Montreal: Radio-Canada’s tiny feature film department has received close to 60 movie screenplays and production proposals since the beginning of the year, a huge volume of work for Suzanne Laverdiere, SRC’s director of independent production, acquisitions and feature films, and Louise Lantagne, the department’s only analyst.

Laverdiere says SRC’s involvement in Canadian movies exposes the network to new artists as well as subjects and treatments typically not dealt with on television. And some of the filmmakers might one day find themselves working on dramatic production for TV.

SRC has licensed a highly diverse slate of 23 new Quebec feature films – family films, comedies and thrillers, including three minority international coproductions. Thirteen of the films are either in production or slated to shoot at some point this year while a further 10 movies are in their theatrical release phase.

According to Laverdiere, the distribution cycle is generally three years from the start of principal photography through to a film’s release in video stores and on pay-TV.

In the past year, SRC provided up to $250,000 in screenwriting and development support for nine features including four of the 13 films slated to shoot this year – Michel Jette’s (Hochelaga) prison thriller Le Chant d’Amaryllis (produced by Baliverna Films and distributed by Christal Films Distribution) and scripted by Jette and Leo Levesque; the Denise Filiatrault family comedy Il etait des fois… (Cinemaginaire/ Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm) from the 4 et demi TV series writing team of Sylvie Poirier and Pierre Lussier; the new Rodrigue Jean (Full Blast) road movie Max et Lionne (Films de l’Isle/Transmar/Buffalo Gal Pictures/ K.Films Amerique) and the Alain Desrochers failed holdup drama Le Tunnel (Bloom Films 1998/Christal Films) from screenwriter/novelist Paul Ohl (Agaguk), Helene Leclerc and novelist Marcel Talon.

A range of investments

At licence renewal hearings in 1998, SRC promised to invest $20 million over five years in Canadian feature films and their promotion. This year, Laverdiere says the network is investing close to $4 million in features, $3 million in cash in development licences, broadcast licences (four runs over five years) and equity investments. Another $1 million is set aside for promotions, including on-air bonuses for distributors and support in film festivals.

Licence fees at SRC range from a high of $250,000 for exclusive premieres for top titles to a low of $25,000, with the average licence closer to $75,000 to $125,000. Seven of the 13 films slated for production have also received equity investments totaling approximately $125,000, typically auteur films with some measure of commercial potential, says Laverdiere.

New SRC movies in production include Tonie Marshall’s Au pres du paradis (Cinemaginaire/Funfilm Distribution), a minority coproduction starring William Hurt and Catherine Deneuve; Sebastien Rose’s youthful and highly original Comment ma mere accoucha de moi durant sa menopause (Studiofilm/Max Films/AAV), the latest Claude Miller film L’Histoire de Betty Fischer (Go Films/AAV) and Richard Ciupka’s Mademoiselle Charlotte (Films Vision 4/Christal Films), a children’s movie from writer Dominique Demers.

Also entering production, Robert Morin’s contemporary tale of racism in a small village Le Neg’ (Cooperative de Production Videoscopique de Montreal/ Christal Films); first-time director Richard Trogi’s youthful (multiple car) road movie Quebec-Montreal, scripted by the director, Patrice Robitaille and Jean-Philippe Pearson; and first-time director Stefan Pleszczynski’s Les Secrets des grands cours d’eau, a contemporary thriller set in a small mining village.

Briand et Biname

Laverdiere seems especially keen on the latest from director Manon Briand (2 Secondes), La Turbulence des fluides (Studio Max Films/AAV), a highly original story about a female scientist’s inquiry in a North Shore village (set to film over six weeks starting in mid-July), and Seraphin Poudrier (Cite-Amerique/AAV), the ambitious $5.7-million historical drama from director Charles Biname. Shooting dates for Seraphin have not been announced.

Nine films have received development funding from SRC in the past year, including four of the 13 currently in the production stage. The others include the Mario Bolduc thriller Le Contract (Bloom Films), Alain Chartrand’s historical drama Fleur de cobalt (ACPAV) from writers Chartrand and Rene Boulanger, and the Jean Beaudin thriller L’Inconnu (Forum Films) from a screenwriting team made up of the director, Micheline Cadieux, Yves Simoneau and Chantale Cadieux.

Also receiving development dollars are the Christmas comedy Nez Rouge (Films Vision 4 ) from screenwriters Sylvie Desrosiers and Sylvie Pilon, with Francois Bouvier attached as director, and Robert Lepage’s Vampire (In Extremis Images), a bilingual thriller set in the demimonde of human organ trafficking.

Ten additional films in the theatrical release stage have also been acquired by SRC, including: Richard Roy’s west-end romance Cafe Ole (Ficciones Films/Films Equinox), released on 13 screens June 1; Lea Pool’s highly anticipated coming-of-age story Lost & Delirious (Cite-Amerique/Films Seville); Denis Chouinard’s cautionary immigrant family drama L’Ange de Goudron (Studio Max Films/AAV); and the third film in the hugely successful box-office franchise, Louis Saia’s Les Boys III (Melenny Productions/Christal Films), set for a wide release later this fall.

SRC has also licensed the Jean Beaudin thriller Le Collectionneur (Films Cinepix/ Christal), Andre Turpin’s J’ai un crab dans la tete (Quatre par Quatre Films/ Film Tonic), Genevieve Lefebvre’s and Andre Melancon’s Le Ciel sur la tete (Productions Thalie/Christal Films) and Catherine Martin’s historical drama Mariages (Productions 23/Film Tonic).

Two of the higher-profile films licensed by SRC are Emile Gaudreault’s ensemble marriage comedy Nuit de Noces (Cinemaginaire/Films Seville), which earned an excellent $365,000 on 76 screens during its opening June 1-3 weekend, and Catherine Corsini’s La Repetition (Cinemaginaire/Funfilm), a majority France coproduction showcased at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, starring Emmanuelle Beart and Pascale Bussieres.

Selection criteria

A strong story is central to SRC’s movie licensing selection process, but Laverdiere, who moved from SODEC to the public broadcaster in June of 1998, says ‘locomotive’ films like the comedy Nuit de Noces are also needed as they generally help to increase audiences for other Canadian films.

‘We place a lot of effort in promotions while a film is in theatres. The more it makes at the box office the higher the ratings,’ says Laverdiere. A case in point, Boys I – which had a box office of $6 million, representing about 1.2 million admissions – was subsequently broadcast on pay-TV movie channel Super Ecran, and recently attracted an SRC network audience of 950,000.

Supporting established filmmakers like Lea Pool, Charles Biname or Robert Morin is another principle for SRC’s movie department, as is support for new and emerging filmmakers such as director/DOP Andre Turpin, Sebastien Rose and Catherine Martin.

Laverdiere says SRC does not have any volume output deals with distributors, but has licensed up to 10 films produced in Canada or directed by Canadians, including Atom Egoyan’s Felicia’s Journey and Patricia Rozema’s Mansfield Park. ‘I try to buy films mainly from Canadian distributors before buying from American distributors,’ she says.

SRC is acquiring fewer U.S. studio blockbusters. ‘We won’t take The Matrix but we have The English Patient,’ says Laverdiere. *

-www.src.ca