Filmmaker R. Paul Dhillon Says Telefilm Canada Finally Waking Up To The Reality Of Film-TV Funding And Enacting Many Of The Things He Proposed To Heritage Minister In 2018!

DESIBUZZCanada editor-founder  and well known filmmaker-producer R. Paul Dhillon presented his proposal DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND to Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez at a meeting organized in Surrey by MP Ken Hardie in which he outlined the inequities of the Canadian national film funding as it pertained to the diverse and minority Canadians and how it prevented the communities in telling their unique stories. “Where are the black, brown and yellow creatives calling for commitment to increasing funding allocation and film and television representation for minorities in Canada? We got a big problem in this country where 95 percent of Canadian government funding is going to white creatives-producers and media makers and the reflection of Ethnic Canada is sorely missing because funds are not allocated towards productions for diverse stories,” wrote Dhillon on his website rpauldhillon.com.  “We presented the DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND proposal to the former Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez to set up a Diversity Feature Film Fund, a new fund similar to the French and Aboriginal Film-TV funds. We presented our proposal to him in 2018 during a meet and greet organized by Surrey MP Ken Hardie. The Minister was very receptive and agreed that the new fund was sorely needed in Canada but nothing has happened so far and he is no longer the Minister of Heritage. We urge the current Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault to get on with the Fund immediately. Time has come to make our stories seen and voices heard!” Read about DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND here: https://www.rpauldhillon.com/2020/06/diversity-feature-film-fund-prepared-by.html

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

OTTAWA –DESIBUZZCanada editor-founder  and well known filmmaker-producer R. Paul Dhillon presented his proposal DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND to Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez at a meeting organized in Surrey by MP Ken Hardie in which he outlined the inequities of the Canadian national film funding as it pertained to the diverse and minority Canadians and how it prevented the communities in telling their unique stories.

Read about DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND here: https://www.rpauldhillon.com/2020/06/diversity-feature-film-fund-prepared-by.html

“Where are the black, brown and yellow creatives calling for commitment to increasing funding allocation and film and television representation for minorities in Canada? We got a big problem in this country where 95 percent of Canadian government funding is going to white creatives-producers and media makers and the reflection of Ethnic Canada is sorely missing because funds are not allocated towards productions for diverse stories,” wrote Dhillon on his website rpauldhillon.com.  “We presented the DIVERSITY FEATURE FILM FUND proposal to the former Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez to set up a Diversity Feature Film Fund, a new fund similar to the French and Aboriginal Film-TV funds. We presented our proposal to him in 2018 during a meet and greet organized by Surrey MP Ken Hardie. The Minister was very receptive and agreed that the new fund was sorely needed in Canada but nothing has happened so far and he is no longer the Minister of Heritage. We urge the current Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault to get on with the Fund immediately. Time has come to make our stories seen and voices heard!”

It took the Pandemic for the Telefilm Canada film executives to enact many of the recommendations that Dhillon proposed (for which mainstream media writing on this issue has refused to acknowledge Dhillon’s proposal) and listen to BIPOC voices as part of Black Lives Matter movement.

 In August, Telefilm suspended the use of its Success Index for the 2020-21 fiscal year, citing the impact of COVID-19. At the same time, the federal agency announced it was accelerating its “pan-Canadian” consultation to reform the measurement tool, a move that had been in the works since earlier that summer, as well as re-examining its development, production and micro-budget Talent to Watch programs. The results are expected to be announced in early 2021.

“This is a right move by Telefilm as Canadian film fat cats can’t keep getting millions of free money. The system has to change. Almost all of these producers are established white producers who have been siphoning film cash from the top. Imagine what the $20-26 million can do to independent and BIPOC  producers?,” Dhillon told DESIBUZZCanada.

“Just to give you an idea of finding dole out - the Western region gets About $1.8-2 million for 6-9 projects per year of regional funding - Ontario and Quebec get much more but while independent producers fight to get $250,000 to $300,000 for films under $1.5 million - these fat cats are getting automatic funding in the millions - how is that system fair? It’s not - change it and dole out the money equally to all segments of filmmaking society instead of just putting money in pockets of established white producers.”

Dhillon said these so-called established producers normally pad the budget - for example in one of the news stories it was mentioned that one film that received $7.5 million but had a budget of $22 million so they used Telefilm money to get more soft money in tax credits and the rest from private or other public funders in other countries.

