The urgent need for modernization and adaptability affects every part of the Canadian film and TV industry, even for an organization as established as the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA).
The national advocate for Canadian independent producers hit its 75th anniversary in 2023. Yet, while reflecting on the milestone, CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin tells Playback that one of its proudest achievements is perhaps its most recent: a policy that requires a minimum of 35% of its board of directors come from Indigenous and equity-seeking communities.
“Implementing that policy has hugely strengthened the board and made for even richer discussions at the table,” says Mastin, adding that it’s also led to “more inclusive positions that we’ve taken on the issues of the day.”
Newly elected chair Damon D’Oliveira was among the CMPA representatives at the CRTC hearings in Gatineau, Que., advocating for initial base contributions to be partially funneled into funds from equity-seeking organizations.
Mastin says a key priority for the CMPA is to continue to ensure Canadian-owned IP remains critical in the CRTC’s modernized regulatory framework following the passage of Bill C-11, a.k.a. the Online Streaming Act.
Calling it a “success-focused” approach, Mastin says the CMPA is looking at how partnerships between independent producers and either Canadian broadcasters or foreign-owned streaming services, or both, can mutually benefit the sector.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Reynolds Mastin: I wish we had a lot more archival material for the first half of our existence because I’m sure there are many things that I should know, but I don’t. But, going to the more semi-recent past, we were key stakeholders in the putting together of the 1991 Broadcasting Act.
There’s an objective in the Act that says that the Canadian broadcasting system must include a significant contribution from the independent production sector. We were key in ensuring that that objective was included in the Act. It remains in the Act post-C-11, and that one objective has played a central role in building the Canadian independent production industry.
Fast forward to Bill C-11 and there are two key provisions that producers care a great deal about. The CRTC will be required to consider whether Canadians, including independent producers, meaningfully share in the exploitation of their own IP, and will also have to consider the extent to which streaming services and Canadian broadcasters are collaborating with Canadian independent producers.
So, maybe inspired a little bit by the CMPA members and staff who succeeded in getting that objective in the Broadcasting Act in 1991, we felt we had to do our part to lay the foundation for hopefully the next 25 to 30 years.
I’ve been a little bit awed by not only the longevity of this organization, but the reasons for its longevity. We’ve been endlessly adaptable to the changing market, to changing governments, to changing policies. And we’ve done that because we’ve always endeavoured to mirror our members, and core to their DNA is adaptability, innovation and being leaders.
At the same time, looking at our most recent past, one of the things that needed to change, and has fundamentally changed, is making sure that the CMPA reflects the full spectrum of our membership and of the producer community in Canada. Three or four years ago, we could not legitimately say that, or at least we certainly couldn’t say it to the degree that we can today.
That was a key and fundamental change that we needed to make, and it’s actually one of the reasons why I feel very optimistic. I think the roots of the organization are now stronger and deeper than ever, that we are more reflective of the producer community in Canada than we’ve ever been before, and that having all of those voices within our tent has made us so much stronger.
This story originally appeared in Playback‘s Winter 2023 issue