March 27, 2009
The Honourable James Moore, M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Canadian Heritage
15 rue Eddy
Gatineau (Québec)
K1A 0M5
Re: The Canada Media Fund (CMF)
Dear Minister:
The present letter is a request from the Documentary Network for a meeting so that it may obtain further details on the status of documentary film production in the new Canada Media Fund (CMF) and express the concerns of Documentary Network members. The Documentary Network is a space for reflection, concerted action and dialogue that works to improve conditions for the creation, production and distribution of documentary film across Canada; it represents the entirety of vibrant, active people and organizations in that field. The Documentary Network works to ensure that documentary is recognized for its fundamental role in building the Canadian identity in all its diversity and defending democracy, tolerance and openness on the world. Our association also monitors these conditions to ensure that documentary has the means to perform its crucial social function.
Documentary offers Canadians in every community perspectives that enrich their lives in high-quality films, in prime time. Documentary is part of the mandate of general interest public television, educational television and some specialty channels. Documentaries provide Canadians with tools to better understand the world around them. In addition, the Canadian documentary community (directors, film artists, craftspeople, producers, distributors and broadcasters) is a major and crucial component of the Canadian audiovisual industry.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF), as it now stands, is a cause for concern among the board of directors of the Documentary Network, on several counts. First, we request that you re-establish the priority status of documentary and the performing arts within the Canada Media Fund. These two art forms have been accorded priority status since the inception of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) in order that they may contribute to the growth and spread of the Canadian documentary industry. Documentary is the largest category within the Canadian Television Fund in terms of programming hours: with only 20% of the CTF’s resources, documentary accounts for 40% of funded and distributed programming. On the international scene, Canada is recognized as a pioneer in the documentary field and is still one of the leading producers of the genre. In its current form, not only does the CMF do away with this priority status, but it also adds an additional, peculiar requirement that the project pass a test demonstrating that the market alone would not support its creation.
The Documentary Network considers it essential that publicly owned television (government-run television and educational channels) have the means necessary to fulfil its mandate; we are not convinced that this will be the case if the major criterion for funding of programs initiated by these distributors is audience share. Documentaries achieve major audience share in specific niches but they cannot be compared with programming for general-interest audiences. As regards Radio-Canada, the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Broadcasting Act both assign a clear mandate to it, as a publicly owned service, which is that it provide viewers with rich and varied programming covering a complete range of information and opinion. The loss of Radio-Canada’s dedicated 37% share threatens to put publicly owned television at risk. Documentary is one of the cornerstones of its programming. We ask you: how will Radio Canada, as well as educational channels and documentary specialty services, be able to meet its obligations with reduced resources in a highly competitive context. These channels may be forced to turn to programming that is incompatible with their mandate. They will also have to shift towards international programming, which does not deal with Canadian realities.
The Documentary Network is also concerned about the governance model proposed for the Canada Media Fund. The new board of directors will comprise two members appointed by Canadian Heritage, and five members appointed by Broadcasting Distribution Undertakings (BDUs). We wonder how the Canada Media Fund will ensure the genuine independence of board members appointed by BDUs, and how it will ensure fairness with regard to the audiovisual industry as a whole, including public broadcasters.
The Documentary Network is delighted with the government’s commitment to provide financial support for the creation of high-quality audiovisual programming and wishes to be a partner in designing the regulatory framework that will guide the new Canada Media Fund. To that end, we are requesting a working meeting in a spirit of positive cooperation with you.
The following members of the Documentary Network support the present letter. L’Alliance des arts médiatiques indépendants (AAMI); L’Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ); L’Association des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC); L’Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l’image et du son (AQTIS); L’Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ); Les Chaînes ASTRAL; Le Conseil du Québec de la Guilde canadienne des réalisateurs (CQGCR); Documentaristes du Canada (DOC); Les Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM); La Société Radio-Canada (SRC), Télé-Québec (TQ); Le Vidéographe. Membre associé: Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC.)
Yours sincerely,
Nathalie Barton, Chair
Jean-Pierre Gariépy, Executive Director