Production before Telefilm

From 1952 to 1982, Canadian television production was dominated by the television networks themselves. This was especially true of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which produced almost entirely in-house and was, until 1961, the only network in Canada. The dominance of network production has arisen from three main factors. First, unlike U.S. networks, Canadian networks are restricted neither from owning all of their affiliates nor from producing all of their content. As the owner of its affiliates, the CBC naturally seeks to fill their airtime with content that it produces in its fully owned facilities. Second, there existed in Canada no film industry similar to Hollywood, from which the nascent television networks could draw content, expertise, or ideas. Third, CBC television adopted its operational methods from CBC radio, where in-house production was the norm.

Consequently, the CBC—and, to a lesser extent, private networks (after 1961)—filled the need for content itself. The CBC thus became Canada’s first major television production company, and, until the early 1980s, it dwarfed competitors and collaborators alike in terms of both the quantity and quality of its output.

The sheer volume of CBC production is difficult to characterize fairly, but we can point to certain structural features. As a public network, the CBC’s production activities necessarily occur within the framework of its parliamentary mandate, which enjoins it to “reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,” and to “contribute to shared national consciousness and identity.” Hence, CBC production must provide for both mass and specialized audiences, while being “distinctively Canadian.” Second, as the CBC is largely independent of commercial revenues, it has traditionally enjoyed the freedom to experiment and schedule material that is either challenging or of limited audience appeal. Third, the CBC’s heavy reliance on in-house production has resulted in a recognizable network style across all program categories.

Nonetheless, since its inception, the CBC has produced not only news and public affairs, for which it has earned a well-deserved reputation, but also drama (CBC Playbill, On Camera, For the Record), variety (Anne Murray specials), comedy (King of Kensington, Mosquito Lake), science (The Nature of Things), game shows (Front Page Challenge, Reach for the Top), weekly serials (Seeing Things, Traders), talk shows (Take 30, 90 Minutes Live), children’s shows (The Friendly Giant, Chez Hélène, Fred Penner’s Place), miniseries (The Whiteoaks of Jalna, Empire Inc.), arts programming (Adrienne Clarkson Presents), religious programming (Man Alive), cooking shows, do-it-yourself shows, numerous sports shows, and so on.

Four major aspects of CBC production stand out. The first is its stability. For example, the CBC continued to produce prime-time variety shows long after other North American broadcasters abandoned the genre. Likewise, the entrenchment of existing genres has made the CBC slow to respond to new trends, such as reality television. Additionally, many CBC shows remain in continual production for more than 20 years: The Nature of Things debuted in 1956 and is still in production (as of 2003); Front Page Challenge ran for 38 years (1957–95); comedians Wayne and Shuster appeared from 1952 until well into the 1980s; The Beachcombers ran uninterruptedly for 18 years (1972–90). CBC production, then, runs on a longer cycle than U.S. production, largely because the CBC is responsive to social and cultural rather than commercial and economic imperatives.

The second notable aspect of CBC production is its variety. The CBC clearly attempts to produce for a much broader range of audience tastes and interests than virtually any other North American broadcaster. As a result, its production slate is perhaps the most highly varied in North America.

The third aspect concerns the nature of in-house production. Prior to 1983, this practice effectively precluded the emergence of an independent production sector. The CBC perceived no need to call upon outside resources since everything could be done in-house. Likewise, outside resources had few opportunities to break into the business since the CBC would not buy from them. As a result, the independent sector languished and CBC production, despite its abundance and variety, acquired a recognizable look. Independent producers were forced to depend on private broadcasters, which were financially weak and slow to develop. However, the 1983 requirement that the CBC purchase dramatic content from independent producers both altered the look and feel of CBC programming and greatly assisted the independent production sector.

The fourth distinctive aspect of CBC production concerns the way in which CBC programs attempt to meet the requirements of the Broadcasting Act. Systematically, they appeal to varied and various audiences, cover topics of broad appeal and specialist interest, are set in various regions of the country, cover different types of interest, are overwhelmingly prosocial, and deal with recognizably Canadian characters and situations.

