MIPCOM News Essential Canada

mipcom nEWs ®

October 2012

Special Report

Essential Country of Honour Pa y s à l ’ h o n n e u r

Essential Canada // October 2012

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Contents

10

// The broadcast landscape Canada has long-held ambitions as a world force in television

14 22

// Telefilm Canada

Telefilm Canada is on a mission to showcase the best of Canadian talent

// Distribution inside Canada Who watches what, and where?

18

// Canada Media Fund The CMF tells the world it’s time to look again at Canada

24

28

// The French connection

Quebec in the spotlight

// Canada: public broadcasting After 60 years CBC still plays an integral role in Canadian culture

ENTERTAINING THE WORLD A leading international media company with offices in Toronto, New York, London, Dublin, Los Angeles, and headquartered in Montreal.

SEE YOU AT MIPCOM 2012 RIVIERA STAND R37.20

cineflix.com

Essential Canada // Contents

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// Hot picks

Canada’s MIPCOM line-up covers all the bases

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39 45

// Exports

Canadian shows are now sold all over the world and in multiple languages

// The digital frontier

Canada is one of the world’s most ditigally-engaged countries

42

// Co-production

Financial necessity is only part of the reason why Canadians are good co-procuders

48

// Film commissions

A look at what the diverse regions of Canada can offer filmmakers

Essential Canada // October 2012

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Canada targets the world It’s a big country with a small population. Yet its media infrastructure is sophisticated and its programmes and talent are seen all over the world.

Essential Canada examines an entertainment industry that is establishing itself as a global player Republic of Doyle writer, executive producer and star, Allan Hawco (left) and Russel Crowe — who was guest star in the show’s season three opening episode on CBC

AT FIRST glance, it might appear that the odds are stacked firmly against the Canadian entertainment industry. But nobody told the Canadians.

With a vast territory to cover – Canada is the second largest country in the world – and a relatively small population of around 35 million, it might come as a surprise that some 700 television stations are operating in a market that serves both English and French-speaking audiences.

And if that wasn’t enough, the proximity of the world’s leading producer of entertainment content, the United States, could easily have seen Canadian broadcasting swamped with US programming, leaving little potential to develop national production. However, by combining strong Canadian government backing, a series of international coproduction treaties, pro-active Film Commissions offering a wide range of financial incentives to producers, a clever mix of private and public support notably managed by Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and by nurturing the pool of national creative talent, Canada is now recognised as punching well above its weight.

And the relatively small size of the national television market has been turned into an advantage.

Canada’s television industry has established an enviable reputation for cleverly-managed international co-productions such as The Borgias or The Kennedys and an active drive to sell its shows not just to its main foreign market in the US, but across the world.

In the latest sign of a new approach to supporting the Canadian entertainment sector over the past 18 months, Telefilm Canada and CMF have drawn together increasingly to help national producers not only develop and produce their shows, but also position their programming in the national and international markets.

Economic times may not be easy, with pressure on smaller media outlets to find shelter with their larger counterparts and uncertainty over exactly how new digital, web-based and mobile distribution outlets will impact on traditional TV players. But active support from the Canadian government, CMF and Telefilm Canada, a healthy public broadcaster, CBC, a collection of film commissions keen and able to promote the vast range of Canadian locations and investment incentives, and a population that is embracing media consumption via all outlets means that clearly the odds aren’t so bad after all.

S FAST FACT In 2011 Canadians had a choice of

702

television services to watch.

439 in English,

101 in French and

162

in other languages

Source : CRTC

Essential Canada // October 2012

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www.mipcom.com Portfolio Entertainment’s The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!

In which actor/ comedian Martin Short provides the voice of The Cat, who takes viewers on a journey of scientific discovery

E THE BROADCAST LANDSCAP

Still reaching for the sky Canada has long-held ambitions as a world force in television, and continues to enjoy a solid and growing broadcast industry, with government support and a healthy export market playing a key role. Clive Bull reports BORDERING the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans, Canada is the second-largest country in the world. But it’s the border with the US that has in so many ways defined Canada’s media landscape. 90% of the country’s 34.5 million population live within 160 km of the US border, and the relationship with its North American neighbour has been instrumental in Canada’s role as a pioneer of international co-production.

The audiovisual industry is a central part of Canada’s economy and national identity. Canada as a nation is punching well above its weight in media terms and the sector appears to be shrugging off the effects of the global economy. Tom Perlmutter, government film commissioner and chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) says Canada has adopted a very prudent economic approach over a number of years. “The government has been very sharp and tight in terms of reducing deficit which has put the country overall in a reasonably sound fiscal situation despite the fact that there are obviously clouds on the horizon. One cannot not be affected by what is happening in Europe, Canada depends a lot on its exports,” Perlmutter says. “America is a major export market so certainly what happens there has a long-term impact on our economic health.

The broadcast sector, since the big crunch in 2008/09, has bounced back. Advertising has come back so its been doing reasonably well.

The latest available figures from the There has been a red border with the US Canadian Media Production Association sense of optimism had the dual effect of (CMPA) show a year-on-year increase of about that. reinforcing a desire for 8.9% making Canada’s media business a Hits like Rookie Blue, a distinctly Canadian $5.49bn industry in 2010/11. Television and Smallville and Superapproach, while also natural helped the providing a perfect entheatrical production, combined with production industry vironment within which in-house production and foreign location in Canada generate to reach out and form services, provides 128,000 full-time jobs, a GDP of $7.46bn partnerships. including 50,300 jobs directly in the for the Canadian Perlmutter says that production sector. economy in 2010/11 since the late Sixties and film and TV exCanada’s unique situaRevenues from the communications indusports increased by tion with its next-door try as a whole climbed to $59.3bn in 2011, 20% to $2.26bn, acneighbour has helped according to the Canadian Radio-television cording to the Canadrive it towards internaTelecommunications Commission (CRTC) dian Media Productional deals. “Canada tion Association’s has been a pioneer in its annual Communications Monitoring (CMPA) Profile 2011. in terms of internatioReport. This accounted for 4.6% of The wide repertoire nal co-production and Canada’s GDP. of films made in co-production treaties Canada range from because it also saw independent dramas enormous strength in like Monsieur Lazhar being able to say ‘We to blockbusters like Rise Of The Planet Of The can create something distinctly Canadian’, but Apes and Resident Evil: Afterlife. it can be done in partnerships as well so that it To understand just how Canada got to this posiallows a win-win situation. Canada had to do that tion as a major global media player, we have to and, what’s happened over the last few years, look back to the origins of the industry. In many obviously, the world caught up.” respects Canada was getting into the co-proToday co-production is as important as ever. The duction business ahead of the game. The shaCanadian Media Fund (CMF) dedicated an overall

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Essential Canada // The broadcast landscape

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have been suffering and it’s expected they’ll be in programme budget of $371m to Canadian screena better position to embrace digital developments based media in 2011/12 which led to more than by becoming part of a larger media stable. “CTV, $1.3bn in production volume. CMF has committed one of the big English-language private networks, $375m for the current year. More than 300 CMFis now part of the Bell group which means they’ll be funded projects have been sold to 53 countries able to integrate in terms of looking at multiplatform across six continents, with the US the top buyer, aspects,” Perlmutter says. And although this means followed by Australia, Italy and the UK. The Cat fewer doors for indeIn The Hat Knows A pendent producers to Lot About That and S T FAST FAC knock on, Perlmutter Almost Naked Animals sees the benefits: were among the big “The CRTC has mansellers in the successdated — as a result ful youth sector, while Total Canadian advertising market in 2011 of the integration — a high-selling dramas certain level for funincluded The Borgias, ding for programmes Sanctuary, King and of national interest Bomb Girls.

