The Racial Equity Media Collective (REMC) has provided an initial snapshot of the financial health of Canadian production companies and non-profit organizations led by those who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) in Canada’s screen sector in its first-ever BIPOC Community Mapping report.

“Our report was created to start the process of capturing the financial health of BIPOC-owned entities in Canada’s screen sector to create long-term, systemic solutions to funding issues BIPOC creators, filmmakers, production companies and non-profit organizations experience,” Lisa Valencia-Svensson, managing director at REMC, tells Playback Daily.

Funded by Telefilm Canada, the report concludes that BIPOC-led prodcos and organizations are struggling to sustain their companies due to a lack of funding and access to connections and networks. The data for the survey was collected through online surveys completed by 41 organizations and 67 prodcos from anglophone communities, and includes qualitative data on common barriers to success.

Of the prodcos that participated, 90% are incorporated, 94% are majority BIPOC-led, and 57% are female-owned and controlled. On average, most participants have been operating for 10 years and have one to two owners. The majority of the companies were located in Ontario (26.4%), P.E.I. (26.4%) and Quebec (19.4%).

Of the BIPOC-led non-profit organizations, the majority said they provide training and workshops for BIPOC creators and crew. Meanwhile, half of the participants identified as film festival or arts organizations who showed interest and demand for the exhibition of BIPOC work. Just over 50% of the non-profits were based in Ontario, followed by B.C. (20%) and Quebec (15%).

Valencia-Svensson says the report threads together the collective experiences of participant companies to give a general sense of some of the critical barriers to success felt by BIPOC-led companies and organizations.

In the case of BIPOC-owned prodcos, the key barriers identified by the report pertained to issues surrounding access to funding to allow for operational growth; difficulties in owning their IP; lack of financing for third-language content; and few racialized decision-makers.

The report argues that BIPOC-owned prodcos aren’t able to sustain growth due to what one anonymous participant described as “chronic underfunding.” Of the companies that participated in the survey, 44% reported an annual production volume of less than $50,000 while approximately 10% reported production volumes of $1 million or more.

Additionally, 78% of participant prodcos said they rely on self-financing; 60% have accessed federal funding; 30% have used crowdfunding; and 24% have received financial support from family and friends.

Survey participants said the “system is stacked against new companies wanting to enter this market,” and that there is a “real gap in getting public funds” due to competition with “well-funded corporations” and “systemic bias in terms of the projects being funded,” according to the report.

As for BIPOC-led non-profit organizations, the report notes that 91% of survey participants “stated that accessing operational funds was the largest barrier to success for their organizations,” adding that 56% of the survey participants have annual budgets of under $100,000 and 36% have annual budgets between $100,000 to $500,000. Funding for programs was also identified as a core concern.

Around 84% of the organizations who participated in the survey identified as national organizations, and 62% said they receive funding from federal funding agencies or programs such as Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm.

Organizations said they often find themselves using volunteers to manage administration, fundraising, program delivery, and operations. Roughly 37% of participants said they are being totally run by volunteers, while 66% heavily rely on volunteers to do the work when they prefer to hire staff to do them.

The report offers several key recommendations, including the creation of funds to help stabilize BIPOC-led prodcos or emerging and mid-level companies; that broadcasters establish targets through community consultations in order to license BIPOC content; additional opportunities to access funding without a broadcaster attached; and the facilitation of access to interim financing for BIPOC-led companies.

Other recommendations include the incentivization of third-language content; the creation of funding programs to help BIPOC creators invest in non-treaty coproductions with countries in the global south; and the hiring of more BIPOC talent in executive roles at funding agencies, broadcasters, and distributors.

Key suggestions for BIPOC-led organizations include creating targeted funding programs; additional outreach and communications from funders about their funding programs; ensuring that applications from BIPOC organizations are looked over by BIPOC funding staff or peer review juries; collaboration with funders who offer similar funding programs or streams on application forms and reporting frameworks; investing in the training and development of BIPOC arts administrators; and capacity support for organizations focused on human resource development, fundraising, operations, board management, and strategic planning.

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