He stands 6’1′ tall, and once a week or so he dons a bow tie.

‘It gives you a bit of individuality,’ explains Brian Anthony, CEO and national executive director of the Directors Guild of Canada.

With CRTC hearings taking place next year to review a wide variety of television broadcast licences and their commitment to Canadian production, and with the federal budget allocation to the Canadian Television Fund expiring in March 2009, it’s probably useful to have a DGC leader who can command attention with his neckwear.

For now, Anthony seems reluctant to reveal too much about what the DGC plans to say in Ottawa about these matters, but he does reveal other concerns in this interview with Playback.

What are the main issues facing the DGC right now?

As you know, the industry is not in great shape due to a variety of factors – most of them beyond our control.

Can you talk a bit about some of these factors?

We had the writers strike in the States, which put a stop to a lot of production activity. When you couple that with the rising dollar this year – which at one point peaked over par – it had an effect on American decisions to produce in Canada.

And we’ve begun to feel the effects of individual American states putting together very robust tax-credit programs and other incentives. In addition to this, we had the uncertainty created by Bill C-10.

So when you put all those things together, it hasn’t been a good year.

In the long term, how do you see the role of the DGC evolving?

We’re engaged in discussions with the obvious bodies that affect our lives, such as the Department of Canadian Heritage, but we will be broadening the base of our particular initiatives. I’m thinking, for example, of the Department of Finance. If we want to see some of the changes to the federal tax regime that we would like to see put in place, then we are going have to engage them in discussions about those matters. So, I guess, expansion of our political reach is very much in order if we are to achieve our objectives.

What is the main component of your relationship with [DGC president] Sturla Gunnarsson?

Sturla and I have a great working relationship. We are sort of the axis, I guess, on which the organization turns, so we have to make sure that we’re of one mind on all key issues.

In the warm-up to the election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: ‘I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people at, you know, a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up – I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people.’ Do you have any comment on this assessment of Canadian production?

I think the prime minister must regret that he said what he said. If it was deliberate, as I suspect it was, it sort of hit me that the prime minister didn’t stop to think about the size of the cultural workforce in this country. Just in terms of film and television and new media production, there are 126,900 [direct and indirect] workers in this sector contributing something like $5 billion to the economy.

And I must say that galas don’t feature significantly in our lives, but the ones I do attend are not [solely] taxpayer-funded. Corporate donors and private sponsors put them on in order to top up the budgets of the organizations that are the beneficiaries. So I do hope that the negative reaction that it caused will cause him to reconsider his point of view.

Does the DGC have a different opinion of what Canadian consumers want?

The Conference Board of Canada had a report that pegged the cultural workforce at 1.1 million Canadians who are directly or indirectly involved in the cultural sector, and that’s a very large number of people, and to write them all off as chardonnay-swilling, tuxedo-wearing folk is really an unfortunate perception.

Every community in this country, even the small ones, has some form of cultural activity that they cherish, whether it’s a house museum, or a library with literary readings, or a community-supported choir. So I hope the prime minister has reflected upon what I consider to be the error of his ways.

B.C. MP James Moore was recently appointed Heritage minister. Can you offer a reaction to that?

I think it’s a great appointment. James is young and bilingual, which is important in that portfolio and in this sector. He’s from B.C., so he has a real understanding of the importance of the film and television industry, in economic and employment terms, as well as cultural terms.

He’s a solid performer, he’s got a lot of relevant experience – he’s worked as a broadcaster – and he’s a rising star in the cabinet.

So clearly the prime minister has decided that the portfolio needs somebody with James’ background and strengths, and I think this is good. I think it’s going give us a great opportunity to get the sort of political and public discourse about cultural issues back on a positive track.

What are your main concerns about the current economic climate?

We haven’t seen anything like this since Black Friday and the Great Depression, and I’m worried that however strong the fundamentals here in Canada may be, the impact on the Canadian economy will cause the federal government to go into restraint mode. And in times of restraint, it’s been my observation that the cultural programs are the first to go – and the last to be reinstated.