Television share of advertising market in 2011 such as drama seAs a long-term player ries, children’s proin international cogramming, and longproduction, the Canaform documentaries, dian industry remains Source : TVB Canada and that’s going to robust by keeping its ensure that there’s finger on the pulse. a substantial invest“I think there’s been a need to re-assess how we’re doing it, and how ment in independent Canadian production over the to make things work better and that’s happening,” next few years, which is very positive.”

Perlmutter says. “My sense is that Canadian programming, whether it be lifestyle, drama, all of this speaks to the high-level production quality in Canada. The real issue is keeping an eye on the digital shift.”

Certainly the Canadian audiovisual scene is evolving to embrace the digital age. “The landscape is changing. It responds to a need — what audiences want,” Perlmutter says. “The issue in Canada is that the over-the-top services are not covered by the regulatory umbrella.” Perlmutter points out that new over-the-top services are not subject to the same kind of demands on, for example, Canadian content, that the traditional broadcaster would be. Nor the same kind of level of investment in terms of Canadian programming.

“There’s an issue there. If your audiences shift dramatically to over-the-top services, and there’s no requirement for investment, what is the longterm impact for production financing? There’ll obviously be an impact if we see continued migration Edmonton for ad revenues. There’s 1.627 million an issue in terms of churn. Will audiences then disconnect their subscriptions? That has an impact on the whole Vancouver 3.413 million broadcast audiovisual ecosystem.”

The landscape in Canada has also changed profoundly as a result of mergers and vertical integration of broadcast and cable companies. The long-term effects remain to be seen, but there is Kitcheneran expectation that the scale of consolidation will London mean larger companies can withstand whatever kind of economic buffeting might be round the 1.940 million corner. Some traditional over-the-air broadcasters

$14.1bn $3.3bn

“The real issue is keeping an eye on the digital shift” Tom Perlmutter, NFB

TOP 5 CANADIAN TELEVISION MARKETS (population)

Montreal 4.618 million

TorontoHamilton 7.174 million

Source: BBM Canada

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Essential Canada // October 2012

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TELEFILM CANADA

Canada takes on the world It’s a haven for co-production, and it’s known for its quality documentaries, dramas and children’s programming.

But do we really know Canada?

Etan Vlessing meets the people from Telefilm Canada, whose aim is to make sure that from now on, we do…

A NUMBER of Canadian series and mini-series have, in recent years, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the best exported product from the US and any other of the world’s leading producers of globally-acquired filmed entertainment. Flashpoint, The Kennedys and The Borgias are all examples of how this massive country with a comparatively small population is now regularly punching above its weight.

The budgets and the content of such series appeal to broadcasters the world over, and foreign producers are lining up to partner with Canadians to develop and produce still more quality programming aimed at an international audience.

But Telefilm Canada executive director Carolle Brabant questions whether the international community fully grasps the potential, diversity and innovation of Canadian TV. “People know Canada, but do they really know Canada? Do they really know the talent we have?” she asks. So Telefilm and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) have joined forces to make sure the rest of the world really does know Canada, with MIPCOM 2012’s focus on Canada.

Those outside the local industry crowd can be forgiven if they don’t fully recognise the accomplishments of a Canadian industry that has long operated in the shadow of Hollywood.

Besides local fare, Canadian producers often transcend cultural or stylistic barriers to attract interna-

The Borgias, qualifies as Canadian content

tional audiences with global series in which Toronto doubles as New York City, or Montreal as Paris. Or Canadian producers get behind international coproductions that are shot in Europe and posted back in Canada, making them a spoke in someone else’s hub.

“We would like to take the occasion to tell people about what is happening, the talent we have and the companies we have grown in recent years,” Brabant says of reintroducing the Canadian industry in Cannes to establish a cool factor.

That statement includes how Canada’s talent lineup is diverse, with each programming genre — from one-hour dramas and kids TV to dark, intimate films and sci-fi thrillers — being fuelled by different industry players, skills and subsidy pools.

Above all else, the MIPCOM reset will spotlight Canadian excellence in international co-productions that increasingly are at the core of Canadian TV and film, given the small size of the home market.

“Canada is a country that other countries want to work with. It’s well known that we have talented people, even though we’re a small market,” Brabant says, looking to give the industry a little more cachet.

Telefilm Canada, which administers the programmes of the CMF and invests in homegrown film, has long backed a local industry that knows the priorities and demands of producing for the world, forging relationships and business ties abroad.

The task at MIPCOM will be holding up a mirror for the world to see the many accomplishments of Canadian producers so they can secure even more co-production coin and partners overseas.

“We’ll try to multiply the opportunities so foreign producers meet their Canadian counterparts,” Sheila de la Varende, director of industry promotion

“We’ll try to multiply the opportunities so foreign producers meet their Canadian counterparts” Sheila de la Varende, Telefilm Canada

WILD CANADA

THE ETERNAL FRONTIER 4 X 53 Min., HD, 5.1 and Stereo When the first Europeans reached the shores of Canada, they found an unexplored, pristine wilderness. Or so they thought.

The Canada those first European explorers ‘discovered’ would not have looked as it did or been home to the animals they found, without the countless generations of human beings who had lived in this land – shaping and forging nature for their own purposes, for their own survival.

This natural history series re-discovers Canada’s landscapes and the wildlife spectacles we see today through fresh eyes.

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Essential Canada // Telefilm Canada

for Telefilm Canada, says. “Part of what we want to achieve is connecting the dots and enabling busy people to see Canada above and beyond what they already have on their conference slate,” she adds.

And the lure of co-productions goes beyond soft money available to the Canadian and foreign partners for sharing the cost and risk on film and TV projects. Telefilm Canada becomes matchmaker at MIPCOM. The agency will stage quick meetings at a fastpaced market to find chemistry between film and TV producers with projects already in the pipeline, and eyeing multinational projects that can snag worldwide audiences. “A co-production is not just about money. It’s about creating content that audiences will want to see. That’s part of our role, to create an environment where people will want to meet with Canadians,” Brabant says.

Predicting possible attraction between potential co-producers is no easy business. “You never know what will be the flame that will ignite the coproduction between two partners. But being at MIPCOM is about having the occasion to meet with some of the companies, and to change some of the ideas that other countries have about Canada,” Brabant adds.

Showcasing Canadian talent at MIPCOM is hardly new for Telefilm Canada. The government agency has long been involved with the Canada pavilion at the international TV market, in partnership with provincial and federal agencies and private sector partners. From here Canadian producers can meet and sell to MIPCOM delegates from around the world, under a single Canada umbrella.

On a broader front, Telefilm Canada’s promotion programme targets Canadian film, TV and digital media players, offering them funds to take advantage of business opportunities at domestic and international festivals and markets.

The strategy is getting Canadian films and talent in front of foreign industry players and audiences to build buzz for when the movies are released into the domestic marketplace.

The early results on that international push by Telefilm Canada have impressed back home. According to the agency’s success index, introduced last year, the commercial and cultural performance of films

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backed by Telefilm Canada improved by 23.7% in 2011. Much of that success has come from internationally co-produced films and TV shows that tell both Canadian stories and tales set far from home, and which are connecting with audiences at home and overseas.

“The Borgias is a minority [Canadian] co-production.

But it’s an important co-production,” Brabant says of the lavish Showtime period drama about a renaissance Italian crime family that is structured as a Canadian/Irish co-production and filmed in Hungary.

That international success in turn generates traction for Canadian talent in the US and elsewhere internationally.

Many of the top Canadian producers to feature as part of the MIPCOM Canada spotlight include eOne, Cineflix Media, Shaftesbury and DHX Media have satellite offices in the US and Europe to better finance and produce global product.

