Screen sector stakeholders are putting more pressure on the federal government to support the industry ahead of the anticipated Fall Economic Statement.

A group of six senior industry stakeholders penned a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, adding to the calls for increased support to the Canada Media Fund (CMF).

The letter, obtained by Playback Daily, was co-signed by Reelworld Screen Institute founder and executive director Tonya Williams; Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey; Canadian Film Centre executive director maxine bailey; Attraction executive Richard Jean-Baptiste; and filmmakers R.T. Thorne and Jennifer Podemski.

The co-signers laid out two key requests: for the government to turn its $20 million allocation for equity-deserving groups into a permanent $30 million allocation; and to raise the cap of its stabilization fund to $85 million from $42.5 million.

“The CMF and the industry have collectively achieved extraordinary results over the past four years,” it read, outlining the financial impact the prior allocation has had for equity-deserving screen sector groups, “but this progress is jeopardized by the current financial situation on the horizon for the CMF.”

CMF outlined in January how the initial $60 million allocation for equity-deserving groups, which led to the creation of the Program for Racialized Communities, generated $176.4 million in GDP. The government committed an additional $40 million to continue it into 2024-25 and 2025-26 in the 2024 federal budget.

Additionally, CMF said in its 2023-24 annual report that it reached the ceiling of $42.5 million of its stabilization fund from the government to offset BDU revenue losses.

Members of the screen sector have been outspoken in their calls for additional government funding in the upcoming Fall Economic Statement given a pending federal election in 2025. While the election must take place by Oct. 20, 2025, a vote of no confidence at the House of Commons could trigger a snap election earlier in the year. The Conservative Party of Canada is currently favoured to win the next election.

Earlier this month, close to 1,400 industry members signed a letter calling for the government to make Telefilm’s $50 million allocation permanent. At the time, a spokesperson told Playback Daily that “the government is continuing to work to modernize the tools that support Canada’s audiovisual sector and remains attentive to the numerous challenges faced by all stakeholders in the audiovisual sector.”

A group of 15 Quebec TV producers also issued a joint letter requesting the government double CMF’s budget, including its stabilization funding.

TIFF’s Bailey tells Playback there’s an urgency in “making sure that Canada always has a strong screen sector.”

He points to Dune: Part Two filmmaker Denis Villeneuve as an example of what can happen when a Canadian creative voice receives support through national and provincial funding agencies.

“Canadians need to be there telling Canadian stories, and global stories from our perspective,” he says, adding that telling those Canadian stories requires investment. “When costs are going up and when the urgency is increasing, then sometimes it needs more support.”

The Fall Economic Statement is expected to be tabled sometime before the House of Commons ends its session, currently scheduled for Dec. 17. Parliament is expected to resume on Jan. 27, 2025.

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