By Andrea Hall

Spatially, Canada is the second-largest country in the world and boasts a variety of landscapes, backdrops and climates that make it an ideal location for almost any film.

Want to make a show about a farming community in wide-open prairies? Canada can do that. Need to film a sequence of a daring mountain rescue? No problem. Big cities, waterfalls, beaches, frozen tundra – Canada’s got it all covered.

Despite its vast area, its market is small. With fewer than 35 million people, filmmakers and television producers often find there’s just not enough support at home.

“There’s only so much content that Canadians can consume while fully supporting our industry,” says Susanne Vaas, vice-president of business affairs and recording secretary for the Canadian Media Production Association. “Canadian producers really have to look elsewhere, not only for the eyeballs but to generate the returns so they can grow their companies, and make even more productions and really get Canada on the map in terms of a good content producer.”

Courtesy Man Nan Ma

Cue international co-production treaties.

“Co-productions fit with Canada’s overall cultural model which is one of inclusiveness and establishing strong ties all over the world. I think film and television is a great way to do that,” says Paddy Bickerton, business and legal affairs at Reunion Pictures in British Columbia.

Canada has co-production treaties with 53 countries which have allowed producers to collaborate internationally on hundreds of film and television projects. Recently, however, those same producers have said Canada needs to re-examine its agreements to allow more effective and fruitful treaties to emerge.

“The industry has made repeated requests for the completion and implementation of a co-production policy,” Geneviève Myre, media relations advisor for the Department of Canadian Heritage said via email to Fine Cut.  She indicates in response the government created such a policy and ran an online consultation through February and March this year.

One of the issues brought up was the need to have more effective treaties with partners previously underutilized. Traditionally, Canada’s main co-production partners have been European, with France and the United Kingdom topping the list from 2000 to 2009.  But new agreements within the European Union, as well as the convenience of working with nearby nations, have led European partners to look more to each other than to Canada.

As a result, Canadian involvement in co-productions has declined. In 2009, the Canadian co-production industry amounted to barely half of what it had been in 2000. Vaas says one solution is to broaden its reach and attract a wider array of partners.

The benefits of co-productions are clear. “If it’s an official co-production under treaty, the content that’s created is considered domestic content in both countries so it facilitates access to the airwaves,” explains Richard Brownsey, president and CEO of British Columbia Film. He says co-productions usually have a higher budget than domestic projects. “If you can bring another partner to the table, get some access to their markets and get access to the financial incentives that exist in both countries, it makes it a more viable project. It allows you to put more money into the content and that results in better content on the screen.”

While Brownsey makes clear that the British Columbia film industry doesn’t want to forget its traditional partners or ignore potential collaborations with other English-speaking countries, he agrees that there is an increasing interest on emerging markets.  “There are very, very large markets in Asia that are developing rapidly and we need to examine those to see what that potential may be.”

This belief was reflected in the British Columbia Film submission to the government consultation process, which states that Asian-Pacific markets, specifically China and India, should be priorities for Canada in the future. Other contributors to the consultation process also point to Asian countries as potentially promising partners.
[pullquote]“I think if the treaty is simplified, there will be more incentive for producers to work with other countries. It’s quite a daunting process to put together.”
- Paddy Bickerton, Reunion Pictures[/pullquote]
Nelvana Ltd specializes in animated children’s content, and suggests Canada actively pursue treaties with Malaysia, India and China, all known for their animation industries. Currently, Canada has only a film treaty with China, and no treaty at all with Malaysia or India.

Bickerton suggests that producers tend to rely on traditional co-production partners because there is a level of comfort in navigating those treaties. “The Canada-U.K. treaty is one that is well-used and people are familiar with,” she says. Canadian producers, especially from smaller film companies, can be hesitant to try working with new partners because they don’t already have a thorough understanding of the treaty. “I think if the treaty is simplified, there will be more incentive for producers to work with other countries. It’s quite a daunting process to put together a co-production,” she explains.

Shan Tam, co-founder of Holiday Pictures, agrees that comfort plays a huge role when forging a co-production, not just in terms of understanding the treaties but also in knowing who you’re working with.

“There’s always a certain trust factor in doing co-production, it’s just like a marriage,” she says. Tam was born in Hong Kong and spent the early part of her career working in the Hong Kong film industry before moving to Vancouver and founding Holiday Pictures in 1992.

Tam says in her experience the biggest challenge is not actually the treaties but often finding financing. “Getting the co-production status is only the first step of getting the project going. Even after we do get that, it’s still a question of whether the project can get the distributors on board and get the funding agencies on board.”

As a result of these struggles, Tam has spent most of her time recently involved in the Chinese film industry rather than Canada’s. “I’ve been just doing productions in China, actually doing something, rather than here trying to figure out how they can help me,” she explains. “It’s simply because [China’s] a very active market, it’s very busy and it has a lot more opportunities.”