The international presence has enabled Telefilm Canada to showcase its own toolbox, which includes international agreements governing official co-productions that allow Canadian and foreign producers to partner on film and TV projects.

To date, Canada has signed official co-production agreements with over 50 countries.

And in an increasingly globalised entertainment industry, Canadian producers are increasingly aligning themselves with tripartite and quadripartite co-productions that reach across several time zones.

For foreign producers, partnering with the Canadians allows them to tap varied provincial and federal tax credits available in Canada as part of official co-productions.

And there’s other soft money that can be accessed by foreign producers in Canada, via the local Canadian producer.

Here Telefilm Canada has been working closely with local producers and distributors to make the domestic film and TV sectors more suited to the emerging digital age, and more flexible for foreign producers to partner with. Says Brabant: “We’re trying to make things simpler. We’ve done important work on our programmes, improving our coproduction guidelines, trying to make them as comprehensive as possible.”

S FAST FACT

$15.5bn 2011 television revenues including terrestrial, pay, cable and satellite1

28.5 hours

The average time per week that Canadians spent watching television in 20112 1

So

urc e: Mon Communications itoring Report 2012

2

Source : CRTC

Carolle Brabant

“A coproduction is not just about money.

It’s about creating content that audiences will want to see” Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada

w MIPCOM e n r u o stan t a dR s u 35. t i s 24 9story.com Vi Š2012 9 Story Entertainment Inc.

Essential Canada // October 2012

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www.mipcom.com CMF-backed co-production The Tudors

CANADA MEDIA FUND

Time to look again at Canada The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is a funding agency that also supports Canadian television and digital media production through research and promotion. The CMF and Telefilm Canada have joined forces to promote Canada as this year’s MIPCOM Country Of Honour…

ONE OF the great strengths of the Canadian media system is the mix of private and public support offered to producers, notably through Telefilm Canada and the CMF. The coming together of those two bodies at MIPCOM marks a shift in the type of support both organisations offer Canada’s media industry.

“In the last year-and-a-half Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund decided to work together, because for many years now — 40 in the case of Telefilm Canada, and 20 in the case of the old Canadian Television Fund, now the CMF — we have invested a lot of money into what we would call the supply side of content, so we have put money into

production, development, all the usual stuff, in order to get the content made,” says CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton. “But we have spent very little time on the demand side, finding ways to work with our producers, broadcasters, and feature film distributors, to position that content in the best possible way in the market, both in Canada and internationally.”

The CMF is a public-private partnership, the majority of its money coming from the cable and satellite companies of Canada, and the remainder from the Canadian government. Its budget dedicated to the creation of Canadian screen-based media for 2011 was $371m, which in turn triggered more

d The Canada Media Fund and Telefilm are prou proud OM! to partner with so many great Canadians at MIPC MIPCOM!

Essential Canada // Hot picks

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JUST FOR LAUGHS REGULAR visitors to MIPCOM will have seen the screen outside the Palais showing non-stop hidden camera videos. They’re provided by Canadian company Just For Laughs, also famous for its comedy festivals in Montreal, Toronto, Chicago and Sydney. The hidden camera series Just For Laughs Gags sells all over the world, its silent comedy making it perfect for selling into non-English speaking countries. One of the company’s claims to fame is its Sexy Bikini Nun video, the first to have exceeded 30 million hits on the internet. You’re all going to try and find that now aren’t you? Well this QR code will help…

Claimed & Shamed (Cineflix Media)

Indie producer marblemedia is in Cannes selling the second season — or another 26 episodes — of Splatalot, the Canadian obstacle-course reality series that debuted well this summer on Nickelodeon in the US market. “By the end of the year, we’ll have 52 episodes, which is a huge coup for international sales,” says marblemedia’s co-CEO Mark Bishop.

Splatalot, which originated on YTV in Canada, CBBC in the UK and Australia’s ABC, has kids avoiding spills into the water as they move along an extreme obstacle course. Bishop says Splatalot can be sold as a straight programme, a dubbed version or with a local host inserted. “To work in foreign markets, local audiences [for Splatalot] need to see local hosts they recognise, and it has to be done in an affordable way, because budgets for kids broadcasters are getting tighter,” he adds.

Marblemedia is also rolling out a third season of its pre-school franchise This Is… with new co-hosts Scarlett and Isaiah, as a follow-up to its popular This Is Daniel Cook and This Is Emily Yeung series.

Elsewhere, Shaftesbury Sales Company will be looking to rack up sales for Mighty Mighty Monsters from Bron Animation, with potential for the two animated specials to be turned into an animated series. Shane Kinnear, Shaftesbury’s senior vicepresident of sales and marketing, says his company has traditionally stayed away from animation,playing to its strength in live-action family programming.

“But when we saw it [Mighty Mighty Monsters] and saw the animation and the inventive storytelling and the advance motion capture, we got excited,” Kinnear adds.

The Canadian distributor is also showcasing from Shaftesbury’s Smokebomb Entertainment subsidiary two new comedic digital series — Unlikely Heroes and Backpackers — for kids and adults. eOne Family, already buoyed by the international success of its Peppa Pig franchise, is throwing its weight behind three new shows at MIPCOM, including the pre-school animated series Oscar And Hoo. The new show, based on the book series of the same name, portrays a friendship between a little boy and a cloud. Each episode focuses on one emotion and helps young audiences to con-

nect with their feelings. A co-production partner for Oscar And Hoo, and a Canadian broadcaster, are now being finalised.

Also on the eOne Family slate is the animated slapstick comedy Winston Steinburger And Sir Dudley Ding Dong, aimed at six- to 11-year-olds. The

“The skill set has included going out into the world and finding finance partners” Josh Scherba, DHX Media storyline follows the adventures of a genius boy and his two pets in space. “There’s such a comedy surge in the market. It’s noticeable that there have been very few [comedies] and there’s a big appetite in the market for them,” says Olivier Dumont, managing director of eOne Family.

The third MIPCOM offering is Zapper Jack, another comedy aimed at six- to 11-year-olds — this time the story of a kid who comes across a zapper that allows him to zap out of any screen, whether TV, video game or cinema, and summon his heroes to help him cope with daily life.

Here, Dumont is looking for a co-production SheZow (DHX Media)

Essential Canada // Hot picks

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TOP 10 regularly scheduled Canadian Programmes, 2011-2012 RANK

NETWORK

PROGRAMME

(000)

1

CTV

Saving Hope

1669

2

Global

Rookie Blue

1472

3

CTV

Flashpoint

1466

4

Global

Bomb Girls

1261

5

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Dragons’ Den

1175

6

CTV

The Listener

1165

7

CBC

Battle Of The Blades

1062

8

CBC

Republic Of Doyle

1044

9

CBC

Marketplace

1005

10

Global

The Firm

992

Splatalot (marblemedia)

Also on the Cineflix sales slate is House Hazards, an HGTV Canada series about putting potential domestic disasters to the test, and Wives With Knives, an Investigation Discovery series from Indigo Films about women who have committed violent crimes against their husbands or lovers.

Elsewhere, Tricon Films believes it has market winners in two IFC titles secured as part of an exclusive distribution deal with the US channel. The first, Comedy Bang! Bang!, is a comedy talk show hosted

by Scott Aukerman; the second, Bunk, is a comedy game show Olivier Dumont, with host Kurt BrauneOne Family holer. “They have a good brand name and have positioned themselves to do different, irreverent, big-name comedy,” says Tricon president Andrea Gorfolova of the IFC deal.

The Tricon team is also shopping the VH1 doc series Metal Evolution from Banger Films, which chronicles the history of House Hazards (Cineflix Media) heavy-metal music.

