Norm Bolen is as well-spoken as an Oxford grad, but his street-smart sense suggests a 21st century hybrid thinker.

On first meeting, Bolen strikes me as if he’d be brilliant in a crisis – as if his personal energy level is fuelled by change itself. He has the persona of a natural-born leader.

In his first official appearance before the CRTC earlier this month, the new CFTPA president and CEO told the chair that programming a steady diet of U.S. fare is comparable to being addicted to ‘crack cocaine.’

Bolen manages to be bold and outspoken without being brash, partly because of a style he cultivated during his truth-seeking journalist years.

From his formative days at a Regina student newspaper and the launching and editing of an underground paper called The Prairie Fire (way back in the late ’60s) to his 21-year career with the CBC (which included running ‘hard-core journalism’ shows such as the fifth estate), Bolen has been pinpointing the issues at hand (see bio, p. 29).

Bolen’s senior executive positions at CBC in Ontario and Quebec and his decade as a private broadcast executive with Alliance Atlantis also polished his negotiation skills with producers and unions.

Nonetheless, Bolen doesn’t brag about the impressive array of past projects or people he’s supervised.

The refreshingly candid media veteran uses the buzz words ‘challenge’ and ‘opportunity’ to explain his thinking on the economic crisis and other problems facing CFTPA members, but the words don’t tumble vacuously out of his mouth (as buzz words often do), rather, they seem to reflect a wickedly curious spirit.

On his first day in the new job, Bolen reread Canada’s half-century-old Broadcasting Act because he thinks the CFTPA should play a leadership role, especially now that the CRTC will be revising the Act to encompass the digital age. He wants to ensure that producers get their fair share in that rewrite, but equally important, Bolen sees the bigger communications picture.

‘I think it’s absolutely clear that this country needs to bring together its best minds to develop a comprehensive public policy approach to the digital age,’ Bolen says. ‘Some people have said, and I agree with them, that the transition to the digital age is more significant than the industrial revolution in terms of what it means for society, for education and culture.’

In a friendly meet-and-greet interview with Playback in Toronto, Bolen talks about his career and the things that drive him.

Playback: Let’s begin with the establishing shot – what’s your platform?

Bolen: I may seem naive and Pollyanna-ish, but I actually think it’s about a bigger principle and there’s more at stake here than short-term dollars and cents and patchwork solutions.

It’s not just about ‘I want a job’ or ‘I want to make a show.’ It’s a bigger question: it’s about what kind of country we want or what kind of culture we want. What kind of legacy do we want for our children? This is an opportunity for us to think about, and talk about those things, discuss our options and define how we want to go forward.

How do you plan to position the CFTPA?

I think it’s a mistake for the artistic, creative and production community to whine about the government. I think that’s a tactical error. I think what you have to do is engage with the government, whatever government, to try to come up with some common ground, and that’s what the CFPTA is doing.

We’re trying to be reasonable and constructive and find solutions and build bridges, provide leadership, and we’re trying to build consensus.

There will be lots of conflict and disagreement; there cannot help but be, because there’s a lot of conflicting interests. We need to rise above our own narrow interests and try to preserve a system and remember the core principles. Do we want to have Canadian content? Do we want to have industry based on Canadian content? Do we want to tell Canadian stories? Do we want to export our stories? Do we want to do what other countries are doing? I think we all want to work for that.

Right now there’s an economic downturn, as well as structural and regulatory changes at the broadcasting level. What is the most significant change in all this?

We’re seeing viewers changing habits in the way they consume media. They’re using the Internet a lot more, especially young people. We’re seeing a shift in advertising revenue.

Forget the economy, just look at the structural changes. There’s been a shift from traditional OTA TV into specialty, and even out of specialty and into online, which is more targeted.

You’re seeing a lot of piracy; you’re seeing a lot of theft, basically, of intellectual property, which a lot of people don’t consider theft. We have to find models that work for them. You know you’re not going to prosecute them for stealing content; we have to find a way to make it convenient to them at a reasonable price, or use advertising.

So you’ve got all these structural challenges; you’ve got regulatory challenges [at the CRTC level] and strong voices that are calling for deregulation of the Canadian content system, and that’s a big challenge to the industry. There are people that think the dismantling of the Broadcasting Act is the way to go.

You also have a relative failure of the Canadian creative community to invent any kind of cohesive digital media strategy. As a nation, we have no significant policy approach to the transition to the digital age, so we’re falling behind.

That sounds pretty bleak. What do you think the solution is?

I don’t look at it as a negative situation, even though it has many negative and challenging characteristics, but I feel there’s an opportunity for us to reinvent the way we do things.

I think we need to reinvent the broadcasting system. I agree with the commission that says we need to come up with broad-stroke solutions. I think we need to take a broader look [at the multitude of issues on the table], and I’d like to be part of that. I’d like the production community and the CFTPA to play a leadership role in building a consensus and a coalition on where we need to go as a nation.

Okay, now that we know where you’re headed, let’s back up a bit. How did you get into the media business in the first place?

I had been a journalist in university and was editor of the student paper in Saskatchewan. I was very much involved in student journalism, and then I actually launched and edited and managed an underground newspaper [a weekly] after I graduated from university called The Prairie Fire.

I was also very active in the Canadian Student Union as an organizer… and those were the days of the beginning of democratization of university; getting students on the university senate. That was a very active time on university campuses, and breaking down the system that had been run by an elite… I was part of a whole network of people.