In this respect, the most typical CBC genre may be the nature/adventure drama, of which outstanding examples include The Forest Rangers (1963–66), Adventures in Rainbow Country (1970), The Beachcombers, Ritter’s Cove (1979–91), Danger Bay (1984–90), and others. The genre is highly durable and usually features children or adolescents surrounded by caring adults in a nature or wilderness setting. Each week, a problem arises that the young people, often accompanied by a favorite animal, attempt to solve through their own resources and the help of authoritative others, typically parents, the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, or a native person.

The genre corresponds well to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act. By decentralizing production to nonurban locations, it shows Canada to Canadians and gives all regions a sense of representation. It also appeals to parents as nonviolent programming with potentially educational benefits. Furthermore, the genre’s lower costs coincide with the resources of Canadian producers. Finally, as the child audience is both very forgiving and constantly renewed, the same programs can be reissued, thereby building up a profitable back-log of shows. For all of these reasons, independent producers have also shown a proclivity for this genre or elements of it.

The CBC’s French-language network, Société Radio-Canada (SRC), shares some of the same characteristics as its English-language counterpart. The SRC was until 1961 virtually the only French-language producer in Canada and, like the CBC, produced huge quantities of programs across an enormous range of categories. The SRC was bound by budgetary constraints, due to the size of its market (approximately 6 million viewers concentrated mainly in Quebec), and by the Broadcasting Act. However, it evolved quite differently than the CBC.

Television in Quebec was immediately embraced as a tool for shaping a cultural community. As a result, French-language productions enjoy a popularity and cultural status unimaginable for English-language productions. The very rapid development of an indigenous star system and advertising culture further reinforced the French productions’ appeal. They address a loyal and voracious audience and are less concerned with “showing Canada to Canadians” than with representing and affirming French Canada’s own culture. There is little crossover between French-and English-language productions.

The most popular and enduring genre of French-language TV is the téléroman. It is highly comparable to both the South American telenovela and the Australian “soapie” and represents a cross between American daytime soap opera, for production values, and prime-time drama, for audience interest, cultural impact, and prestige. Téléromans are frequently written by leading authors or playwrights and may possess a cultural status similar to an important play or novel.

Private networks (CTV, TVA) began to go to air in 1961. Their production activities, however, were much more limited than those of the CBC and tended to resemble the patterns of American TV. They typically produced news and sports but called upon outside producers to provide game shows (It’s Your Move, The Mad Dash), the occasional sitcom (The Trouble with Tracy, Pardon My French, Snow Job), and some drama (The Littlest Hobo, The Starlost). They heavily supplemented their schedules with U.S. imports. On the French-language side, importation was more difficult, and broadcasters soon became producers. Hence, the French-language TVA network became an important production company in its own right, duplicating much of the SRC’s output although with a heavier emphasis on populist representations. TVA has also come to rely on the téléroman.

The market represented by private networks, however, was sufficiently small that only a very few independent production companies could coexist. As a result, the private networks tended to draw heavily on a very small number of independent producers, thereby reproducing in the private sector a situation analogous to the public sector’s use of in-house production.

This entire period is characterized, therefore, by the dominance of public networks, the prevalence of inhouse production or its analogue, a relatively small number of private broadcasters relying on U.S. imports, and the absence of a syndication market. Beginning in the early 1980s, the situation changed.

Production after Telefilm

In 1983 the federal government established Telefilm Canada. Telefilm, in conjunction with the private sector, administers the Canadian Television Fund (CTF), which had an annual budget of some $230 million (Canadian) in 2001. Telefilm also participates in other funding initiatives. This money is available for independent producers, and Telefilm invests in all phases of production: scriptwriting and preproduction, production, postproduction, dubbing, marketing, test-marketing, and distribution.

To receive funding, a project must satisfy Telefilm that it is financially viable by obtaining an up-front licensing agreement from a broadcaster. This draws broadcasters into Telefilm’s strategies. The project must also be certified as “Canadian” according to the “point system” administered by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO). Specifically, the rights must be owned and developed by Canadians; the project must be shot and set primarily in Canada; and the project must reflect Canadian themes and subject matter. Additionally, it must obtain ten points on the following scale: two points each for the director and screenwriter; one point for the highest-paid actor; one point for the second-highest-paid actor; and one point each for the art director, music composer, picture editor, and director of photography.

