It’s no understatement to say that 2023 was a year of peaks and valleys for Canadian indie producers.

First, the good news: the long-awaited passing of Bill C-11 (a.k.a. the Online Streaming Act)… though it now raises many more questions as to how online platforms might actually be brought into regulation. Many of those solutions were being debated at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) at press time, including how to get more funds flowing into the sector, where they’ll come from and where they’ll go.

The film and TV business as a whole was disrupted by a 148-day Writers Guild of America strike, which was overlapped by 118 days of labour action from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The strikes led to a pause in service work in Canada and a paralysis in the international buyers’ market from which the industry still hasn’t quite recovered.

Closer to home, both public and private broadcasters have rolled out cuts, with CBC-Radio/Canada announcing a $40 million reduction in content spend in the 2024-25 fiscal year. (The federal government has since injected more funds into the pubcaster.) Corus Entertainment CEO Doug Murphy, meanwhile, disclosed to investors in a Q1 call that the broadcaster also anticipates a reduced production investment moving forward.

So, what does that mean for Canadian indie producers? Based on Playback‘s Indie List 2024 survey results (see chart below for production and development spends), they have a slightly more pessimistic view of the state of the industry this year.

Nearly half (46%) of respondents say opportunities for Canadian producers are worse than ever. About 41% say opportunities are the same and 14% say they’re better than ever. (In comparison, 44% of Indie List 2023 survey participants said opportunities were the same, 39% said worse and 20% said better.)

“The challenges for Canadian producers have intensified due to a decline in domestic funding and a decrease in the number of Canadian buyers,” says Piazza Entertainment president and founder Vanessa Piazza. “With less financial support and fewer local platforms acquiring content, producers face significant hurdles in securing resources and distribution opportunities within Canada and must look to the international market or service production.”

Still, others say there are promising prospects on the horizon. “We think the brand of Canada and the quality of Canadian content being produced for the global stage is better than ever,” says Mark Bishop, co-president of Blue Ant Studios. “From our firsthand experience, we can say there is absolutely an awareness and appetite for international partners, including U.S. buyers, to work with independent Canadian producers.”

Budgeting was on the brain for the majority of survey respondents, with 69% saying that financing and budgets are the biggest challenges facing their business this year. (That’s up from 60% of respondents in 2023.)

About 35% say inflation and global economic factors, as well as inventory available for Canadian programming on Canadian channels, are major challenges. Another 34% cited the level of international market interest in Canadian programming as a challenge. In comparison, 36% cited inflation in 2023 and 29% identified inventory for Canadian programming.

“There needs to be significantly more public and private funds available to creators and indie producers for development spending in order to remain competitive in the global market,” says Jeff Lynas, co-founder and general manager at Blink49 Studios.

Despite the challenges, 62% of respondents say they plan to expand their business this year, either through growing their development slate or hiring new staff. In comparison, nearly 70% said they had plans to expand in 2023.

When it comes to opportunities, 62% are looking to coproductions and coventures (up from 54% in 2023), with 53% identifying the potential of international
partnerships (up from 46%). Another 49% have identified exploiting existing IP as an opportunity (up from 38% in 2023), followed closely by exploiting new IP at 47% (up from 42%).

Playback‘s Indie List survey was conducted from Feb. 7 to March 22, with the results based on responses from 67 independently-owned Canadian production companies.

This story originally appeared in Playback‘s Spring 2024 issue