Union says only $7 million of $20 million in funding announced by Quebec is new money

Quebec's artists' union is questioning the provincial government's assertion that it is adding $20 million in new dollars to boost Quebec's film and television industry. The Quebec government highlighted its new film and television measures in a report entitled Politique Québécoise du cinéma et de la production audiovisuelle, which was released March 11. Among the initiatives is the addition of $9 million in tax credits for a total of $17.9 million in support of feature films produced in French, $1 million for a total of $3.4 million to support documentaries and shorts, $4 million for a total of $5.3 million for project development, and $600,000 for a total of $1.7 million to expand export markets for Quebec audio-visual productions. But Anne Marie DesRoches, director of public affairs at the Union des artistes (UDA), says only $7 million of the $20 million is actually new money. She points out that the $13 million difference is actually being derived from a "tightening up of other tax credits." "The additional $20 million is not all new money. The rest is taken from other tax credits for television. And will that have an impact on television production? We don't know yet," she tells Canadian Communications Reports. "The government is tightening some rules of tax credits. For example, production houses owned by broadcasters were allowed for the last five years to access tax credits when they produced programming, but now they are not (allowed access to those credits). The tightening of existing tax credits is that the government will now grant tax credits only to variety and news magazines aired during peak viewing hours, DesRoches points out. Claire Samson, president and CEO of the Association des Producteurs de Films et de Télévision du Québec, concurs with DesRoches' assessment. "The new legislation brings a lot of good to the feature films, but it is less generous with television since it shortens the list of programs eligible for tax credits," Samson says. "But all and all, given the tremendous task that was before them. We felt that they made a pretty good look around the whole industry, prioritizing feature film and documentaries, which were at the top of list of our priorities. So we're quite happy with the new measures. Of course, the cut in (existing) taxes is never good news." DesRoches wonders what the additional money and the realignment of tax credits will actually translate into. "Will it mean additional days of filming for Quebec artists? What does it mean? How will unfold? That is not clear," she says.But she adds that the government report accurately reflects industry views heard in the course of consultations prior to the writing of the report. "I think there is unanimity in defining what the principles and goals are… (The report) contains policies that please everybody. (All segments of the industry) have their needs taken care of," she notes. "It's a good statement of what we want in terms of cinema. But having said that I think it may lack concrete measures. We don't know what the impact of the measures will be…" The only initiative brought up during consultations that is not contained in the report is the recommendation that there be a tax on movie ticket prices, with the money generated going toward the support of Quebec productions, DesRoches notes. A similar measure is in place in France. "The majority of the milieu - except for the owners of the cinemas - wanted a small tax on tickets, but that was not implemented," she says. The 103-page report contains 19 objectives under seven overarching policy initiatives. The seven policy initiatives are to improve the conditions for development and creation; subsidize the production of long-form features in French, documentaries and shorts; improve the involvement of the regions in audio-visual production; improve access to Quebec's cinematographic culture; promote consolidation within the audio-visual industry; improve the education of the film and TV workforce; and preserve Quebec's television and cinematographic heritage. The report notes that Quebec artists have turned to producing in English to gain access to larger budgets and larger markets. It states that the average budget for French-language Quebec feature films declined 12% to $2.1 million from $2.4 million, and that the average length of a shoot fell from 37 days to 30 days between 1990 and 2000. Over the same period, the average budget for English-language Quebec features rose 83% to $7.7 million from $4.2 million. In an attempt to reverse the trend, the government is increasing tax credits for French-language Quebec feature films from the existing $8.9 million to $17.9 million effective April 1, 2004. The provincial government's goal of promoting consolidation in the audio-visual production industry is to better enable expansion of Quebec culture to new markets worldwide, according to the report. "The new policy favours the consolidation of businesses, particularly in developing new export markets - which will contribute, among other things, to the development of employment and visibility of Quebec culture," the report notes. The policy aimed at facilitating consolidation is a departure from the provincial government's strategy outlined for Quebec culture in 1983. Two objectives of the provincial government's 1983 policy for cinema concerned the development of independently controlled infrastructure and financially autonomous Quebec production companies. The report follows extensive industry consultations and replaces Quebec's policies on cinema and television that were outlined in 1983. Policy changes are necessary due to considerable changes in the film and TV production industry in Quebec and the world, Culture and Communications minister Diane Lemieux states in the introduction to the report.

Union says only $7 million of $20 million in funding announced by Quebec is new money

News | 03/27/2003 5:00 am EST

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