Every article I write these days seems to be about digital media issues–some of you have got to be wondering why. You’re thinking, ‘I haven’t been engaged to write for webisodes or videogames–no one I know has–so what’s the big deal? Why is she going on and on about it?’

 

The easy answer is that digital entertainment is growing faster than you can imagine. The media landscape can literally change between when I write this and when this magazine is published, with new platforms, new business models and new players. Oh and new jargon, let’s not forget that. Viewing patterns are also changing, though not so rapidly. Audiences are getting used to having control over their viewing choices, watching what they want when they want and where they want–that means on computer screens as well as television screens. So we need to keep up. We need to understand the audience and what they’re looking for, understand how writing for digital platforms is different, and understand where the job opportunities are. We need to figure out where the money lies. In this new context, it is only a matter of time before you are either writing for digital media or getting closer to royalties because of added revenue from digital distribution.

 

But as I said, that’s the easy answer to why you should care about digital media. You really need to care because broadcasters and cable companies are thinking about the future and trying to preserve their positions so that they continue to make money. They are lobbying for regulatory changes, they are revising their contract terms and they are shifting their spending all so that they can better take advantage of digital media opportunities. If we as a guild are not active in this arena we will wake up one day and be completely shut out of this important emerging landscape–cut off from new revenue streams, fair script fees and funding.

 

So for these reasons, we find ourselves focusing on digital media issues more and more.

 

In 1999 the CRTC decided to exempt new media from regulation on the basis that it was experimental and shouldn’t be burdened by regulation. As well, the market was providing Canadians with plenty of Canadian-oriented content on the Internet without regulation. Eight years later the CRTC is researching how the world has changed with the possibility of a review of that exemption next year. They have noticed that, for example, of the top 25 sites visited by Canadians, only one is Canadian-owned (The Weather Network). Of the top 50 entertainment websites only nine are Canadian-owned. We are starting to identify that the lack of choices to view and interact with Canadian content online and on wireless is a problem. The entire industry is starting to put its mind to what the possible solutions are: market forces, regulation, incentive, subsidy or a combination of all four.

 

The first step to achieving more Canadian content online is to find more money to produce it. The CRTC Task Force recommended additional funding for new media not related to a television program. Broadcasters, who own most of those nine Canadian entertainment sites referred to above, want more content for their online audience and they want to provide original digital content to draw people away from other online entertainment destinations. As well, independent production funds want the flexibility to be able to fund digital media unrelated to television programs, as Telefilm does.

 

One other idea being floated is to require the internet service providers to make a contribution to digital media funding (as the cable operators do with television). There is an attractive logic to requiring the company owning the pipe–earning large revenues from the flow of content–to assist in the funding of that content.

 

Another idea is for the federal government to set up a digital media labour tax credit as several provinces have done. There is sufficient evidence that this kind of tax credit supports the creation of digital media content and also the growth of companies and a skilled labour force.

 

Meanwhile, broadcasters’ contracts with producers are becoming more and more aggressive as they insist on digital media rights (internet broadcasting, wireless, download to own) along with traditional broadcast rights for little or no additional fees. When the business models are figured out and the revenues start to flow, the broadcasters want it all to flow to them–nothing back to producers and therefore nothing back to the creators either.

 

So you can see that there is a lot at stake here. With more financing for digital media, producers are more likely to hire professional screenwriters. This is slowly happening as we have recently seen digital contracts for The Border, The Best Years, Little Mosque, Corner Gas and online series Sanctuary. More distribution of traditional media on digital platforms should also mean more

revenues for screenwriters. These are uncertain times but we see the opportunities as well as the challenges.