Banger Films, which has an output deal with Tricon, is also at work on Satan, a feature-length documentary about the Prince of Darkness. “We partner with them on many projects that are high quality and blue chip,” Gorfolova says of her tie-up with Canadian filmmakers Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn of Banger Films.

“There’s such a comedy surge in the market. It’s noticeable that there’s a big appetite for them”

Tiga Tallk (APTN)

Source: BBM Canada, Sept 19, 2011 – Sept 16, 2012-09-21

partner for the new series now in development with Canada’s YTV, possibly from France or Australia.

Live-action shows like the Canadian pre-school series Tiga Talk!, about a stuffed toy wolf cub who lives with a family, benefit from concerns among international buyers over the global economy, which has them looking to Canada for new programmes produced with the help of generous subsidies and tax breaks.

“The role models are played by children and the children see themselves reflected back on to the screen,” says Tiga Talk!’s executive producer Hilary Pryor.

Back on the animation front, 9 Story Entertainment is looking to show off three series: Camp Lakebottom, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Fugget About It. Vince Commisso, president and CEO of 9 Story Entertainment, says his MIPCOM slate is driven by what his broadcast partners seek for their schedules: “There are fewer shows being greenlit.

There’s tougher competition. So you need to be persistent in the execution and let nothing slip through.”

In the factual entertainment and reality space, Cineflix Media is hoping foreign buyers will get on board Claimed & Shamed, a BBC1 doc series about a crack team of insurance investigators hunting down suspected fraudsters.

“We have footage of the frauds, and we interviewed experts to get a feel for what the trends are, why the frauds are happening and how the culprits can be caught,” says Chris Bonney, CEO of rights at Cineflix Media, pointing to the format potential for Claimed & Shamed as insurance fraud remains prevalent worldwide.

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Essential Canada // October 2012

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©Seven24 Films

EXPORTS

Blazing the trail…

As a pioneer in international television, Canadian shows are now sold all over the world and in multiple languages. Andy Fry discovers that Canada’s exports now cover a wide range of genres and are reaching out further than ever

Heartland, produced by Seven24 and Dynamo Films

CANADA produces some of the world’s best-loved TV content. So it’s no surprise that the country also has a lot of success exporting its titles at MIPCOM. Jerry Diaz, vice-president of worldwide sales and distribution, Nelvana Enterprises says: “Canadian shows sell very well internationally, and we’ve learned a great deal over our 40-year history of placing shows with broadcasters. Our shows have been sold in over 160 countries in over 50 languages.”

Nelvana’s key kids titles include Babar And The Adventures Of Badou, Franklin and Beyblade.

Explaining why they sell so well, Diaz says: “They all contain timeless themes that connect our audiences regardless of where they live — universal themes of family and intergenerational bonds, learning through exploring and fun, rising to new challenges and developing self confidence, and the importance of friendship.”

Kids is undoubtedly one of Canada’s strongest genres, with companies including DHX Media, CCI Entertainment and Cookie Jar Entertainment (recently bought by DHX) also slugging it out on the world stage. DHX Media senior vice-president of distribution Josh Scherba says: “Canadian kids content has a strong reputation. Traditionally the US, UK, Germany, France, and Australia have been territories where our content performs best but Asia and Latin America have become

important. In pre-school we’ve had a number of series licensed to over 100 territories including Franny’s Feet, Animal Mechanicals and Bo On The Go. We’ve also just sold Monster Math Squad to partners including Discovery Kids Latin America, Hop! in Israel, Korea’s EBS, Astro in Malaysia and Now in Hong Kong.”

While Canadian animation has done well for decades, Scherba says there has been growing demand for “tween live action — particularly comedy. We’ve had tremendous success with How To Be Indie, The Latest Buzz and Naturally Sadie to the point where it rivals animated comedy.”

Canadian export success isn’t just about kids shows. Fremantle Corporation president Randy Zalken says: “We offer a general catalogue of shows including movies, lifestyle, family and children’s programmes and classic adventure series.

Canadian documentaries and lifestyle have long been a popular Canadian specialty — and recently family adventure classic series have taken off for us, with such shows as Lost World, Conan, Zorro, Tarzan, Swiss Family Robinson, Adventures Of Black Beauty, The Campbells, Tripods and now The Cisco Kid, among others.”

It’s a similar story at Tricon Films & Television, where Jon Rutherford, vice-president of distribution and business development, says: “Scripted hour-long

“We have put a lot more emphasis on content acquisition, and Canadian content is a big priority” Fiona Crago, Beyond Distribution

Essential Canada // Exports

dramas work quite well and lifestyle series including renovation, food and crime do very well. Kids, especially animation, seems to resonate well with international audiences. A few good examples of successful titles in our catalogue are Sanctuary, our hour-long drama sci-fi series that has sold, and is continuing to sell, in every territory. We also found great success with our lifestyle titles Restaurant Makeover, Decked Out and highly acclaimed documentary series Metal Evolution. We’re also getting strong interest in our new factual crime series I Didn’t Do It.” Shaftesbury senior vice-president, sales and marketing, Shane Kinnear also reports success across multiple genres: “Canadian procedural drama series and programming for kids and families tend to do well worldwide,” he says. “Programmes that work across multiple slots at different times of the day sell well, like our crime series Murdoch Mysteries, which works for all audiences and can be programmed anywhere in a broadcaster’s schedule. Drama series The Listener, which focuses on a telepathic paramedic, also does well because it has globally relevant characters and stories. Both have been sold in more than 100 countries. Our kids series Life With Derek has also been sold in 120 markets.”

While the volume of Canadian drama content is not on a par with the much bigger US market, some scripted shows sell well worldwide. eOne Distribution, for example, has had plenty of success with drama series Call Me Fitz, selling it to DirecTV in the US and Serie Club France among others. Content Media has had similar success, according to Greg Phillips, president of Content Television and Digital. “We offer a number of Canada’s finest longrunning drama series including current Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hits The Republic Of Doyle, produced by Take The Shot Productions, which has been sold globally from Australia to Brazil to the UK, and family drama series Heartland produced by Seven24 and Dynamo Films.”

Just as successful abroad is Canadian factual content, according to Chris Bonney, CEO of rights,

INVESTMENT IN CANADIAN PROGRAMMING Public broadcaster CBC invested

$709.8m in Canadian programming in 2011,

up 3.9% on 2010.

Private terrestrial broadcasters spent

$562.9m and cable and pay television services invested

$1.2bn.

Source: CRTC

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Cineflix’s Air Aces: $1m per hour

Cineflix Media: “From the beginning of the process we think about what will work for broadcasters not just in Canada, but also in the US and around the world. So Cineflix programming translates easily into the international market and we see high demand.”

Canadians do “particularly well in the US cable market”, Bonney says, “as more and more US broadcasters take advantage of the quality of Canadian programming and the benefits that come with coproducing shows with Canadian producers and networks. Our new series about some of history’s most heroic pilots, Air Aces, costs $1m per hour, combines state-of-the-art CGI with dramatic reconstructions and archive to create a quality show for North American, UK and global channels.”

Echoing Tricon’s Rutherford, Bonney says Cineflix’s long-running lifestyle brands also sell well “particularly with the female niche channels across Europe, Latin America, and Australia. There is an appetite for makeover, medical, mothering, home renovation, and character-led docu-soaps — for example Colin & Justin’s Home Heist, which has sold to more than 30 broadcasters, and Force Four Entertainment’s The Cupcake Girls which has sold into 20 territories including the UK where it continues to rate well. Lifestyle sells especially well in the US where Cineflix has also had success with brands including Food Factory and My Teenage Wedding.”

