The mood at the 30th annual Prime Time in Ottawa was a mix of optimism and opportunity with a healthy dose of palpable woe.

On Thursday (Jan. 30), that sense of worry came from some panels’ discussions of the impending federal election and the likelihood that the Conservative Party will take power in Canada, as well as the existential threat that generative AI represents to many creatives in the film and television industry.

Adam Rumanek, CEO of digital rights management company Aux Mode, gave a sobering take on the topic of AI companies farming content to teach AI models.

“It’s already done. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. It’s already happened,” he said. “All of your stuff you’ve created has already been taken on all platforms.”

Gave Lindo, chief content officer of L.A.-based AI company Troveo, spoke about the potential outcome of future litigation regarding AI companies who have used content illegally and the reality of a market for ethically sourced data. At the same time, there wasn’t much optimism for creatives’ compensation down the line.

The panelists discussed what they see as an accelerationist future for the technology, to the point where it will affect every aspect of human life. However, that will not come without job loss in the creative industries.

“That’s always the cycle: fear, adoption, expansion, and fast forward to today,” said Seth Hallen, an AI and media tech investor for Hallstone Ventures. “If you go through all of the turning points, from television, cable, internet all the way through optical discs, they all created expansion. And AI is no different.”

The format game in Canada

Panelists at the Future of Formats panel discussed the Canadian spin on international formats, their success and the potential for tax credits to bolster that success.

“We know that there’s a model now to look for tax credits internationally,” said Lindsay Cox, an SVP at Insight Productions, the prodco behind Global’s Big Brother Canada. “We see them in Ireland, we see them in Atlanta, we see them in New Jersey. There’s different incentives that are everywhere.”

While the format game was described as a two-way street, in that either country can adapt the format to their own, the problem, according to panelists, is that game show formats in Canada need to be eligible for tax credits.

Mark Bishop, Blue Ant Studios’ co-president, noted that competition and reality series don’t qualify for PNI investments.

“This is a classic example of how the policy has not kept up with the industry and the audience,” he said. “Because this was put in place many years ago out of fear that broadcasters would just do cheap game shows as filler and that would be Cancon.”

At the same time, Maria Armstrong, CEO of Big Coat Media, the prodco behind HGTV’s Love It or List It, noted that Canadian broadcasters tend to want a larger ownership share of an original format.

“We need to create the star system in Canada, because stars bring eyeballs to the TV,” said Armstrong.

TVO has had a hand in a number of format series, such as the Blue Ant coproduction Old Enough!, based on the original Japanese format from Nippon TV. In October 2024, TVO renewed the series for season two.

“There are shows where there’s a significant distribution investment, or there are shows where we’re by far, the leading funders,” said Natasha Negrea, TVO’s head of programming. “So what I will say is changing a lot of formats is just that everything is a conversation, and that was not the case before.”

The panelists all agreed on the importance of CBC to the development of Canadian format series. As well, streaming services were discussed as another avenue for potentially successful Canadian formats.

“I think it is a home. It is not the home,” said Michela di Mondo, Fremantle’s EVP, Canada, international. “I think the unique part about how creative deal-making is happening right now is that there’s so many vehicles for content that generates income for you to continue building your content [that] exists specifically in Canada. We should lean into all of those opportunities.”

The Conservatives are (maybe) coming!

Mary Walsh, the This Hour Has 22 Minutes veteran, politely grilled former Conservative Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore on the continued calls to defund CBC.

Moore stated he believed the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre would follow through on their promises should they win a future federal election. However, he said the party could run into issues surrounding their promise to wholly defund the public broadcaster.

“The problem is, of course, the Conservatives have said it’s not going to zero [funding],” he said. “They’re going to keep the French part of CBC whole. Well, that constitutes a quarter to 40% of the CBC budget.”

The cost of servicing Canada’s national debt, he explained, is about $60 billion per year. So if CBC were to be wholly defunded, that would service the national debt for at most six days.

While the conversation largely focused on the economic and political lens behind the CBC’s continued existence or defunding, Walsh ended on a broader plea.

“There is a larger lens on things, isn’t there, than just the economic one? It’s ineffable,” she said. “It’s unquantifiable in a way, isn’t it? Of course, we all go down the economic road … But that can’t be the only lens we see each other through, because then we all become businessmen.”

Looking abroad for global regulations

During ‘One size may not fit all: Global regulatory approaches for the streaming era,’ Ontario senator Andrew Cardozo emphasized the importance for stakeholders to explain the needs of the screen industry in plain terms.

“People outside this industry don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “They don’t understand the importance of it. You’re talking a different language. You’re not talking the language of the most important people, which are the legislators.”

In particular, he emphasized a focus on the jobs that screen production creates.

The panelists also examined other countries’ regulatory frameworks for the audiovisual industry.

For example, Susan Kirby, CEO of Screen Producers Ireland, discussed a bill that was introduced in the Emerald Isle that includes key components for producers. Among those components is that 80% of a content levy fund would be reserved for independent producers, as well as a development fund as part of that, 25% of which would be reserved for Irish-language producers. Finally, IP retention for producers is built into the bill and distribution from Screen Ireland is guaranteed.

Other international panelists advocated a strong, yet cautious approach to policy. Amanda Borghino, the deputy general delegate of France’s Union syndicale de la production audiovisuelle, explained that French broadcasters must invest 12% to 20% of their turnover to series creation. According to Borghino, this has resulted in $1.5 billion euro investment in 2023.

“We’re still really careful about our model, not because it won’t be [made fragile] by some U.S. players because of the situation and because of their own interest,” she said. “So certainly [the goal is] to be very strong about priorities. What do you want your children to see?”