While the global screen industry is in the midst of contraction, some of Canada’s biggest decision-makers are looking at this period as a time of necessary structural change, rejecting the mantra of “survive ’til ’25.”

“I would hope it’s ‘survive ’til 3025,’ not next year, because there will be a lot of change. And that happens all the time,” said Canada Media Fund (CMF) president and CEO Valerie Creighton on a panel at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival (SJIWFF) on Thursday (Oct. 24). “I’ve been through two major transitions driven by the federal government or elections, and we did survive it all. And we actually moved forward into something new.”

Creighton was joined in the conversation by Telefilm Canada’s executive director and CEO Julie Roy and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) COO Liz Shorten.

One of the significant issues is oversubscription of their funding programs, which Creighton said is happening at every federal and provincial organization, and sometimes by wide margins. Roy said some of Telefilm’s programs are seeing 80% or even 90% of applications refused.

“It depresses the whole industry because people are working so hard to get their things done and they can’t get through the gates,” said Shorten. “But the problem is the gates, the structure.”

Creighton agreed, noting that CMF is focused on pivoting its model. “The streamers are the streamers, they’re fantastic, and I hope we can get good partnerships with them, but they’re not going save us,” she said.

One sector CMF is looking at is the kids industry. “Our big kids producers turned away from Canada years ago because the structure did not support what they were doing,” she said, adding that there’s no formal plan in place yet, but the funder will be speaking with members of the industry to start.

She pointed to one success story out of YouTube, the animated series Denis and Me, which was produced by Toronto’s Headspinner Productions and supported by CMF and the Shaw Rocket Fund. To date, the series’ YouTube channel has garnered more than 36 million views. “You think a conventional broadcaster could ever get [those views]? No – maybe 200,000,” said Creighton.

Shorten chimed in: “So why isn’t the conventional broadcaster partnering with YouTube?”

“Exactly,” replied Creighton. “It’s the structure.”

For the film sector, Roy said Telefilm is examining its value chain from training and development through to international promotion and marketing to support creative talent. “A success for us, for example, is seeing a filmmaker directing his first feature with Talent to Watch, then access the low budget stream, and then access the big budget stream,” she said.

“We want to follow some filmmakers through the whole chain of value … It’s nice to have KPIs, but it’s not enough. What’s happening with the next one? And the third?”

Shorten said the CMPA is preparing for the likelihood of a new federal government in 2025 and has already been having conversations with Conservative MPs.

“We’re not just talking about the jobs. We’re actually talking about creativity and entrepreneurism, because that’s what it takes to be in the business,” said Shorten. “We had one of the federal conservative B.C. MPs on the set of [CBC procedural] Allegiance, and he was blown away by the hundreds of people walking around in the video village … I think if we have the opportunity to show what this industry is in a real way, we’re going to be ok.”

Creighton said the information gap Canadian politicians have about the industry became stark for her in recent discussions about the documentary Russians at War, which created a wave of controversy over its depiction of Russians soldiers in the war in Ukraine, raising questions about the use of public funds to finance it.

“There’s a conservative MP who was Ukrainian and spoke for all of the [federal] Conservatives on this issue, and was very aggressive at the beginning and now has turned the corner through constant communication,” said Creighton. “But he said to me in one meeting, ‘well, what’s the difference between Telefilm and the NFB [National Film Board of Canada]?’ And I thought, ‘that’s not his ignorance. That’s our failure.”

Shorten said one issue the domestic industry needs to get on the same page with is the upcoming consultations about the definition of Canadian content. But she recognized that it’s an uphill battle.

“[The CMPA has] over 600 members right now. If you asked different production companies [what they want], they would have a different answer,” she said. “Some folks want flexibility, some folks don’t.”

There was a consensus among the group that some flexibility will be necessary to ensure the structure works for the current market. Creighton pointed out that Canada is the only country that requires residency be part of its content definition.

Roy said Telefilm is looking at adding more flexibility to help stimulate more international coproductions between Indigenous communities, as an example.

“We have to focus on the story and the content. That has to come first, no matter what,” said Creighton. “Because if it’s not about that, that’s how we got this structure in the first place. It became about everything else except that. And that absolute priority has slid.”

Photo by Krissy Breen; pictured (L-R): Valerie Creighton, Julie Roy and Liz Shorten