Others exporting lifestyle include Peace Point’s new distribution arm, launched on the eve of MIPCOM 2012, and Shaftesbury, which has sold food adventure series From Spain With Love to 100 countries worldwide. Recent deals, according to Kinnear, include XYZnetworks’ LifeStyle FOOD channel in Australia, Food Television in New Zealand, Asian Food Channel in Southeast Asia and Fox Traveller India. Indeed, such is the demand for Canadian lifestyle content that distributors from other parts of the world have also picked up shows.

Fiona Crago, general manager at Anglo-Australian

“Canadian shows sell very well internationally, and we’ve learned a great deal over our 40year history of placing shows with broadcasters” Jerry Diaz, Nelvana Enterprises

Essential Canada // Exports

sales operation Beyond Distribution, says: “We have put a lot more emphasis on content acquisition, and Canadian content is a big priority.

We have a great property show called Love It Or List It, which is one of our best sellers. It’s a high quality show that has lots of episodes and spinoff potential — perfect for international.”

While much of the above content is overtly Canadian, it’s important to note that a number of Canadian-backed shows are deliberately designed to work across both the US and Canadian markets. “A lot of our most successful series include episodes shot in the US,” Cineflix’s Bonney says, “such as Property Brothers, Cold Blood, Python Hunters and Property Virgins — and thus work for US channels as easily as Canadian ones.”

You get a similar cross-border feel in drama, where big Canadian players like eOne, Muse Entertainment and Cineflix are making dramas in Canada that are targeted just as much at the US market as they are at the home market. Sometimes stories are set in Canada, such as eOnedistributed Rookie Blue (which airs on ABC US and Global Canada). But just as often they will be shot in Canada and based in the US. A case in point, Muse’s Being Human US shot in Montreal but is based in Boston. Another is Cineflix’s period drama Copper, shot in Toronto but set in 1860s New York City.

Produced by Cineflix for BBC America and Shaw Media, this sold to Fox International Channels for use in 53 markets.

One question that arises from this kind Chris Bonney, of US/Canada collaboration is whether Canadian shows that are set in the US or sell to the US prove more popular among international buyers. Tricon’s Rutherford says that depends on the genre. “A US presence can have a strong impact on the buyer’s decision in terms of scheduling and audience appeal, though this does seem to have a bigger impact on scripted opposed to non-scripted titles where good Canadian content sells regardless of a US home.”

Others take a similar line, arguing that a US sale is helpful but not essential. “A sale in the US can lead to a multi-territory deal with the lead broadcaster in the US,” Nelvana’s Diaz says. “But we have found that if a Canadian show can rate well in Canada it has the potential to rate well around the world.” Likewise Content’s Phillips, who says “a US pick up helps sales possibilities — especially major multi-episodic dramas where a US pre-sale or placement can provide a tremendous boost. That said, a sale to the US is not a prerequisite to international success.”

Shaftesbury’s Kinnear acknowledges the point, but believes Canadian content has one advantage over the US. “We have perspectives and sensibilities that are often more closely aligned with international audiences than US-produced content. Canadians have co-produced with international broadcasters for years, which gives a

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point of difference.”

A final aspect worth noting iss that the international success of Canadian an nadian content has also allowed the world-class Canadian distritributors to extend their offerr to producers in other parts of the world. Content Media and Cineflix Rights, for example, both have bases in the UK and represent significant slates of British content. Similarly, eOne and DHX Media represent leading preschool shows like Peppa Pig and Rastamouse.

S FAST FACT

$2.26bn Canadian film & TV exports in 2011, up 20 % on 2010

So

e: urc

PA CM

“From the beginning of the process we think about what will work for broadcasters not just in Canada, but also in the US and around the world” Cineflix Media

The Listener (Shaftesbury Entertainment)

Essential Canada // October 2012

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CO-PRODUCTION

It’s not all about the money With a population one-tenth the size of the USA, you could argue that Canadians are great co-producers because they have to be. How else would they raise the budgets to make such ambitious shows?

But as Andy Fry reports, it’s not all about the money The Kennedys from Muse Entertainment, one of the world’s leading proponents of the co-production model

THERE are plenty of other countries with small populations that don’t have a history of co-producing drama, factual and kids content. So in the case of Canada financial necessity can only provide a partial explanation as to why co-production is in the country’s DNA. You need to look at the cultural and creative mindset of Canadians to explain why the country has such a good hit rate with co-productions.

Culturally, Canada realised long ago that the best way to support and nurture domestic talent and content was to create a climate that would make working with Canadians irresistible. Subsidies, treaties and a superb network of supporting agencies all achieve this.

Creatively, Canadians have an intuitive understanding of what it takes to make a co-production that isn’t suffocated by compromise or conflict. “Canadian producers are great puzzle solvers,” says Ira Levy, executive producer and partner at indie company Breakthrough Entertainment. “We’ve learned to bring together numerous elements — great creative, strong financial and solid production — to build viable international co-productions. We are incredibly adept at finding a project that works not only for Canadian audiences, but for international audiences as well.”

This is true across genres — though different approaches need to be taken in each case, Levy says.

“In the area of children’s content, we have worked over the years with numerous countries including, the UK, France, Israel, Brazil, the Philippines on animated productions. Our series Captain Flamingo is an example of both an international and inter-provincial co-production series; the financing came out of Canada (Ontario) and animation was done in Canada (BC) and the Philippines.”

Live-action and period drama co-productions are a bit trickier, says Levy, “but work well in the area of big mini-series or limited series. Our upcoming Anne Of Green Gables series is well-suited to being a Canada/UK production. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books bring together characters from the UK and Canada throughout their storyline, and have done very well in both countries, so working with a European partner makes sense. Documentaries also lend themselves to co-productions. In the case of Mini Monsters Of Amazonia — which followed an international team of entomologists on their trip to Brazilian jungles, we worked with France because there were French scientists on the team as well as Canadian scientists. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) (The Nature Of Things) was our lead broadcaster in Canada and the European home was ARTE in France.”

Michael Prupas, president and CEO of Montrealbased Muse Entertainment, set up his company in 1998 with the specific intention of building international co-productions. 14 years later, his company is one of the world’s leading proponents of the coproduction model, with credits that include Pillars Of The Earth, The Kennedys and Ben Hur. “For Canadians, the starting point has always been that the Canadian system isn’t big enough to support the quality of production that the audience here wants. So co-production has been part of the way we do business for a long time. What this means is that we have built up lots of experience in an area that has now become much more significant. Long before projects like The Kennedys, for example, we were doing successful co-productions like Answe-

“The days of doing a show because the financing works are over” Vince Commisso, 9 Story Entertainment

Essential Canada // Co-production

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working on shows that have more of an American red By Fire with ABC Australia. This experience is sensibility because we know they travel well intervaluable because co-productions aren’t easy to do. nationally, an example being Haven.”