“This film didn’t make any money as subject matter was not commercial and it was intended more for accolades which it didn’t get much either. But it was automatic funding that wasn’t spent well. $7.5 million would make 7-10 feature films with independent producers getting anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million in production funding. What they should do under a new formula is to reduce cap to $2.5-3 million and the company can’t apply for funding at that range or above one million for 2 years so other producers can make films from the funding instead of the same ones again and again - automatic cash cow!,” Dhillon said.

“They have to start by cutting the fat which is this automatic funding for big producers - if they’re so big why they still need so much (30 percent of the total funding) - would like to see what kind of return Telefilm gets on it. It’s terrible to dump $26 million to a small group of producers.”

While the “fat-cat” producers are crying foul as the gravy train is coming to an end, there has been much support for Telefilm’s bid to revamp its funding.

A recent letter of support, signed by 49 organizations and more than 500 individuals in the Canadian film industry, urges Telefilm to eliminate its “Fast Track” automatic funding program because it is not “transparent, equitable or successful at consistently yielding profitable and culturally relevant films.” The missive also applauds Telefilm for facing “systemic racism head-on and [taking] active and timely steps to dismantle it.”

Signatories include such large-scale unions as the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), ACTRA National and IATSE Canada, industry groups including the Indigenous Screen Office and BIPOC TV & Film, and such leading Canadian arts figures as Toronto International Film Festival co-head Cameron Bailey, actor Jay Baruchel and directors Clement Virgo and Michelle Latimer.

Introduced two decades ago as part of then-heritage minister Sheila Copps’s efforts to “put more bums in seats,” Fast Track automatically allocates $20- to $25-million a year, or roughly 30 per cent of Telefilm’s annual production budget, to producers with favoured track records. That qualification is determined by the agency’s Success Index, which calculates films’ performances based on three factors: commercial appeal, ie. box office (60 per cent); cultural significance, such as festival runs and awards (30 per cent); and private-investment appeal (10 per cent), reported the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Telefilm Canada has vowed to fix a two-tiered industry where privileged producers receive generous and automatic funding long kept out of reach of Canadian filmmakers from BIPOC communities.

"We're being very mindful to not leave any voices behind and to support this impactful industry for today and for the future with, yes, an eye to equity and dismantling what would have been previously barriers to access," Telefilm executive director Christa Dickenson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Each year, Telefilm pours around $100 million into homegrown movie development, production and marketing on behalf of the federal government. 

Telefilm is also revamping its Success Index, long used to measure Canadian box office and international sales for local titles, amid a structural shift in movie viewership from cinemas to streaming platforms. Some established producers have called for the Fast Track program to be retained and for Telefilm to not subject its producer members to a time-consuming vetting process likely to thwart dealmaking with Hollywood and other international partners.

They urge Telefilm to put a promised $50 million in additional money from Ottawa into separate Fast Track stream for smaller producers from overlooked communities of color.

"If we did that, a lot of these different programs could co-exist and we wouldn't have to pit everybody against one another," Gross argues.

But Jennifer Holness, a screenwriter and producer with Hungry Eyes Films & Television, counters that maintaining a caste system led by privileged producers with guaranteed funding is at odds with Telefilm's goal to support new film voices and producers at the bottom of the ladder for greater diversity and inclusion.

"Something has changed. The system has been designed to benefit them (Fast Track). And if the system changes, we can be more equitable and tell better stories," Holness, who is also co-chair of the Canadian Independent Screen Fund for underrepresented content creators, says.

The open letter also references recent articles in the National Post, in which producers Robert Lantos, Denise Robert, Niv Fichman, David Gross and Patrick Roy said that eliminating automatic streams would threaten industry predictability and place too much responsibility in the hands of civil servants. That coverage, the open letter says, “cherry-picked a few historically successful films produced by Fast Track producers over the last 22 years, but conveniently omitted the majority … which were financial and critical failures.” (Lantos, Robert, Fichman, Gross and Roy either declined or did not return requests for comment, The Globe and Mail reported.)

In a statement, Telefilm’s executive director Christa Dickenson said that she was “inspired by the solidarity” of Monday’s letter and that she is continuing to “work through open dialogue with all parties of the industry.”

Guilbeault’s office acknowledged receipt of all the correspondence and expressed “confidence in the engagement process,” but said that as an autonomous Crown corporation, Telefilm alone is responsible for its day-to-day operations.