Strength in Diversity

Brother © Guy Godfree.

Independent film is being squeezed on all sides, from Covid-19 to talent costs, but none more so than in the UK where the situation is dire. While such pressures are universal, Canada’s indie producers tell makers how diverse voices and hyperlocal stories are helping its sector survive

Last summer, the BFI laid out the challenges facing independent film in the UK in a major review of the sector, which it said was “inhibited to the point of market failure”.

Producers are struggling to raise money from investors who find it increasingly challenging to secure a financial return from independent films, it said. The review’s findings are that the speed and volume of this growth has exacerbated the strain on the sector which cannot compete with larger budget international productions on a variety of levels from accommodating the rising cost of production to securing cast and crew and ultimately to reaching audiences.

It underlined the role that indie films play as a “powerful and vibrant contributor to our cultural lives… often giving a voice to underrepresented people.”

Many of the issues identified in the BFI report resonate with indie producers in Canada where production volume decreased 12 per cent in 2020/21, due at least in part to the pandemic.

Liz Shorten, Chief Operating Officer at Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), says, “We are seeing a post pandemic challenge in exhibition area and in terms of distribution with different business models. The whole value chain from development to exhibition is being disrupted.”

A lower Canadian to US dollar exchange rate has contributed to a booming service sector but, as in the UK, it is to the advantage of international productions out muscling indies for crew.

“Content demand from the new streamers like Apple TV plus traditional studios has stretched the talent pool to the extent that indies are battling for crew,” she says.

Independents had a hard time finding insurance to produce during Covid-19 and covid-related costs continue to knock-on. Inflation is not as high as the

Brother © Guy Godfree.

CANADIAN INDIE FILM IS INNOVATING AND EMBRACING A NUMBER OF NEW AND DIVERSE VOICES. THIS IS THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

If Beale Street Could Talk © 2018 Anna Purna Releasing LLC. UK, in part because Canada has cheaper gas reserves, but budgets have had to rise to cope. With a relatively small domestic market, the bottom line is that Canadian indies have always to punch above their weight to compete globally.

“One way we mitigate rising cost is through coproduction which we are very experienced at,” Shorten says. Canada has 59 co-production treaties, more than any other country.

That’s just as well since funding and distribution options have shrunk. Entertainment One (owned by Hasbro) ceased film distribution operations in Canada, a move that also includes the wind-down of theatrical operations for subsidiary Les Films Séville, one of the largest film distributors in Quebec.

Whereas eOne once distributed dozens of films a year in the country – including such independent Hollywood hits as If Beale Street Could Talk and Sicario, plus a reliable wave of Canadian cinema from such leading homegrown filmmakers as Philippe Falardeau, Xavier Dolan and Kim Nguyen –the company’s theatrical output has slowed to a trickle, even discounting the pandemic.

The Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) can attempt to plug the gap. This 150 member alliance of independent cinemas, festivals and professional programmers offers curated film programming to the public.

But there’s consolidation in television, too, with two of the country’s three largest commercial broadcasters, Rogers and Shaw, merging in a CAD20 billion deal.

“I wouldn’t say Canadian indie film is thriving but it is innovating and in particular embracing a number of new and diverse voices,” says Shorten. “This is the great opportunity.”

TIFF saw the debut of 25 Canadian indie projects among them Black Ice, Hubert Davis’ doc about racism in sport; Korean-language drama Riceboy Sleeps from Vancouver’s Anthony Shim and Viking by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur.

“Films from Asian and Black Canadians and queer Canadians are being made in a volume not seen before,” says Damon D'Oliveira, co-chair of the feature film committee at CMPA. “This multiplicity of voices is also what platform buyers are looking for.” D'Oliveira produced Brother, a drama fully financed in Canada about Black Canadians growing up in the Scarborough district of Toronto. “We went to just about every source in town to raise financing and now we’re courted by a number of international buyers,” he says.

“Canadians have always made films with our eyes on selling into the US market but we’ve the platforms to thank for opening the market up to hyper local stories that resonate across the globe.”

Shorten agrees, “Amazon and other streamers have boots on the ground here and the networking and relationship building with indies is key to getting production off the ground.”

The Black Screen Office has produced a series of reports highlighting how Black, Indigenous and People of Colour audiences feel discounted or invisible to Canadian broadcasters and advertisers.

“Canada’s diverse audiences want to see themselves authentically represented on Canadian screens, and Canadian creators and producers from underrepresented communities want more opportunities to tell those stories,” urges Joan Jenkinson, Executive Director, BSO.

The CMPA believe advocacy like this is finally helping greater representation and that diverse storytelling is a key opportunity to help local indie film recover.

Among recommendations to stem decline in the UK is a call for additional film tax relief (of 20%) targeted at indie film and a proposal to increase the financial contribution from large streaming services to the indie film sector (either voluntary or legislated).

“A specific incentive for features is not something we’ve considered in Canada,” Shorten says – but the CMPA is pushing for the government’s implementation of new law which would bring streamers in line with regulations underpinning local broadcasters. Bill C-11 would increase access to Canadian content and its visibility, provide increased opportunities to produce programming in French and in Indigenous languages, and promote diversity and inclusion in the broadcasting sector.

“That is a huge step toward everyone paying their fair share to creating phenomenal content,” says D'Oliveira.