They’re beautiful if they work but even wonderful In other words, Canadians have a kind of paralprojects are a tough slog.” lel system in place. On the one hand, there are Alongside experience, Prupas also highlights the projects that are designed to fulfil all the formal unique nature of the Canadian context as part of requirements of a Canadian co-production, thus the reason they make good co-production partners: unlocking benefits. On the other, there are pro“Cultural and linguistic sensitivity is not a given — but jects which are designed to generate a commercial both are important parts of a successful co-producupside from the international market irrespective of tion. In Canada, we are attuned to such differences whether they tick the necessary treaty or subsidy because of the volume of US content that flows boxes. “I would generally refer to the latter group across the border. I’m also based in French-speaking as partnerships as opposed to co-productions,” Canada, so that provides an added layer of awasays Julie Bristow, executive director of studio and reness about the nature of cultural distinctiveness.” unscripted programming for CBC TV. “You’re still If there has been one drawback to the Canadian seeing the same kind of deal-making expertise in system historically, it is that producers used to be action, but without the formal framework.” so busy trying to unlock co-production subsidies One clear benefit of this flexibility is “a new openness that they sometimes lost sight for co-ventures between Canada and the of their project’s authenticity, US”, says Breakthrough’s Levy. Amerisays John Morayniss, CEO of can broadcasters are looking to pareOne Television: “There was tner with Canada to produce quality a time when some producers programming in all areas, including would only see the deal, not the primetime dramas — for example show. But that has changed. There are great benefits in having a system Saving Hope and Rookie Blue. that incentivises co-production, Now there is more cross-border but the starting point has to programming than ever. This be the project’s requirements. environment would not have In some cases, like Call Me existed 10 years ago, but now Fitz, there’s a clear Canadian Americans know they can rely connection [the series is on Canada for top-notch identifiably filmed in Nova Captain Flamingo, is an example of both an intercontent.” Of course, the Scotia]. But in others, we’re national and inter-provincial co-production series system isn’t perfect. While

“There was a time when some producers would only see the deal, not the show” John Morayniss, eOne Television

TRICORD MEDIA PRESENTS

170 x 30:00 | 1080p HD | Available Now

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CANADIAN CO-PRODUCTIONS IN 2011 NUMBER OF PROJECTS

TOTAL BUDGET

CANADIAN SHARE

Total: 50

$543,721,215

$279,576,106

English: 37

$463,233,543

$255,134,941

French: 13

$80,487,672

$24,441,165

Film: 22

$289,254,635

$170,092,628

TV: 28

$254,466,580

$109,483,478

Source: Telefilm Canada

Essential Canada // Co-production

some observers complain that too much co-production box-ticking leads to clunky content, others complain that too many shows which are formally designated as “Canadian content” in order to pull down benefits aren’t really Canadian at all. The Borgias, The Tudors, Camelot and Titanic, for example, have all qualified as Canadian content despite the fact they aren’t Canadian stories.

Critics, including the Writers Guild Of Canada, argue that this is not what the system intended, since it allows international co-productions to replace genuinely Canadian content in primetime. Co-production evangelists disagree, arguing that the quid pro quo is that work comes to Canadian talent.

Whichever side you are on in this debate, it’s clear that centralised support has done a great job for the Canadian production sector. There’s no question, for example, that Canadian companies play a key part in some of the world’s finest factual filmmaking. An example is Handel Productions, which has partnered on Earth From Space, a co-production with Darlow Smithson in the UK; The Last Day Of The Dinosaurs, a co-production with Dangerous Films UK For Discovery Canada and Discovery US; and Brave New World With Stephen Hawking, a co-production with IWC Media, UK for Discovery Canada, Canal D and Channel Four Australia.

Animation and kids studios have also benefited from the production expertise, financial leverage and structural support that the system delivers, says Vince Commisso, president and CEO, 9 Story Entertainment. “The grants and subsidies are among the most stable in the world and provide substantial financial support for producers. Canada has over 50 co-production treaties with other countries. We have strong regulatory support and a long track record in collaborating with international production partners to produce great content. It’s become part of our industry’s DNA now.”

According to Commisso, “9 Story has done several extremely successful coproductions. Wibbly Pig and Skyland were produced as treaty co-productions and other shows such as Peep And The Big Wide World, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Arthur are produced as co-ventures, the model by which Canadian productions partner with US producers.”

Commisso says co-productions “can enable bigger-budget shows that require financing from two or more territories to greenlight”. But how does he respond to the concern that formal co-productions can create too much focus on the deal? “I think the mood right now is all about producing quality content.

Stakeholders need to be convinced that whatever the production model, it allows for a quality product. The days of doing a show because the financing works are over. There are too many options all around the world to have a show’s financial model be the driver.”

Visit us at MIP Booth 00.01 in the Canadian Pavilion Contact: Jan DiClemente 905-635-0968 x3331 Mobile: 647-200-6374 jdiclemente@tricordmedia.ca tricordmedia.ca

© 2010 KA Television Productions Limited/T5 Camelot Productions Inc. An Ireland-Canada Co-Production. All rights reserved.

Camelot

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FAST FACTS

19%

THE DIGITAL FRONTIER

Connected Canada

Canadians who often or always watch TV and surf the web simultaneously

TM :M Source

Canada is one of the most digitally engaged territories on the planet — and its digital media players among the most resourceful and inventive.

Etan Vlessing looks at the strategies that are delivering digital ROI IT’S SOMETHING the Canadian digital industry takes for granted: Canada is one of the most wired countries in the world, driven especially by increasing high-speed internet and mobile penetration. Despite that market advantage, the challenge for Canadian digital players remains how to run with the Googles, Apples and Netflixs of this world. Aside from exceptions such as Blackberry’s RIM and Imax, Canadian companies are mostly known as nimble and innovative players that create and license digital media content, applications and services for others.

So how are Canadian digital companies executing their business plans? “In those situations, doing a licensing deal with a subscription video-on-demand [VOD] service like Netflix Canada or a transactional VOD service like CineEvan Jones, plex or Amazon is where people want to go,” says David Plant, vice-president of media and entertainment at digital consultancy Cameron Thomson Group and Strategic Partnerships.

Here, the over-arching imperative for local players that run the gamut from no-budget to well-financed operations is providing content and value for customers in the global arena. An example: digital technologies are spilling out of Toon Boom Animation, the Canadian cartoon software-maker that serves major studios including Disney and Warner Bros. and is also active in the education and online business spaces.

“We enable people to automate what they used to do manually,” says Toon Boom president and CEO Joan Vogelsang about helping animators with their production processes. She adds that her company’s animation and storyboarding software helps multiple studios work on the same production, and in an increasingly paperless environment.

“We’re not just delivering 22 minutes every Thursday night and leaving it up to the sales team to sell ads” Stitch Media

Providing digital solutions that drive productivity and profitability is also the aim at 6Spokes Solutions and its rich-media sales and modernisation tools.

Take as an example a production company that

S FAST FACT

n b .2 7 $ Revenue generated from the provision

of internet services in 2011.

Up

6.3% on 2010

Source : CRTC

11

Essential Canada // October 2012

20

Essential Canada // The digital frontier

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FAST FACTS has 500 hours of library content that needs to be survive and thrive in today’s media landscape. converted from standard to HD and then delive“When we team with them, we come in as a cored to the broadcaster that is acquiring its product. producer on a project, but the project is a transme“Now, they are struggling to get delivery done on dia project,” Evans says. time, and they are calling around for competitive That role calls for educating media players about quotes,” says 6Spokes Solutions president and the promise and pitfalls of transmedia. “We’re not CEO Derek Picard. just delivering 22 minutes every Thursday night and Here, 6Spokes Solutions steps forward with cost leaving it up to the sales team to sell ads against certainty as it monitors screen viewing by potential that,” Evans says. The trick, he adds, is knowing buyers of content, and up-convert and deliver rich what happens after the primetime broadcast ends media to the required format when needed. and getting audiences to consume digital extenElsewhere, the Canadian digital play calls for hitsions between air dates as programmers embrace chhiking on proven brand names as consumers new consumer behaviour. increasingly view video content online or on their mobile phones.

David U.K., founder and CEO of Media Technology penetration (%) Anglophone 18+ Cue Digital Media, which distributes branded content in Canada, represents male-skewing category leaders 99 including UFC, Heavy, College Humor, Funny Or Die, Premier League, 86 TMZ and Warner Bros. U.K. argues 81 that Canadian broadcasters for the most part offer long-form content on72 line and expect users to consume it.

“So there’s a shortage of short-form content, and Canadians go to US 57 sites for it,” he adds.

