their reports. Sometimes, the readers see things that we don’t see anymore because we’re so close to the project. We try to look at it, without ego. Maybe they’re right on some points and we see if we can learn from their vision of the project… Most of the feature scripts have been improved by SODEC.’

Ken Scott
Writer – La Vie après l’amour, La Grande séduction, Maurice Richard

‘When I was working on my first script [La Vie après l’amour], I got a grant from SODEC. It was an important moment in my career. I only got about $7,000, but it was enough so that I could take a few months off, put everything else aside and just do that. It gave me a lot of confidence.

‘Now, I don’t look for that kind of grant, but other screenwriters hire me as a consultant – SODEC gives them money for that purpose. Right now, I’m doing it for Roger Cantin [La Forteresse suspendue] as well as some scriptwriters who are not as well known yet.

‘When I go with a producer and a director to SODEC for a meeting, it can be very stressful in advance. We know that SODEC will have had readers looking at the script and analyzing it. With La Grande séduction and Maurice Richard, they liked the scripts. Both were positive experiences for me.’

Nicole Robert
Producer – Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur, Les Aimants, Horloge biologique
‘SODEC supports the script. When we come to a meeting with the writer and the director, it is only after SODEC approves the story that they start to look at the production. Then they will analyze the financial elements of the film.
‘They’re financing Cheech, an adaptation of a play by François Létourneau, which we are shooting right now. Létourneau is an up-and-coming writer and Patrice Sauvé is a new director. SODEC supports my way of producing – with new talent.
‘For the last three or four years, after they got more money from the government, SODEC has often been the main partner in productions. Most of the time, they will invest almost the same amount as Telefilm Canada, but they also provide the tax credit, which adds 20% to the budget.
‘SODEC turned me down with Sur le seuil. It was tough. We didn’t have all the money we wanted to make the film – there were less shooting days and not as much money for the production. In the end [nonetheless]… the film was a success. It has been sold to the Weinsteins for a remake in English.’

Mario Fortin
President – Association des proprietaires de cinémas et ciné-parcs du Québec

‘[SODEC helps] some of us to renovate and build cinemas, but it’s a very small portion of their budget… We have more independent theaters here than anywhere else in North America. With [SODEC precursor] SOGIC, there used to be more help.

‘Looking ahead, we know that we’ll need help when digital cinemas happen. When the train leaves that station, we want all of us to start at the same time. We want SODEC to help us with financing.

‘SODEC is a big machine for books, music and film, but the amount they’re giving to exhibitors is very minimal. Mostly, it trickles through distributors. For example, distributors can get money to make more prints of Quebec films. We don’t benefit directly from that, but it helps that there are more copies available for exhibitors. If there are more prints, we can show them in more places. Quebec films represent about 20% of our box office. All exhibitors benefit from this revenue.’