Our TV: The fight of the decade
December 2009 - For the last two weeks of November the federal regulator held court with hearings to decide the future of our Canadian TV industry. Our fate
rests in their hands - will the CRTC seize this moment of opportunity to
take a bold and creative approach to content? Will we see private
broadcasters kick their addiction to U.S. shows and invest in Canadian
stories in prime time?
We've been waiting for this chance to rebuild our industry for 10 long
and lean years. It's time to be unabashedly proud of our TV industry,
and for the CRTC to make sure there is space for Canadian shows. ACTRA's
solution includes making English-language conventional broadcasters
spend at least 6% of their gross revenues on scripted drama and comedy
and air a minimum two hours of original Canadian drama in prime time.
This would serve the interests of our industry as a whole - not just one
or two powerful players.
By law we are promised a wide range of Canadian choices within the
Canadian broadcasting system - the Broadcasting Act says so in clear
language. Yet private broadcasters have filled our public airwaves with
predominantly U.S programming and have accelerated their cross border
shopping spree every year for a decade. Last year they spent $740
million on U.S. and foreign programming and just $54 million on Canadian
English-language drama. Shame. It is time the CRTC forced broadcasters
to meet their obligations by re-establishing Canadian Programming
Expenditures. When they were removed in the disastrous TV Policy of
1999 we saw what happened - broadcasters behaved badly and produced the
minimum CanCon required of them.
On November 16, ACTRA's National Day of Action, we sat in the front rows
on that first day of CRTC TV policy hearings. We bore witness to Chair
Konrad von Finckenstein's opening remarks and were heartened. Then we
heard CTVglobemedia president Ivan Fecan make his pitch - one that
curried little favour with the leading actors in the room and even less
with the CRTC Chair. On the first break we moved next door to a press
conference where performers made our pitch to a jam-packed room of TV
cameras. I am happy to report that media coverage was extensive.
As actors in Halifax, Winnipeg, Regina and Edmonton held events in
support of ACTRA's Day of Action, a large contingent of our Ottawa-based
members welcomed five busloads of highly-motivated colleagues from
Toronto and Montreal. WOW. Our flags waved jauntily amid our placards in
a beautiful blue sky as we trooped from the National Arts Centre to the
steps of Parliament Hill. Rock'n roll hero Gordie Sampson lent his
infectious and energizing music to the rally, courtesy of our friends at
AFof M Canada.
The high-energy outpouring of passion just accelerated from there as
high profile actors took to the rally stage on Parliament Hill to
express their personal passion for the fight for Canadian content on our
TV. Tyrone Benskin, Nick Campbell, Jackson Davies, Mark McKinney, James
McGowan, Carlo Rota, Zaib Shaikh, R.H. Thomson, and Tonya Lee Williams
lent their hearts and souls to the rally. Three young cast members from
Degrassi: The Next Generation, Charlotte Arnold, Jamie Johnston and
Dalmar Abuzeid became the centre of our hopefulness in so many ways.
They underscored beautifully the opportunity we have here. There is no
shortage of talent in this country.
Our television industry is 52 years old, it has matured. Yet too many of
the brightest Canadians, especially the younger ones who have been
through the devastation of the past 10 years, have had to take their
skills elsewhere to make a living and find creative opportunities. We
need to seize this moment of opportunity so our talent will stay to
serve and create shows for a Canadian TV industry that is poised to
explode in ambition, reach and profitability.
The rally was completely thrilling and I am deeply grateful for the
commitment of so many engaged members who travelled to Ottawa to
participate and those who held events in their own cities across the
country.
Before the sun was down on the day, we still had yet more adventures to
embark upon - evening television and radio interviews and the first
round of meetings with MPs. Over the course of two intense days we had
60 meeting with MPs, five Ministers (including the Minister of Finance),
the Chairs of a number of key committees as well as all of the party
critics for Heritage and critics for Finance and Industry. In addition
to our scheduled meetings, an additional 30 MPs, including the Heritage
Minister, attended our evening reception and spoke with many of our
performers. It is safe to say that our message was well delivered by our
extremely articulate band of lobbyists. It was a great time thanks to
all the members who participated and our brilliant staff who made the
magic happen. It was inspiring in the extreme.
A week later I returned to Ottawa, this time with Nicholas Campbell,
Wendy Crewson, Stephen Waddell and Joanne Deer for our own presentation
before the CRTC. (You can view it on CPAC - we were fourth up on
Wednesday, November 25 if you are a CPAC devotee.) And that, my friends,
kicked it up even a notch higher. We will leave no stone unturned in our
vigorous campaign for Canadian drama and we will keep you apprised of
all the news as the story unfolds. If you are thinking about ways we can
deepen and enrich the campaign, send your ideas along to me at
fdowney@actra.ca. You can always 'get on the bus' metaphorically.
In solidarity,
Ferne Downey
President, ACTRA National
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