10.7 million

38 28 16

15

Source: MTM 2011 – Anglophone Media Technology Adoption, * Statistics Canada

45

Source : CRTC

7 na OD ten air) V n A ffV T (o

R et er ble /mp3 ision band ome ision PV ceiv TV s ca d e e lev road t at h elev r D H gu iPo al te V *T e o T B l t a i ern HD An Dig Int

Media Technology penetration (%) Francophones 18+ 99 80 73 73 52 37 19 21

36 15

9 a OD nn nte -air) V A f TV (of

e n 3 n d R le et er an ab PV ceiv TV s om mp isio isio e e c Pod/ telev oadb at h elev r D u H g i l *T TV Br rnet alo ita e HD An Dig Int

Source: MTM 2011 –Francophone Media Technology Adoption, * Statistics Canada

The growth potential for fast followers such as Cue Digital is creating original content for the Canadian market to complement the foreign offering. Other players are helping traditional media companies to jump to digital by providing marketing sophistication.

Neil Sweeney, CEO of Juice Mobile, argues that the smartphone has vastly altered how Canadians consume and play with content, and carry on with their everyday lives. But a decade ago, Sweeney had already began to master the mobile space — long before others had bothered to do so. “Juice Mobile put a flag in the ground to help companies create and execute on a mobile marketing plan,” he says.

The Toronto-based company now helps broadcasters and newspaper publishers, for example, with mobile applications and websites, not by building apps, but by providing hosting, analytics and monetisation once the apps are built.

A number of other Canadian digital players are not working with existing technologies or platforms, but creating new ones. Take Stitch Media, which is forging a Canadian path in transmedia, or cross-platform, media.

“It’s actually right there in our name: we are focused on stitching different types of media to create something greater than the whole,” says Evan Jones, co-owner of Stitch Media.

Jones’ main local clients are broadcasters, music and book publishers, and companies looking to get round the digital curve to

d tial berr of residen mbe The num internet subscribers in 2011

SCREENS FULL OF GOODNESS

WADE OOSTERMAN, president, Bell Mobility and Residential Services and chief brand officer, Bell Canada, gives a Canada Country Of Honour keynote speech at MIPCOM. During his address he will explain his company’s ‘Pick A Screen, Fill It With Goodness’ offer. “It’s really about enabling content of any variety on the screen of your choice,” Oosterman says. “We secure the rights and then what we do is we will stream whatever it is that is on our traditional TV service — we will stream that live to tablets, handsets or laptops. We have online rights, we have mobile rights , we have traditional linear rights and specialty rights, and so we try and make sure that whatever people can see on their television, they can see on the other screens.”

The Pick A Screen project began with the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. “We deployed an all-IP infrastructure for that. That sort-of unleashed all these possibilities.”

Essential Canada // The digital frontier

S FAST FACT

Elsewhere, digital studio Smokebomb Entertainment is pioneering secondscreen web series that weave in the plotlines of TV series — as in the sci-fi drama The Listener from pan rrent producer Shaftesbury.

S The percentage of Canadians ““We’re taking who watch internet TV on their the TV story smartphones world and reiSource : MTM 2011 magining it online,” says Smokebomb creative director Jay Bennett. Bennett and his team are also developing original online series, such as State Of Syn, which stars Jewel Staite and David Hewlett.

“There’s no denying TV still leads [in Canada] when it comes to eyeballs and financing,” Bennett says of the continuing dependence of digital producers like Smokebomb on broadcasters to trigger public subsidies and other key project financing. “I just want to come in and show that, in this day and

10%

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age, audiences are consuming content in different ways, and looking for opportunities to remain engaged with content between TV broadcasts.”

Growing its presence in the digital space is also the aim at marblemedia, the indie producer of TV kids game show Splatalot and its online interactive element Splatalot.com.

“For us as a company, our TV projects have grown by having an interactive extension. One is woven in so tightly with the other, it’s organic with our process,” says marblemedia co-founder Mark Bishop.

Reflecting this, the Splatalot property, which now airs on Nickelodeon stateside, includes integrated web games that tie back to the TV episodes.

“There’s no denying TV still leads when it comes to eyeballs and financing”

FAST FACTS

3%-10% Tablet penetration 2010 vs 2011

Source : MTM 2011

Jay Bennett, Smokebomb

CANADIAN SCREENWRITERS ARE…

WRITING

Writing Writing what THE RATINGS what Canada Watches Internationally Telling Canadian stories… to the World.

HITS

SELLS

Visit Us at MIPTV in April 2013

www.wgc.ca

Essential Canada // October 2012

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FILM COMMISSIONS

Canada’s film commissions can help production teams with information about locations, crews, incentives and permits and provide a liaison between industry and all levels of government. Debbie Lincoln looks at what the diverse regions of Canada can offer filmmakers YUKON Yukon Film & Sound Commission THE YUKON is most sought-after by fimmakers for reliable snow locations, and the commission provides advice and specialist help for this. Humidity is very low, so summers can be hot and dry while winter coldness is less harsh than in damper climates. Despite the remote locations only one town is inaccessible by road. Recent TV reality series include Ice Road Truckers, The Skinny Dip and Mantracker. The Film Location Incentive encourages production companies from outside Yukon to film in Yukon and hire and train Yukoners. This works as a rebate, not a tax credit.

For more information: www.reelyukon.com BRITISH COLUMBIA BC Film Commission/BC Film + Media ON THE west coast of Canada BC offers stunning natural beauty. While most of the industry is in and around Vancouver, BC’s locations are also promoted by regional film commissions in Chilliwack, Columbia-Shuswap, Greater Victoria, Okanagan, Thompson-Nicola and Vancouver Island. The skilled crews and an established filming infrastructure can support 40 productions simultaneously. Recent productions include The Twilight Saga movies, and TV series Supernatural, Once Upon A Time, Fringe and Criminal Minds. The British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit is 33% of accredited qualified BC labour expenditure, and other credits are available, depending on the production.

For more information: www.bcfilmcommission.com ALBERTA Alberta Film NESTLED between the Rocky Mountains and plains, Alberta has city centres that are a short drive from ice-capped mountains, lush river valleys and arid badlands. “Alberta’s film and television production history dates back to the 1940s with films like Springtime In The Rockies starring Betty Grable, and River Of No Return starring Marilyn Monroe,” Alberta Film’s Kimberly Evans says. “Many iconic westerns have taken advantage of Alberta’s landscape including Unforgiven, Brokeback Mountain and Broken Trail. Alberta has also been a location for Inception, The Bourne Legacy, and Superman I, II and III. Currently, two features are filming here as well as the sixth season of TV series Heartland, a family drama set on a horse farm.” Through the Alberta Multimedia Development Fund, grants of 25-30% of all spend are available, with a $5m cap.

For information on this and other incentives: www.albertafilm.ca

Yukon

Nunavut Northwest Territories

British Columbia

SASKATCHEWAN SaskFilm FROM boreal forests in the north, through lakes, river rapids, canyons and sand cliffs down to the wheat fields and fertile valleys in the south, Saskatchewan covers more than a quarter of a million square miles.

The major cities of Regina and Saskatoon offer urban backdrops and are experienced production centres. Regina also has production studios which recently hosted comedy TV series InSecurity, and feature film The Tall Man. The Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit Program (SFETC) offers a tax credit of up to 55% of eligible labour on each individual project.

For details of eligibility: www.saskfilm.com

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

MANITOBA Manitoba Film & Music SET IN the centre of Canada, Manitoba boasts prairie grassland, lakes, forests, an arctic coastland and tundra, as well as urban areas and purpose-built studio facilities. Manitoba locations have doubled for other areas. Winnipeg was Chicago in 2004’s Shall We Dance, New York for 2005’s Capote, and turn-of-the-century Kansas City and Boston for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007). Recent TV series include comedy sitcom Less Than Kind. The Manitoba Film & Video Production Tax Credit returns up to 55% of local labour costs — this based on a 45% base rate, plus a 5% Frequent Filming Bonus and a 5% Rural Bonus.

