Cause to celebrate

And the winner isÉCanadian tv.

The verdict is in: this year’s Gemini Awards show was the best ever, fittingly mirroring one of Canada’s most confident years in tv production and export.

It’s ironic that at the same time everything is finally coming together for the production community, the ‘farting through silk’ factor is tempered by the continued dwindling of resources to the institutions that fostered the success. In their acceptance speeches, many of the producers questioned whether their shows could have been produced without the help of the cbc, nfb, and the funding agencies.

Rather than rest on their laurels while waiting for the well to run dry, some of the folks who have always had a hard time getting a healthy slice of the market share apple pie are organizing, rallying their forces in new directions. In the past, children’s tv producers have joined voices to protest on cultural and content issues, but this time they’re rolling out a financially oriented industrial strategy that’s all about exploiting international export potential and establishing a stronger funding pool at home.

They really mean business.

This strategy comes out of research that a group of Canadian children’s programming producers commissioned, and which involved extensive interviews with their counterparts around the world. The Canadians simply wanted to get a handle on where their programming niche is headed worldwide and how they fit into the picture.

The news is great. Growth potential for the children’s programming business is encouraging when you consider television content alone. When programming ‘software’ for emerging new media, such as cd-rom and converging pc screens is added, the prospects are better still.

And the best news, while really not surprising, that comes out of this research is the degree to which Canadians are viewed by others around the world as leaders in this genre.

Researcher Joan Johnston, who headed the study, says she was really struck by the admiration that foreign producers and telecasters have for the way that we talk to, entertain and educate our children through our television product.

‘We are seen by some of the major companies internationally, companies from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, as being more child-centered,’ says Johnston. ‘We seem to be able to see things more from the perspective of the child, rather than imposing what we (as producers might want to say) to children. We start from the child.’

Johnston also heard repeatedly that we are famous for our innovation in children’s programming, which is also not surprising when one considers the depth of Canadians’ contribution – an impressive body of work that spans trailblazing live-action from Degrassi, to cel animation breakthroughs too many to mention, to the latest in computer wizardry in the ReBoot series.

It is all cause to celebrate.