Unless they work in the film industry or are film majors, most Canadians seem hard-pressed to name a Canadian film. And even when they do, it’s hard to say what exactly about the film is “Canadian.”
Canadian cinema, specifically English-Canadian, has a reputation for lacking presence in both the art world at large and in the Canadian conscience.
One of the most important factors, at least for production companies, is finances. Canada has one of the lowest market shares of its own productions worldwide. In 2008, English Canada had a pitiful 1.1 per cent market share at home, according to a 2010 article in The Journal of Screenwriting.
That same year, Canadian box offices made $920 million in sales, according to the article. Of the films released that year, 23 were English-Canadian and had a budget that averaged out to $3 million each. They took in a lowly $8.5 million altogether.
With American films making nearly a billion dollars each year in Canada alone, it’s pretty clear that as viewers, Canadians just don’t care about their own cinema. These statistics reveal a great deal about the cultural attitudes of Canadian audiences and the industry.
André Loiselle, a film studies professor at Carleton University, said historically, Canadians have been exposed to an overload of American cinema. By the time there was an attempt to nationalize Canadian cinema, it was too late.
“You can’t beat the Americans at their own game,” Loiselle said.
Another financial hurdle is that English-Canadian films often don’t make back their production costs, much to the chagrin of their production companies.
With Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, only recently has an English film set in Canada made back its costs.
With a budget of $4 million, it made back just over $4.5 million domestically, but global distribution took in $16 million, according to an article by Janice Kaye and Charles H. Davis in The Journal of Screenwriting. Away From Her is the exception, not the rule.
William Straw, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said there’s “no incentive to show Canadian films and most theatre owners believe English Canadians don’t want to see English Canadian films.”
But that’s not the end of the Canadian story, as French-Canada has a thriving film industry.
Québéc is quite successful at marketing Québécois films by using tabloids and a type of star system, which is fueled by television talk shows and celebrity gossip magazines, according to an article published in CineAction by Peter Dickinson, an English professor at Simon Fraser University.
Also, because the films are in French, they hold a unique position in Canadian cinema.
“French-speaking audiences go in large numbers to Quebec-made films, so these get shown,” Straw said.
For example, in 2005, French-Canadian films accounted for 13 per cent of gross earnings, while English-Canadian films usually account for 2 per cent or less of nationwide box office earnings, wrote Norma Reveler in an article in The Hollywood Reporter.
Another fact of life for Canadian cinema is that it’s cuddly neighbours with the biggest film giant in the world: Hollywood.
Many of Canada’s most successful English filmmakers and stars go to Hollywood because that’s where the action is. Think Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey, Ryan Reynolds and Rachel McAdams, just to name a few.
For English-Canadians, integration with Hollywood is easy because of the linguistic and perceived cultural similarities between Canada and the United States.
“English-Canadian stars tend to move to Los Angeles if their careers are taking off because they fit in easily and can make more money,” Straw said.
“Then there is the small population. English Canada is less than 10 per cent of the population of the U.S., so the market is smaller and the revenues that might be made with a successful English-Canadian film are much smaller,” said Straw.
“This means there is not enough money to invest in the big budget films you need to compete with Hollywood.”
On the world stage, English-Canadian cinema is often lumped in with American film because of the similarities. And Canada actually provides the backdrop for many American films, literally serving as the landscape.
Lucky Number Slevin used Montreal as a replacement for New York City, X-Men and A History of Violence were filmed in and around rural Ontario, Brokeback Mountain was filmed in Alberta and Juno, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and portions of the Twilight series were filmed in the Greater Vancouver Area, according to the Internet Movie Database.
So is Canada nothing more than a filming location for major Hollywood productions, pushing aside Canadian-owned shoots?
Most provinces have tax incentives for filmmakers, enticing Hollywood to venture north of the border to shoot their pictures.
Vancouver is particularly generous. The province of British Columbia offers a Film Incentive BC (FIBC) tax credit at 35 per cent exclusively for domestic producers and a Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) at 33 per cent for both foreign and domestic producers, according to the British Columbia Film Commission.
The difference? FIBC has Canadian content requirements; the PSTC doesn’t. For foreign productions, on top of the provincial credit, the federal government offers 16 per cent on Canadian labour costs.
As a foreign producer trying to cut costs, Canada offers an enticing alternative. So while Hollywood is clearly in high demand and New York offers their “Made in NY” 30 per cent credit, Canada offers studio space, beautiful scenery, a labour force and rivalling financial incentive.
The labour force factor is quite important, according to Loiselle, because there’s no need for Americans to adapt to a different system of filmmaking when working in Canada.
It can be argued that this is to the detriment of Canadian filmmakers.
While Telefilm, Canada’s foremost film funding organization, is bogging down Canadian filmmakers with extensive content and financial requirements, Hollywood producers are crossing the border and using Canadian film labourers for massive productions at a lower cost.
On the other hand, Loiselle shone a positive light on Canada’s close relationship with American filmmakers. Because top quality Hollywood films are produced in Canada, the labour force of the country has access to the best of the best when it comes to filmmaking.
In a way, working with Hollywood informs our own cinematic culture, so when Canadian films are being shot, everyone knows how to go about making a successful film using the latest techniques and technologies, Loiselle said.
There may be a bright light at the end of the tunnel for Canadian movies, but there are many hurdles to overcome before the industry can carve out a niche for itself in the cinema world.
Straw and Loiselle agree increasing the exposure of Canadian films may be the answer.
“There should be closer integration between the CBC and the film industry, so that the CBC is compelled to show more English-Canadian films in prime time.”