For details and more information: www.mbfilmmusic.ca NEW BRUNSWICK New Brunswick Film NEW BRUNSWICK lies on the eastern coast of Canada under Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula, and borders the US state of Maine. As well as the varied inland landscape, including the dramatic St John River, there are the many coastal locations, with seaside cottages and islands. New Brunswick was used in the 2006 film Silent Hill, which was based on a video game.

Some funding is available for local companies. For more information: www.nbfilm.ca

49 Essential Canada // Film commissions www.mipcom.com NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR NLFilm NEWFOUNDLAND and Labrador is a vast region with a relatively small population. Coastlines feature breaching whales, icebergs, historic ports and big skies. Inland there are mountains, rivers and waterfalls. The region came to global attention with 2001’s The Shipping News, which filmed here.

Recent TV series include comic drama Republic Of Doyle. The Newfoundland and Labrador Film and Video Tax Credit is based on a calculation of eligible labour limited to the lesser of 25% of the total eligible budget or 40% of the total eligible labour expenditures.

For more information of eligibility: www.nifcd.ca

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Northwest Territories Film Commission THE NORTHWEST Territories landscape offers mountains, lakes, ice and coastline. Notable is the midnight sun from May to the third week in July and the Aurora Borealis, encircling the magnetic north pole. Recent TV productions include reality shows Ice Pilots and Ice Road Truckers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) drama series Arctic Air. The Commission’s Camilla MacEachern says: “The most recent production and the first-ever drama series to be filmed in the NWT is CBC’s newest drama series, Arctic Air, from Omni Film Productions. Set in Yellowknife, it’s about a group of renegade pilots who fly small bush planes and huge World War II prop-planes on daily missions in the North. It won the largest audience for the premiere of a new CBC drama series in the last decade, with total viewership of 1.05 million.”

Access to funding is limited. For more information: www.nwtfilm.com NOVA SCOTIA Film Nova Scotia NOVA Scotia, on the eastern coast, is a region dominated by a stunning coastline. The city of Halifax offers a cosmopolitan urban landscape and harbour, and Cape Breton Island features highlands and a vibrant Celtic culture. There are also studios available.

“Nova Scotia has seen steady production over the past 12 months,” says Film Nova Scotia’s Abbi Hennigar.“ Television series Haven, Call Me Fitz and Mr. D filmed here as well as lifestyle series The Candy Show, Spice Goddess and Hope For Wildlife. Hallmark Hall of Fame has also recently wrapped production on the television movie Christmas With Holly 2.” The tax credit is calculated at 50% of eligible Nova Scotia labour costs for productions that occur in the Halifax region or 60% of eligible labour costs for those that occur in other regions of the province. An additional 5% frequent-filming bonus is available to companies for a third project.

For more information of these and other incentives: www.film.ns.ca NUNAVUT Nunavut Film Development Corporation FOR THOUSANDS of years the people of Nunavut, a region that reaches far beyond the Arctic Circle, have nurtured the environment, and it is always in demand as a location for wildlife shoots in the tundra plains, ice-capped mountains and seas. A licence is required for any organised activity in which wildlife is the object of interaction, manipulation or close observation. Though best known for wildlife shoots, Nunavut was the location for the recent short film Throat Song, which was selected for premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

The Nunavut Film Development Corporation has a series of funding incentives for filmmakers, for more information: www.nunavutfilm.ca

ONTARIO Ontario Media Development Corporation ONTARIO borders the Hudson Bay in the north, and the mighty Great Lakes in the south. In the largest city, Toronto, steel and glass skyscrapers, European streetscapes, industrial buildings, an Ivy League -style university, inner-city neighbourhoods, a pioneer village, several Chinatowns, and even a castle can be found. The city has doubled for New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Florida, Vienna, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Teheran. The province offers rolling farmland, northern wilderness and tundra, small and mid-sized towns that resemble the American midwest and New England, and coastline.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation estimates that television producers spend upwards of $680m annually in Ontario. The tax credit (OFTTC) is generally calculated as 35% of the eligible Ontario labour expenditures incurred by a qualifying production company with respect to an eligible Ontario production. An enhanced credit rate of 40% on the first $240,000 of qualifying labour expenditure is available for first-time producers.

For details of eligibility for this and other incentives: www.omdc.on.ca

Newfoundland & Labrador

Québec

Ontario

Prince Edward Island New Brunswick Nova Scotia

Sunset in the North West Territories.

(Photo: Jiri Hermann)

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND PEI Film THIS region comprises a group of islands, with by far the biggest being Prince Edward Island itself. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population. Known as the Garden of the Gulf, which refers to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural land, it also boasts 1,100km of beaches. Drama series Road To Avonlea (1990-1996), which ran to seven seasons, filmed here. There are no film tax credits available in Prince Edward Island.

For more information: www.peifilm.net

QUEBEC Quebec Film and Television Council CANADA’s largest province covers an area that borders the Hudson Bay on its western side and the Atlantic coast on its eastern side. Quebec’s European background means that it offers unique locations that can easily double for Paris, London, Moscow or Vienna. Quebec also boasts a vast range of studio facilities. Gabrielle Pauze, marketing and communications manager, Quebec Film and Television Council, says: “We are entering our fourth record year.

Quebec hosted nine movie productions and two television series in the past year; Montreal hosted Lionsgate’s Blue Mountain State for three consecutive seasons.”

Incentives include 25% cash-back on all expenses, a 20% bonus on all CGI and green-screen shots applicable on extended eligible labour, and no miminum spend or caps.

For more information on all incentives: www.qftc.ca

Essential Canada // October 2012

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Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communications Mike Williams Editorial Department Editor in Chief Julian Newby Managing Editor Debbie Lincoln Deputy Technical Editor in Chief Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designer Marie Moinier Sub Editor Joanna Stephens Contributors Clive Bull, Andy Fry, Etan Vlessing With the assistance of Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund Production Department Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Co-ordinators Nour Ezzedeen, Emilie Lambert, Amrane Lamiri Production Assistant, Cannes Office Eric Laurent Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France) Management & Sales Team Director of the Entertainment Division Jérome Delhaye Director of the Television Division Laurine Garaude Director of Market Development Ted Baracos Sales Director Frédéric Vaulpré Marketing Director Stephane Gambetta Conference Director Lucy Smith Managing Director (UK / Australia / New Zealand) Peter Rhodes OBE Sales Manager Javier Lopez Vice President Sales and Business Development, Americas Robert Marking Sales Director Latin America José-Luis Sanchez Vice President Business Development, North America JP Bommel Sales Executive Panayiota Pagoulatos Regional Sales Director Fabienne Germond Sales Managers Paul Barbaro, Nathalie Gastone Sales Executives Liliane Dacruz, Cyril Szczerbakow Sales Manager Samira Haddi Digital Media Digital Media Sales Manager Nancy Denole New Media Development Manager Bastien Gave Australia and New Zealand Representative Natalie Apostolou China Representative Anke Redl, Tammy Zhao CIS Representative Alexandra Modestova, Igor Shibanov English Speaking Africa Representative Arnaud de Nanteuil India Representative Anil Wanvari Israel Representative Guy Martinovsky Japan Representative Lily Ono Middle-East Representative Bassil Hajjar Poland Representative Monika Bednarek South Korea Representative Sunny Kim Taiwan Representative Irene Liu Germany Representative (Digital Media Sector) Renate Radke Adam Published by Reed MIDEM, BP 572, 11 rue du Colonel Pierre Avia, 75726 Paris Cedex 15, France.

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