Tune In, Turn On, or be Dropped Out

From the WGC:

Tomorrow, Thursday the 6th of August, the Canadian Television Fund will host a virtual Town Hall to release and discuss initial key policy issues concerning the creation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF). This is the launch of the consultation process that will inform the policies and guidelines of the new program.

From there, stakeholders – that’s you – are invited to write and share their perspectives on the issues. We encourage you to take this opening and run with it – the more Canadian screenwriters voice their perspectives, the more we ensure Canadian voices are represented on our screens.

We’ll know the parameters of the discussion after the 6th, and we’ll tell you more then. We encourage everyone to tune in though and find out first hand. To do so, pre-register at http://www.ctf-fct.ca/ctf_home_en.html. [Important Note: when last we tried, there was some difficulty using Firefox and Safari to register – you may have to be on IE to register and watch the proceedings – so try early to debug and please persevere].

There is scary talk of reducing the restrictions on American writers on Canadian shows. If you think that Canadian culture dollars should go to support Canadian shows, rather than American shows shot on Canadian soil, you might want to participate.

Knife in the Heart of Canadian Film and Television

From the Globe and Mail today:

The Conservative government has drafted guidelines that would allow it to pull financial aid for any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the public's best interest – even if government agencies have invested in them.

The proposed changes to the Income Tax Act would allow the Heritage Minister to deny tax credits to projects deemed offensive, effectively killing the productions. Representatives from Heritage and the Department of Justice will determine which shows or films pass the test.

The proposed Bill C-10 would be a devastating blow to Canadian culture.

The bill would allow the Government to pull financing after the money has been spent. You go and make your TV show, and then if a politician thinks he can make a name for himself by calling your show "degenerate," for example, you now owe the Government all the money they gave you. What producer is going to take a chance on bankruptcy by producing anything that might be the slightest bit offensive?

What shows could be considered "offensive" by a Conservative Heritage minister? Oh, JUNO, I imagine (teen sexuality and pregnancy). NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (violence). THERE WILL BE BLOOD (violence, inappropriate parenting). Um, what were the other Oscar nominated pictures again?

Could you guarantee to a bank that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN wouldn't get its financing pulled, what with the onscreen gaysex?

Realistically, the bill would mean almost no Canadian content will get made at all. No bank will cash flow a film or TV show if up to 25% of its financing can be yanked back. No bank is going to want to take a bet whether a given show will be made an example of by politicians.

The American stereotype of Canadians is "boring but nice." If any TV shows or movies get made under a Bill C-10 post-hoc censorship regime, they are guaranteed to be nice and boring.

Is that the kind of culture the Tories want? Not really. They watch violent and sexy movies too. They just don't want to pay for Canadian ones. They're happy to watch Bond movies from the US. And if Canada becomes a cultural backwater of the US, they're cool with that.

If you don't think that's a good idea, then write the Prime Minister. And the Minister of Heritage.

And the Leader of the Opposition.

And write your local Member of Parliament too; you can find him or her at http://canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html.

He hinted then that the government was considering a “public policy” criterion for tax credit certification and a definition of what would be “contrary to public policy” that would make a production ineligible for film and TV tax incentives, as well as funds directed to sound recording and book publishing.

Awesome. So expect a lot more Céline Dion in your future, and a lot less Alanis Morissette.

More at Dead Things on Sticks here and here.

Oh, and here's a Facebook Group that Karen Walton started.

Culture = Entertainment

In the ongoing hearings about the Canadian Television Fund,

Cable giant Rogers broke silence on CTF, telling CRTC that distributors need a separate fund to turn out shows that will click with audiences...

I don't need to read the rest of the Playback article to know where that's headed. This is Jim Shaw's dumb idea that there should be one television fund supporting "entertainment" programming and one supporting "cultural" programming.

The hidden agenda here is that the "entertainment" subsidy will be media-giant-controlled rather than artist-driven, and will mean more fresh, original programming like CANADIAN IDOL, e.g. SURVIVOR: MUSKOKA and THE AMAZING CANADIAN RACE. Meanwhile the "cultural" subsidy will only go to "worthy programming" like ANNE OF GREEN GABLES remakes.

Five years down the road, they'll axe the cultural programming on the grounds that no one is watching the shows.

Let's get one thing straight. Culture = Entertainment. Entertainment = Culture.

Shakespeare was writing for the audience. Not for the Queen. (Ben Jonson was writing masques for the Queen, and none of them are still put on. Look what happens to "cultural" programming.) That's why you have the moments of high drama and the detours for silliness. He was writing for the groundlings and the box seats.

Aristophanes was simultaneously trying to win awards (yep, the Greeks had awards ceremonies) and pack the crowds in. Euripedes, same thing.

A cultural event is only cultural because it affects the culture of the place it occurs. That means people have to see it. If a play is not entertaining, no one sees it. If no one sees it, it does not have an impact on the culture. It neither preserves nor disturbs the culture.

SLINGS AND ARROWS is successful cable TV. It is also successful highbrow culture (which satirizes highbrow culture). TRAILER PARK BOYS is successful TV. It is also successful lowbrow culture. If you don't believe me, wait until "the boys" come round for a signing and see how many people are lining up in the cold. If people waiting in the cold to see actors isn't a sign of vibrant culture, you tell me what is.

The Academy Awards are a cultural event -- a cultural event explicitly intended to sell tickets in an otherwise dead part of the year. (Why do you think they hold them in February?)

All entertainment is cultural. What we see on TV and in the movies and hear on the radio affects how we perceive ourselves and the society we live in. Cop shows tell us what the laws are and what is supposed to happen when they are broken. Doctor shows help us deal with our fear of decrepitude.

Culture = Entertainment. Entertainment = Culture.

As soon as the cats in Ottawa get that straight, we'll have a better Canadian cultural policy.