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ACTRA’S REACTION
“The only way to insure such control is for Canadian capital to put its money into the motion picture houses. You carinot control if you are afraid of taking the steps that alone will entitle you to control.”
Ironically, in that same year, Famous Players Canadian Corporation was set up — by Canadian money but controlled by Paramount Films, an American company.
In 1929, according to testimony given to a Combines investigation on Hollywood interests in Canada, Col. John Cooper testified under croosexamination that Famous Players Hays Association had paid $8,000 to kill a British quota bill being promoted in British Columbia.
In 1948 Famous Players made its celebrated deal with C.D. Howe which resulted in the ‘‘Canadian Co-operation Project’. The deal was essentially this: Canada would not stop any money earned by American films in Canada from being exported, and Hollywood would in return promote Canada by mentioning it in its films.
As Canada has steadily developed into the single most lucrative foreign market in the world for American films, no attempt has been made to ensure that a reasonable portion of the very large gross revenues paid by Canadians into the Canadian box office is recycled into the Canadian film industry.
For many years it has been apparent that popular Canadian feature films made to a sufficiently high standard can and will attract a Canadian audience. But for there to be any significant production in Canada it is essential (a) that such films have access to the Canadian audience, (b) that Canadian producers get a fair share of the gross revenues earned by such films, and (c) that sufficient funds are consistently available from a variety of sources to fund the production of such high quality popular Canadian feature films.
While the feature film business is a complex operation, there are two practical measures that taken now would help to further develop the Canadian industry:
1. Legislated quotas in each Province requiring that each commercial cinema screen devote a minimum of three to
four weeks in each year to the showing of Canadian films.
2. Levy provisions which would have the practical effect of syphoning approximately 15% of the gross receipts from the exploitation of all feature films would be paid an agreed bonus directly related to their gross earnings in Canada, and from which further Canadian feature film production could be funded.
Recent moves by the Government of Canada, and particularly actions taken by the Canadian Film Development Corporation and the Secretary of State that resulted in a so-called “voluntary quota” being assumed by the two leading foreign exhibition chains, Famous Players of Canada nad Odeon Theatres (Canada), and the
‘announcement that these two chains
were also prepared to invest at least $1.7 M. in Canadian production in the coming year, do not, we believe represent responsible steps to either,
MORE ON THE PIONEERS P F :
Lionel Lester, President of the National body. 5 ain Ay
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Larry Strick, of Vancouver, winner of a special award who was unable to present.
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