The criteria were drastically tightened in 1999– 2000, when a run on the CTF emptied its coffers overnight, but satisfying them entitles producers to important tax concessions. Additionally, provincial governments have instituted parallel structures to support film and television production and attract activity to their territory. To date, Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal have emerged as the centers of a vigorous independent film and television production industry.

Telefilm is, therefore, the funding arm of a complex web of regulatory bodies: the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) sets Canadian-content quotas for broadcasters; broadcasters turn to producers for content that satisfies the quotas; the producers submit their content to CAVCO for certification and tax breaks; Telefilm funds the productions and directs money to the worthiest projects.

Telefilm’s success, however, coincided with four other factors: the widening of the Canadian television industry, the emergence of a U.S. syndication market for Canadian content, the development of a system of international coproductions, and the decline of the Canadian dollar.

The television market was widened in several ways. In 1983 the CBC was ordered to acquire entertainment programming from outside sources. A majority of its entertainment content now comes from independent producers. The CBC has therefore been transformed from a producer to a purchaser of programming, thereby creating opportunities for the independent production sector.

Additionally, since 1982, the CRTC has licensed more than 30 specialty and pay-TV channels, and more than 250 digital channels. These channels frequently require highly specialized content, thereby causing diversification within production companies or the emergence of parallel specialized producers. For example, music video channels obviously require musical content, and a fund, VideoFax, has been set aside for the production of Canadian music videos. Movie channels require a certain number of Canadian movies. YTV, the youth channel, has likewise spawned shows aimed at its target audience. All of these channels also provide a second life to many older shows, thereby capitalizing the earlier investments of production companies.

The CRTC also maintained its Canadian-content quotas, thereby creating a permanent domestic market for Canadian content. U.S. cable networks have also emerged as a syndication market for Canadian content. These networks have insatiable appetites for programming but are often restricted to smaller budgets than those of the major U.S. networks. As a result, they need content that is more affordable while still possessing acceptable production values. Consequently, they have turned to Canadian production companies, and it is estimated that up to 30 percent of original programming on U.S. cable networks comes from Canadian producers.

The success of cable networks using Canadian content has convinced not only the major U.S. networks but also major U.S. production companies to begin investing in Canada, where many American shows are now produced. This trend has been accelerated by the declining Canadian dollar, which was worth approximately 65 percent of the U.S. dollar in 2001, making it financially sound for many Hollywood productions to relocate to the proximity of Canada, where they find not only highly skilled, English-speaking crews intimately conversant with American television but also significantly lower costs and potential tax breaks and government subsidies. Although the attractiveness of Canada has generated within Hollywood the perceived crisis of “runaway production,” total Canadian production at the turn of the 21st century actually equaled less than 2 percent of Hollywood production.

Within Canada, the same phenomena have resulted in a “crisis” of their own. Some argue that targeting a market beyond Canada (principally the United States) results in content that is merely “industrially Canadian” (i.e., Canadian-made content), thereby damaging “genuinely Canadian” content (i.e., content reflecting/exploring Canadian cultures, history, and values). It was in response to this criticism, and to the perception that CTF funds were “industrially” used, that CAVCO criteria were tightened. Others, however, argue that the distinction is parochial and restricts the range of permissible “Canadian” topics to the most stereotypical.

Thus, several conditions have combined to transform the fortunes of Canadian production companies. On the one hand, new sources of funding have been created through the establishment of Telefilm Canada and tax deductions. Furthermore, the regulatory environment has contributed to Canadian production through the maintenance of content quotas and the CAVCO certification procedure. Finally, the market has expanded through the licensing of new channels and the emergence of a U.S. syndication market. Even the declining Canadian dollar has resulted in opportunities for Canadian producers by affording them high-profile exposure that they might not otherwise obtain. Together, these factors have given Canadian production companies two things much in demand: a track record and a backlog of marketable product.