That’s how I ended up at the CBC. One of my friends was already at the CBC as an editor.

You were moved to Regina as head of news and current affairs with a mandate for change. Is that where you began cutting your teeth in ‘revamping’ operations?

Yes, we completely revamped the whole thing. We had a new studio, a new anchor. It was a big revamp after the station had been in the doldrums. In a matter of a year, we doubled our ratings. It was considered a major achievement at that time in the CBC and we had a great team.

Then you moved to Toronto and completely revamped Sunday Morning?

Those were real wild times; I learned a ton, because I vetted hundreds and hundreds of radio documentary scripts. I’d start work at 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon and finish at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning, every week, and then we were off Monday and back on Tuesday morning. So it was quite grueling physically.

What took you to Montreal next?

Nicole Belanger, who was my boss [in Toronto], moved to Montreal to be the regional director of Quebec radio and television, which was a huge promotion for her. She… plucked me right out of Toronto and I moved there with my family.

I was director of television. And Phyllis Platt [now an independent producer in Toronto] reported to me as exec producer of news and current affairs. We did a whole remake of the Montreal supper-hour show and had very interesting times with Dennis Trudeau, who is there to this day.

And then you moved on to CBC in the nation’s capital?

Ottawa was having a lot of problems fighting with CJOH, so I was given the task of completely revamping the Ottawa operation, which I did.

We fixed Newsday, did a big marketing campaign, improved our ratings, took on CJOH and had a lot of success. But you have to remember, at this time, the whole regional system was in downsizing mode at CBC, and we were getting squeezed for resources more and more and more. There was a $400-million cut there over a period of time.

Eventually you ran network and current affairs at the CBC television network.

I went from running just a television station to running five radio stations and three television stations.

Slawko [Klymkiw, now head of the Canadian Film Centre] was running Newsworld at the time… we were the senior management group. It was an interesting time.

But at the same time, the CBC was in meltdown mode. I was cutting and downsizing when I was trying to build. I was a little frustrated by that because I’m kind of a builder; I’m a change manager – that’s what I’ve always done. You can tell by my background. I come in and fix something, stay there for a couple of years, move on and fix something else. I’m not a ‘maintainer’, it’s not my thing. I get bored.

You joined Alliance in 1997. Is it fair to presume that you gained a real respect for the independent producers during your Alliance Atlantis years?

This is where my love affair with independent producers started, because History Television had to commission 150 hours of original programming every year as one of our conditions of licence.

We spent a lot of money on original programming – that was the cornerstone – and we became the go-to place for documentary makers. Everybody had a new source of revenue. So we had about 1,000 proposals, pitches, letters and suggestions, which we had to winnow down to about 15 projects.

We developed an incredible collaborative relationship between History and the independent production sector – we became a powerhouse of independent production.

And as I said, it was a condition of licence, but we went beyond and actually exceeded our conditions of licence. So that’s where I met the Arnie Gelbart(s), the David Paperny(s), the Trish Dolman(s), and the Jamie Brown(s) in Winnipeg – all across the country, we had a whole network of producers who worked with us.

After the Alliance Atlantis merger in 1998, you eventually became EVP content, with all channels reporting to you.

I also got put in charge of digital. I restructured Atlantis and then ran that whole thing.

Then Canwest bought it in the fall of 2006, but the whole deal was subject to review by the CRTC.

Through that difficult period of transition, we actually grew our revenues and managed to deliver to their hands a very thriving operation. [The specialty channels are] actually still growing and turning a profit.

And why did you bite when the CFTPA approached you?

It was a logical extension to my career. I did public service; I did business, which I loved; and now here’s public policy. I’d been on the CTF board for two years [in one of the two CAB sets].

The production committee of the CTF negotiated that [envelope system] agreement. Scott Garvie, Ira Levy, Paul Gratton and a few other people… we were the architects of it, and on the board we were the advocates of it, and we pushed it through. *

BOLEN’S TRACK RECORD

Alliance Atlantis, Toronto

2005-2008: EVP content for 13 channels and digital/online activities and all broadcast operations
2001-2005: EVP programming. In 2001 and 2002, led all programming aspects of the launch of seven digital specialty channels, including recruiting and hiring programming staff
1999-2001: SVP programming, Showcase and History Television. Devised and launched strategy of Showcase Originals, original MOWs and dramatic series
1997-1999: VP programming, History Television. Was the first employee hired for the channel. Recruited and hired founding programming and production teams, and led the launch of History in October 1997. Commissioned and managed more than 150 hours of original programming a year

CBC

1995-1996: Head of current affairs, CBC Television, Toronto, responsible for the network’s documentary department and eight current affairs weekly series
1993-1995: Regional director, Ontario, responsible for management of CBC’s three TV stations and five radio stations in Ontario
1989-1993: Programming director, National Capital Region, CBC Ottawa
1987-1989: Programming director, CBC English Television, Quebec Region, Montreal
1985-1987: Executive producer of Sunday Morning, CBC Radio, Toronto. Managed a staff of 15 producers and 200 freelancers who produced the three-hour network international current affairs program
1983-1985: Executive and area producer, news and current affairs, CBC Television, Regina
1978-1983: Assignment editor/producer, CBC Television News, Saskatoon
1976-1978: Television reporter at CBC Saskatchewan

Personal

• Avid fly fisherman
• Married to Kit Redmond (managing director and partner at Toronto’s RTR Media) for 28 years; three children
• Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) 1969, University of Saskatchewan, Regina
• Born in Regina, SK