A panel at the recently relaunched Toronto Screenwriting Conference delved into the upcoming modernization of the Broadcasting Act and the questions that arise from the surrounding proposals.

While the public consultations on the modernized Broadcasting Act have been postponed due to the upcoming federal elections, the consultations are still looming large over a Canadian industry beset by uncertainty. This was evident at yesterday’s (March 24) panel, ‘Writing Careers and Industry Forces,’ at the TIFF Lightbox.

Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) assistant executive director Neal McDougall (pictured centre) and screen-based media consultant and lead researcher at the Black Screen Office (BSO) Kelly Lynne Ashton (pictured right), moderated by Meridian Artists founder Glenn Cockburn (pictured left), discussed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s proposals to increase the Cancon points system from 10 to 15 to include key roles such as showrunner, head of costume design, key hair/makeup artists and VFX directors.

The panelists broke down the competing interests of broadcasters and streamers with Canadian creatives regarding the definition of Cancon.

“The broadcasters are the first ones who ever used flexibility as a code word for less Canadian content,” said Ashton during the panel. On streamers, she noted the requirement to pay a Canadian programming expenditure. “They’re trying to define this Cancon to their benefit so that they can continue to do what they do [with service production] and meet the regulatory requirements they can see coming.”

McDougall noted the WGC had put forth a definition of showrunner for the consultations, stressing it has to be a writing position. He expressed optimism around the CRTC’s proposal, saying he believes this is the first time a Canadian writing position has been mandated as Canadian in policy. However, while it’s an essential position, the requirement runs into problems when considering documentary series, MOWs and more.

“One of the reasons that the [BSO] and the Disability Screen Office are supporting the showrunner role is to have that pathway, because it’s so important,” said Ashton. “First off, you need volume of content to have lots of jobs, but when you have reinforced that this position exists, then there’s more of a pathway to get there, and then there will be more Black showrunners, more disabled showrunners.”

Regarding the proposal that the team has to be 80% Canadian to qualify, McDougall called it “Such a bizarre proposal” and in the WGC’s submission “not practical.” He also expressed confusion over how the rule would work in practice, given it applies to individual episodes that are then averaged over a season to be Canadian-certified.

“[The CRTC was] … trying to throw the streamers a bone, but the bone is like a piece of gnarled wood with nails in it, and it just doesn’t make any sense,” said McDougall.

The panel also touched on the incentives driving Canadian citizens south, as it relates to the CRTC’s proposals. A Canadian writer in L.A. does not necessarily make a production a Canadian one in the way that benefits the industry here. So “if Bill C-11 is going to make the kind of impact that we hope it makes,” then Canadian creators in Canada have to be hired, argued McDougall, and that part of the goal should be giving them reasons to stay in the country.

The panel ended on a note of cautious optimism regarding the upcoming hearings which have not yet been rescheduled.

“I think we’re at this inflection point of trying to make it better. So I think if we get it right, things will get better,” said McDougall. “I think if we get it wrong, things will get worse.”

Photo by William Priems