On the other hand, the Canadian television market remains too small and too fragile to support the current scale of Canadian production. Indeed, in January 1995, Atlantis Communications reported that fully 80 percent of its license fees came from outside Canada. Hence, access to the wider North American and international markets constitutes the key to continued viability for Canadian production companies. They are therefore driven to seek additional sources of funding through international partnerships, and Canada has developed a highly elaborate system of “international co-productions.”

Coproductions involve partners from Canada and another country contributing to the manufacture of a single film or television program. They occur within the framework of treaties signed by the governments of both countries and covering financial participation, mutual tax concessions, national treatment, creative control, and copyright. Canada is the world’s leading coproducer.

The advantages of coproductions are higher production values, access to foreign markets, and opportunities for ongoing business relations between the production partners. Their disadvantages are that they also create opportunities for conflict over financial and creative control, can be highly complex to administer, and can result in culturally unspecific content. The success of coproductions in their various markets is, of course, extraordinarily variable, but they have served the fundamental purposes of broadening the financial base of production companies and giving them international reach.

Production Companies and Their Structures

An examination of some Canadian production companies reveals strategic differences and similarities.

Astral Media of Montreal was founded in 1961 as Angreen Photo. Its corporate name has since undergone many variations. Before becoming Astral Media in 2000, it was known principally as Astral Bellevue Pathé and Astral Communications. Until 1996, Astral was known chiefly as a service provider with some media interests. It owned a motion picture laboratory in downtown Montreal and more than 100 photographic stores, and it distributed audiovisual material and provided video duplication, postproduction, and dubbing services. It also manufactured compact discs. In fiscal 1997, media activities accounted for only 37 percent of Astral’s revenue. Since then, it has become a pure-play media company, with media activity accounting for 100 percent of its revenue by the beginning of the 21st century. In television alone, Astral operates five pay and pay-per-view movie networks (TMN—The Movie Network, MOVIEPIX, Viewer’s Choice, SuperEcran, Canal Indigo) and six French-language specialty channels (VRAK-TV, Canal D, Canal Vie, Historia, Séries1, Z). It owns the Family Channel, which manages the English and French Tele-toon channels, and possesses 50 percent of Musique-Plus and MusiMax. With additional holdings in radio, outdoor media, and e-business, Astral’s strength lies not in the content it produces, but in the distribution networks it controls and in its ability to market across media. Importantly, as with many Canadian production companies, Astral’s television interests cover both the English-and French-language markets.

Alliance Atlantis Communications was formed in 1998 from the merger of two leading Canadian production companies, Alliance Communications and Atlantis Communications, both of Toronto. They bring together broadcasting assets, extensive production experience, and a catalog of film and television shows. The company is divided into a broadcast group, a television group, and a motion picture group, the latter being very active in film production and distribution. As of 2001, the Alliance Atlantis broadcast group owned wholly or in part eight specialty channels: Showcase (100 percent), Life Network (100 percent), HGTV Canada (67 percent), History Television (88 percent), Séries1 (50 percent), Historia (50 percent), Headline Sports (48 percent), and Food Network Canada (51 percent). It is also the corporate sponsor for the U.S.- based Health Network, and it has expanded its existing franchises or formed partnerships for digital channels with BBC Canada, BBC Kids, National Geographic Channel, Showcase Diva, Showcase Action, IFC, and WebMD. The television group produces for Canada, the United States, and other countries, while adhering to the rule that 80 percent of all production costs must be covered by third-party commitments. In 2001 current productions included CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Beastmaster, Gene Roddenberry’ s Conflict Earth, Nuremberg, The Associates, North of 60, and Joan of Arc. Like Astral, Alliance Atlantis is involved in both film and television. Unlike Astral, it not only distributes content but also produces and coproduces, for both the English- and French-language markets. Its production slate is a classic mixture of “industrial” and “genuine” Canadian, and its funding strategy makes full use of available resources. It has had success in placing its content not only in Canada but also on CBS (e.g., CSI, CBS’s top-rated drama in 2001–02) and U.S. cable networks.

