Inside Out

By Rebecca Schechter, President, Writers Guild of Canada

Cassandra vs. Pollyanna
 

I know I've been doing the Cassandra thing since I became president. Things were gloomy and getting gloomier and I needed to speak the truth. But maybe a small (truthful) dose of Pollyanna is now in order.

This February I attended my second “Prime Time”–the CFTPA’s annual policy conference. The event begins with a state of the industry report, and continues with a variety of panels and a whole lot of schmoozing. Last year it was my inaugural event as WGC president and it was mightily depressing. Not only were the stats bad in the industry report, just about every producer I met (with a few notable exceptions) was on the verge of slitting his or her wrists.

I’m happy to report that this year’s event wasn’t nearly so negative. This is curious since the state of the industry isn’t any better. In some ways it’s worse–which is to say even less drama was produced last year than in the previous one. Indigenous production is way down while broadcaster profits are way up. If you want more details about the bad news, turn the page and check out the news briefs.

Yet in spite of this, the mood was better. Why? A few reasons. For one thing, a pan-industry coalition was formed last year. It’s called the CFTIC (Canadian Film and Television Industry Council). Coalitions are never easy–even when, as with the CCAU (Canadian Coalition of Audiovisual Unions), everyone shares the same perspective on many important issues. So the fact that producers, distributors, creative unions, technical unions and reps from provincial film councils can sit around a table and agree on anything seems like a very positive thing.

Tricky as coalitions can sometimes be, we’ve seen in the CCAU that they can also be very potent. Through the CCAU, the Writers Guild put the decline of drama on the map. Now everyone is aware of it and everyone wants it to change.

This is even more true thanks to the soaring Canadian dollar. All of the organizations in the CFTIC–except the WGC–represent people who work in the service sector of the industry as well as people who work in the indigenous sector. With the dollar on the rise, everyone realizes that the service sector should be the icing, not the cake. We’ve known this for a long time–only a handful of Canadian writers ever work in the service sector–but it’s gratifying to hear it acknowledged by the entire industry.

As we go down the road, I’m sure issues will come up that CFTIC members can’t agree on, but at least when we do agree, we can speak as an industry with one voice. When we do, politicians perk up their ears and listen.

Which brings me to another positive change: Liza Frulla, the new Minister of Canadian Heritage, who knows our industry from the inside out. She was Minister of Culture in Quebec and had her own talk-show (Liza) on Radio-Canada. On top of that, she seems to have the ear of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance–both of whom we need on our side to keep things afloat.

Minister Frulla recently appointed Wayne Clarkson to head up Telefilm. Bravo! It’s just possible that someone who knows the Canadian film and TV scene as well as he does might be able to transform Telefilm from an organization we love to hate to one we love, period. One that understands that in a cultural industry, creators have to play a central role. One that tries to redefine Canadian success–on our own terms, and not as a reflection of US product. One that isn’t going to look south of the border for talented writers when we have so many of them right here at home.

Maybe, just maybe, the sun will come up tomorrow.