Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry (1954)

National Film Board GREATER consideration for the private motion picture production industry by the National Film Board is evidenced by its expen¬ diture of $411,372 in it during the 1952-53 fiscal year, which compares with $291,000 in 1952-51, it was shown in the federal film agency’s annual re¬ port, tabled in the House of Commons by Hon. Walter Harris, former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, then the NFB’s senior authority, who re¬ ceived it from A. W. Trueman, Gov¬ ernment Film Commissioner. The sum is the total value of contracts and pur¬ chases but the report doesn’t break down this expenditure, so it cannot be determined how much went for produc¬ tion and how much for services and supplies. In July Harris became Minister of Finance and he was succeeded as Min¬ ister of Citizenship and Immigration, which carries with it responsibility for the NFB, by the Hon. John J. Pickersgill, former Secretary of State. Of the money received by the Board, which was $483,918 higher than in the previous fiscal year, $112,102 was un¬ used. This, described as “sumlus” in the report, compared with $35,377 in 1951-52. Production of films cost $1,214,479. of which $78,298 was from sources other than the parliamentary vote and the cost of filmstrips was $26,216, while the production and distribution of other viisual materials came to $78,617. Cost of distribution was $1,229,204 and of equipment $115,648. The report gives the NFB's income for 1952-53 as $3,995,383 but, as in the past, this sum is made up of the amounts voted by Parliament and in¬ come from the sale and rental of the films and filmstrips produced with the voted amounts. Parliament, in separate votes, gave the NFB $2,804,131 for operations and $115,648 for equipment — a total of $2,919,779. To follow the non-government pat¬ tern one would take the amount given the NFB by Parliament and deduct the amount of sales, rentals and royalties. Sales were $908,577, rentals and royal¬ ties $153,476 and miscellaneous income $13,551 — a total of $1,075,604, which would seem to be its true income from the standpoint of a private business. Of the sales total, $730,883 was to government departments and the amount expended for the production of such films was $356,665. The rest was for filmstrips, still photos and prints. Prints cost $351,672 and materials and mis¬ cellaneous services $105,814. The report separates the figures in this way: Sales, $908,577; Less cost of Sales, $867,102; Net proceeds from Sales, $41,475. The report offers as its highlights: “The Board completed a total of 214 film projects, compared to 213 in 195152. Of these, 143 were completed films, compared to 134 in 1951-52. “The laboratory processed 12,136,711 feet of film, an increase of 13 per cent over the previous year. “The Board produced 90 filmstrips. “Theatrical bookings of NFB films in Canada and abroad totalled 25,504, compared to 18,020 in 1951-52. “Non-theatrical audiences for NFB films in Canada totalled 13,250,227 com¬ pared to 11,610,232, an increase of 14.1 per cent. “Non-theatrical audiences for NFB films in other countries totalled 11,072,210, compared to 11,111,976 the pre¬ vious year, a decrease of 0.3 per cent. “Editions of newsreels using NFB material in Canada and abroad (includ¬ ing TV) rose from 289 in 1951-52, to 514, an increase of 78 per cent. “Television bookings in Canada (eight months only) and abroad totalled 2,028, compared to 2,401 the previous year. “NFB projects won 33 honors in Canadian and international competitions during the year, among them the Holly¬ wood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ‘Oscar’ for the year’s best documentary short and the British Film Academy ‘Oscar’ for the best document¬ ary film of 1952. “Staff at the end of the fiscal year totalled 533 compared to 543 the pre¬ vious year.” 122