When Danny Chalifour joined Telefilm in 1987 it was for a six-month contract. The young producer was looking to immerse himself in the business and Telefilm offered a prime spot to learn the trade from the inside out.

Twenty-two years of change later, Chalifour had moved from financial analyst, to head of business affairs, to director of finance, administration and coproductions, to director of national and international business development. Chalifour stepped down from the agency in June. Playback caught up with the veteran culturecrat just as he was heading off for a summer holiday.

PB: Twenty-two years is a long time – what were the major changes in the Canadian film industry during your tenure at the agency?

DC: Foremost has to be the growth of Québécois cinema and the star system in the province. Several factors came into play: a growing sense of cultural identity, a distinct language and its isolation in a continent dominated by the English language. Telefilm played a significant role, but so did other public and private agencies such as SRC, SODEC, Télé-Québec and TVA. And, of course, print and broadcast media did their share, and they still continue to foster and promote Québécois talent.

Next I would point to the maturity of the industry. The Canadian industry has really transformed. We literally moved from shoebox accounting practices back in the ’80s to the sophisticated corporate and financial structures that we have today.

And, in terms of talent base and infrastructure, we compete with the best. That’s particularly apparent in our coproduction infrastructure and the breadth of our treaties. We’ve developed and sustain an enviable reputation in the international marketplace. Canadian producers have strong connections with foreign producers.

The results speak for themselves. By the standards of our population, Canadian films continue to draw their fair share of nominations and awards in international events.

What about synergies between broadcast and film?

It’s much more sophisticated. It used to be that a producer could package a show strictly with a broadcast licence fee and a five-page acquisition agreement. Now you’re seeing multiple domestic and foreign broadcasters as well as foreign distributors and coproducers involved, in both films and TV programs. What could be produced with a single partner 20 years ago now often requires between five and 10 partners, if not more. That’s where our coproduction experience is paying off.

Of course that makes everything more competitive. It’s safe to say our funding system is increasingly outcome-driven as opposed to output-driven. TV shows and films face a steeper hill: there are ratings, box office, foreign sales, website hits, awards, not to mention job creation.

What do you consider your accomplishments during your tenure at Telefilm?

Well, I didn’t do it by myself, that’s for sure. I’ve worked with some very talented and passionate teams over the years. We poured a lot of energy into international markets and festivals. The events themselves have not changed materially over the last decade, but what a producer can get out of them has fundamentally altered. It’s client-focused and performance-oriented. We set up the International Initiatives Advisory Committee, bringing together the federal and provincial agencies and the filmmakers to create a united front for our work abroad. We introduced market screenings at Cannes and Berlin and began systematic surveys of market results.

On the more nuts-and-bolts side, we created the contracts administration sector, auditing production costs and distribution revenues and, more important, collecting the revenues that were then reinvested into Telefilm’s various programs. We overhauled the information management systems and that opened the door to real-time access for our clients. Producers could track the status of their applications.

More recently, there were the Official Languages Activities Program, the Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program and the Features Comedy Lab. They were designed and are being delivered by the great team in the business development branch, now headed by Sheila de La Varende.

All of these initiatives rose out of industry consultations. Again, I can’t take credit for it, but I think Telefilm proved it is responsive to the industry. Consultations pointed to gaps in the system, weaknesses in above-the-line areas. At the end of the day, it’s all about Canadian productions reaching more Canadians.

On the flip side, are there any issues or incidents that you see as missed opportunities on a larger scale?

‘Missed opportunity’ is subjective. Someone’s loss will probably be another’s gain. The debate will be with us for many years.

But from a broad perspective, the important question is whether governments’ motivations are the same as those of the individual producers who benefit from the policies… or not. And to what extent the various players understand that dynamic. Producers seek profit, and that is fair… governments seek social and economic benefits to the community, and that’s fair. The challenge is reconciling the two. No solution will be good enough to satisfy everyone

Did you ever have aspirations to run the place? What would you have done differently?

Well, that’s a bit of an open secret. But it didn’t happen. I’ve got too much respect for the organization and its numerous challenges as well as for the people who did run it and the ones who are running it now to comment on how things were done.

Will you go back to producing?

Ask me in three months. I have promised myself at least that long before thinking about my future.