Written Out: Co-Productions in Canada

BY Suzan Ayscough

“We’re not saying it has to have a beaver,” laughs WGC executive director Maureen Parker. “What we’re saying is that it has to reflect our culture, our vision as Canadians,” she explains regarding the WGC’s take on what should be considered “Canadian content,” even in co-productions.

Never mind that The Kennedys counts as a Canadian production, Parker is referring to Canada’s current mega-budget fetish for lavish period pieces and official international co-productions with the Europeans. First came The Tudors, followed by Pillars of the Earth (both on CBC), and next-up are The Borgias (CTV) and Camelot (CBC), followed by a Pillars of the Earth sequel, World Without End.

These mega-budget Canadian co-productions can hit a whopping $4-5 million to produce per hour, according to John Weber, president Take5 Productions, the Toronto-based company which produced season four of The Tudors, and is in various stages of production on Camelot, The Borgias and World Without End. “Each of these projects employs in the range of 70-80 Canadians,” says Weber, which is no small feat for an independent production company in hard economic times. In addition, these shows provide a significant cost/benefit ratio for Canadian broadcasters, which in turn have CanCon quotas to meet.

“There’s a large number of these limited series’ coproductions coming forward,” cautions Parker. “And they take up weekly prime-time slots because they count as Canadian content.” Yet not one of those shows has a Canadian writer.

Durham County scribe and WGC member Bruce Smith best sums up the writers’ overall perspective: “If there’s no Canadian writers, there’s no Canadian industry, except service. It sounds obvious to say, but it all begins with a script.”

Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s National Executive Director, agrees that although such productions technically “count” as Canadian, and employ many Canadians, they still fall short of the mark. “We’ve always said that a Canadian program is one that is conceived of, written and performed by Canadians,” Waddell told Canadian Screenwriter. “We don’t see that enough in co-productions. Instead we get projects like The Tudors, The Borgias, and Camelot, projects in which Canadians are playing supporting roles telling another culture’s stories.”

Norm Bolen, president of the Canadian Media Production Association, however, defends such big-budget international co-pros. “We should try to get writers, directors and actors on the screen; I certainly support that,” says Bolen.
“But it’s unrealistic for the industry to expect that Canadians are always going to play a dominant role on the creative side of co-productions. It’s just not going to happen. The international partners have their own list of demands as leverage.”

The argument goes that there simply isn’t enough production money in the Canadian system for mini- or limited series that cost $40 million and upwards to produce, so Canada often takes a minority position (20%) to get the deal done, to get the proverbial ‘show on the road,’ and to keep the industry working.

Please see the print edition of the magazine for the complete article.