Canadian senators might be intrigued to see Part I of the 3-part series Making the Case for Canadian Film from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. We profiled that video recently.
As we noted last week in our Canada Day notebook, Bill C-10 passed the House but hadn't had a chance to be debated in the Canadian Senate. The bill to update the Broadcasting Act will need more consideration than the Liberals might wish would happen.
Bill C-10 was designed to have streaming services that operate in Canada ("Netflix tax") help fund Canadian television and Canadian film, just like Canadian companies. What can't be shaken is the idea that average people who make some money off of social media will also pay.
We want to celebrate the update of the Broadcasting Act. That has to be done properly.
Part II was about the impact of the film in the world. We learned some intriguing ideas from Mexico and the Philippines.
Claudia Hébert from Radio-Canada hosted this panel. The panel consisted of Mexican film producer Nicolás Celis, Quebec film producer and sales agent Anick Poirier, Liza Diño, actress and chairperson of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and Rob Cousins, executive director, film programming at Cineplex Entertainment.
Diño spoke about a 2-week festival in December of Filipino films in all theatres, even interrupting the Star Wars type films, creating the need for people to see the films. Poirier noted that "countries are investing in their cinema because it's their culture" and a great way to export who they are. She said Quebec usually released 35 films per year. That number seemed small somehow.
Cousins talked about wanting to play Canadian films, but there is not enough marketing so people don't know the films. "We're a Canadian company, we want to play Canadian film." He also noted that the first weekend is a myth in terms of how long a film lasts.
Celis said the boom in Mexican films being made has gone up from 30 a year (15 years ago) to 220 a year (now). He did note that only 10% of Mexicans go to see Mexican films.
Canada Day 2021: A time for reflection and some celebration
Making the case for Canadian film in 3 parts
Part III dealt with the wisdom of Canadians staying in Canada, going to the United States, or some combination of both.
Claudia Hébert from Radio-Canada hosted once again. The panel consisted of Michael Greyeyes, Tonya Williams, Jade Hassouné, and Emma Seligman. Greyeyes works plenty in the United States yet does not live there. Williams found that for her time and skin colour, working in the United States had distinct advantages.
Seligman made her debut film Shiva Baby in New York City in great part because she went to school at New York University and that is where her friends were. Hassouné went to the U.S. for work but now is working on a series back home in French in Montréal.
Actors who work on both sides have their reasons. Money vs. quality; telling the stories they want to tell. The fact that Dan Levy went to Los Angeles to do some casting for Schitt's Creek and ended up with Canadian actors Annie Murphy and Emily Hampshire tells a lot about a presence in both countries.
The necessity of Canadian films that don't seem Canadian
Telefilm Canada shouldn't limit funding by language but reward films shot in Canada with Canadians
'Visibly Canadian' is a reasonable goal for Canadian film
Canadian films should tell more stories about Canada
Liberals want to revamp Canadian Content rules
There are 105 senators. There are no "Liberal" senators, a change done by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. There are 41 senators in the Independent Senators Group, 20 Conservative senators, and 12 each for the Canadian Senators Group and Progressive Senate Group. 5 senators are not affiliated and there are 15 vacancies.
The legislation could easily pass or get held up a bit. They will look at whether the changes affect large companies and regular people or just larger companies.
As we noted last week, the bill would have to be passed by the time a fall election comes (if there is one) and have royal assent to become law. Then again, Canada still doesn't have a permanent governor general.
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Canadian film can benefit the world; Canadians should be the ones to appreciate what they have. There are uphill battles in Canadian society to make that happen. Awareness is a huge factor. I might know about these films but average Canadians should be as familiar with them as the Hollywood blockbusters. Money smartly spent will help.
photo and videos credit: Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
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