Paragon Entertainment Corporation was formed in 1985 and filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Although the company was based in Toronto, its chief executive officer and chairman, Jan Slan, was located in Los Angeles, and Paragon’s strategy was not to rely on the Canadian market but to produce for the North American and international markets. It had been relatively successful, producing Forever Knight, Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, Kratts’ Creatures, and Zoboomafoo, among other programs. The “Canadian” element of these programs was to be found in their financial and creative control rather than in their thematic or stylistic content.

Nelvana Ltd. of Toronto was established in 1971 and has specialized in the traditional Canadian niches of animation and children’s programming. Its productions include Babar, Franklin the Turtle, Bob and Margaret, Rolie Polie Olie, Tintin, and numerous others. Babar, Franklin, Pippi Longstocking, Rupert, and Donkey Kong have yielded profitable marketing tie-ins (toys, posters, etc.). Nelvana also owned 20 percent of the cartoon specialty channel Teletoon. In 2000 Nelvana was purchased by Corus (owned by Shaw Communications) for $554 million (Canadian).

Cinar Films of Montreal has likewise targeted children with programs such as Wimzie’s House/La maison de Ouimzie. It has also sold The Busy World of Richard Scarry, based on the popular children’s book known around the world, and produced Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a horror/fantasy show for young people, for both Nickelodeon and YTV. It was successful in licensing merchandise based on its characters, but in 2000 it became embroiled in a government investigation and lawsuits over unaccounted-for funds. It eventually reached a settlement with the government.

Independent producer Kevin Sullivan has enjoyed enormous success, first with the two Anne of Green Gables miniseries, then with the weekly series Road to Avonlea, which ran for seven seasons, and finally with his TV movie Butterbox Babies. All of these ranked among the highest-rated Canadian television programs.

Interestingly, many independent production companies have attempted to locate at least some of their output in an area of traditional Canadian strength, the “family drama,” which both incorporates and transforms elements of the nature/adventure genre. Like nature/adventure shows, family dramas usually involve children and families, although they possess few of the precocious or saccharine characteristics of U.S. sitcoms. They also systematically eschew violence in favor of cleverness or circumstance and foreground pro-social values. However, unlike nature/adventure shows, family dramas freely mix humor with drama, often fail to end happily, and jettison the requirement for wilderness settings and animals in favor of urban, frequently highly ironic plotlines.

The most celebrated example is probably The Kids of Degrassi Street (Playing with Time Productions), which spawned Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. Like nature/adventure shows, the Degrassi series are aimed squarely at a family audience, feature young people, and involve weekly dilemmas, but Degrassi casts these challenges in an urban setting with frequently unforeseen results, and these series are neither clearly drama nor comedy. Other independent productions include Ready or Not (Insight Productions), which followed the everyday lives of two young teenage girls; Popstars (Lone Eagle Entertainment), portraying the trials and tribulations of real teenagers who want to become pop singers; The Pit Pony (Cochran Entertainment), about a boy in turn-of-the-20th-century Cape Breton; and Drop the Beat (Back Alley Films/Alliance Atlantis), the story of a hip campus radio show in Toronto.

While Astral has been a publicly traded company since 1974, most other Canadian production companies only went public after 1993. Significantly, at the turn of the 21st century, they have tended toward consolidation into larger production units, as when Alliance Atlantis purchased Salter Street productions; toward alliances with broadcasters, as when Shaw (through Corus) purchased Nelvana; and toward integration into production/distribution/broadcast units, as illustrated by the structure of Alliance Atlantis. Just as they have themselves absorbed other entities, it seems likely that many of these producers will become part of other companies, particularly broadcasters seeking production units.

In sum, Canadian production companies are relatively recent phenomena that produce for both film and television. They increasingly aim to control distribution outlets, thereby tending to make them integrated production/distribution houses on the CBC model, and they frequently attempt to acquire film libraries to feed their distribution networks and to market internationally alongside their own material. Relying heavily upon international markets but taking advantage of funding opportunities in Canada, their content is frequently “Canadian” from the point of view of creative and financial control, rather than from the perspective of thematic and stylistic content.