Create new government agency for CanCon: report

The creation of a new federal agency to handle government funding for Canadian content could help the heritage minister’s goal of boosting exports of domestic cultural products, according to a report sponsored by Rogers Communications Inc. The report, written by media industry veteran Richard Stursberg, was compiled as a contribution to Mélanie Joly’s broad review of Canadian cultural industries, and was the subject of a panel discussion held last week at the University of Ottawa. According to the report, Stursberg’s lengthy career includes working for as a senior bureaucrat in the now-defunct federal communications ministry, as executive director of Telefilm Canada, and head of English services at CBC/Radio-Canada. Though the paper hits some familiar notes, such as calling for foreign digital services like Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top (OTT) service to make Canadian content contributions, Stursberg also recommends the replacing Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund with a new arms-length federal agency, the Canadian Content Investment Agency (CCIA). The new agency “would amount to an extension of the Canadian Audio Visual Certification Office ,” the report said, arguing that benefits of getting rid of the two existing agencies include simplifying the application and reporting process and the ability to use administrative savings for more subsidies. The current cultural system has worked in that it has “generated significant volumes of Canadian film and television production,” the report said, but where it has lacked is in “creating shows and film that English Canadians watch in large numbers.” It has also failed in generating sales to other countries relative to the domestic investment. Part of this is borne by Telefilm Canada and the CMF, the report added, because they “have only reluctantly embraced the centrality of audiences as a key measure of success and — in the case of the CMF—has not regarded exports as part of its mandate.” Blame also lies with the industry structure, which concentrates its policy tools too heavily on independent producers. “With little access to equity, the producers are understandably risk averse. They focus, therefore, on making safe bets, rather than taking the risks that might lead to international success,” the report said. Broadcasters, on the other hand, have “no financial incentive to invest in large budget productions that stand the best chance of export success.” Policy tools stemming from any reformation “must be agnostic with respect to the formats, content, platforms and producers that will succeed in the future,” it said.

Create new government agency for CanCon: report

Brief | November 9, 2016

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Create new government agency for CanCon: report

Brief | November 9, 2016

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