The final week of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) Path Forward hearings kicked off on Monday (Dec. 4) with a myriad of takes on how to support Canadian and Indigenous content.
Representatives of Apple Canada shared a similar perspective on the introduction of a mandatory initial base contribution as Netflix, Paramount and Amazon, arguing that the CRTC should take more time to consider the outcomes for foreign-owned online undertakings, as well as how they’re already contributing to the system – which includes Apple Music and Apple TV.
“It’s premature to implement an initial base contribution at this early stage in your proceeding before a new approach and modernized early framework has been considered and determined,” said Paul Patinios (pictured), services director of Apple Canada. “This contribution framework should be equitable and appropriate, and must account for the difference between traditional broadcasters and online undertakings as well as the large differences between online undertakings themselves… taking into account the much broader range of services that are now part of the Canadian system in order to foster innovation and effective outcomes.”
Roberta Westin, principal counsel at Apple Media Services, noted that there are unknowns and “key elements” still to be determined in later stages, and argued that a modernized definition of Canadian content and an examination of the eligibility rules for the funds that will be receiving the contributions should be considered to give a sense of “the outcomes of the contribution.”
“At this stage of the proceeding, we think it’s important for the Commission to think about the framework holistically and also recognize that there are other forms of contributions being made to the system by online undertakings,” she said. “We certainly support making an overall contribution once we have further clarity in the framework, once we move to step two of the proceeding.”
Tara Lignos, Apple’s head of legal and studio affairs, original content, pointed to the work that Apple TV+ has done with Canadian producers, including the Sinking Ship Entertainment-produced series Jane, which has an environmental focus.
“We are just getting started, so are open to having more dialogue about more ways we can support holistically, including dialogue with the Black Screen Office and the Indigenous Screen Office,” she said.
While Apple representatives declined to provide a suggested contribution amount to the Commission, Westin did present some alternative options to support the goals of the Broadcasting Act. Acknowledging the “challenge to measure intangible” contributions, she said the Commission could “establish principles” aimed at supporting those goals, with undertakings providing an annual report on how they’ve been achieved.
In her opening remarks, Robin Mirsky, executive director of the Rogers Group of Funds (RGF), disclosed how Canadian Independent Production Funds (CIPFs) are already evolving.
She revealed that the fund is retiring its Rogers Cable Network Fund in early 2024 to launch the Rogers Series Fund, which is “strategically designed to incentivize” partnerships between domestic broadcasters and foreign streamers.
The fund, which is open to scripted drama, unscripted, and documentary projects, requires a license commitment from a Canadian broadcaster and online undertaking (either domestic or foreign-owned), and will provide a bonus of up to 20% of the requested investment for Indigenous-owned or BIPOC-owned prodcos.
Mirsky also argued for greater flexibility for CIPFs, including newly certified funds such as the Black Screen Fund and the Indigenous Screen Office. She argued against the 80/20 split between the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and other CIPFs, stating that “providing CIPFs with more funding creates more decision-makers in the system and more diverse programming than having the majority of the money stay with the CMF.”
The executive director added that RGF’s funding has decreased by 40% since 2010, and was able to support less than half of the productions that applied to the fund.
Jon Taylor, CEO of the Independent Production Fund (IPF), also noted in his opening remarks that, while their applications are up for initiatives such as the Short Form Series Production Program, their “success rates are flat.” He went on to argue that “effective pre-development programs are needed to improve certain region’s success rates.”
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) was more forward with its proposals to the CRTC, with ACTRA National president Eleanor Noble proposing that online undertakings provide 5% of their annual gross revenues in Canada, while 10 to 15% of annual revenues “go directly to the production or acquisition of Canadian content.”
Noble said the recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes highlighted the need for more support for Canadian content, since the abrupt pause in service productions in Canada reduced the work available to ACTRA members, and there wasn’t a “hammock of Canadian productions” available to offset the job loss.
ACTRA also proposed measures related to discoverability, suggesting the creation of an incentive to include the name of the “highest-paid Canadian actor” in streaming promotional screens, to help build up English Canada’s star system. Additionally, ACTRA proposed that Canadian content should account for one in four content choices on a streaming platform.
“I don’t think it’s true that Canadians don’t want to watch Canadian content,” said ACTRA national executive director Marie Kelly. “I think it’s going down in the ecosystem that we’re in because we haven’t given it an appropriate ability to be discovered and watched and loved.”
The Path Forward hearings are expected to continue until Friday (Dec. 8).