Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 24, 1958)

r'"™"s Christmas Number one of Canada’s leading film theatre TV figures, addressed the Shelly rilms Workshop on the question Is there a future for feature film production in Canada? and gave a strongly affirmative answer, although emphasizing that “there is no simple yes or no answer.” He concluded with a review of past and present conditions with the conclusions that ‘Motion picture films in theatres have a long and virile future” and “There is playing time available for good entertainment on theatre screens everywhere.” Development of Canadian feature production, like other creative fields, has been hampered by our proximity to the United States, which has more money to spend. While Canadian stories have been produced there “few, if any, have been able to catch and express the completely Canadian flavor.” He asserted that ‘for our own cultural self-respect we should produce theatrical films in Our own country” and went on to say: “Tf properly produced they could interpret Canadians to the world, provided, of course, that they are of suitable quality, in which event they would be shown in all parts of the world. Not only would this be a great source of employment and a help to the development of Canadian talent but the dollars earned would help our trade balance. On this basis alone it would seem that thinking Canadians would vote overwhelmingly for Canadian feature production.” | Deg N. A. Taylor, UESTION: Is Canadian fea ture film production commercially and financially feasible? Answer: In most other countries it is considered necessary for a domestic film to earn a minimum of 50 per cent of revenue in the country of origin, or perhaps even a better percentage than that. Interestingly enough, feature production in most of these countries is aided or subsidized by their own governments. Obviously we cannot expect to earn 50 per cent of the production costs of a film in Canada unless that film is freakishly successful. However, we are in a position to turn to advantage the disadvantage which has been ours of being located so close to our neighbor to the South. For practical marketing purposes a _ wellproduced Canadian film can be as good as an American picture in the United States market. : At this point it is interesting to note that almost 10 cents of every dollar returned to Holly CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Optimistic Views On Feature Film Production in Canada wood comes from Canada.” Other advantages: “We have access to all the English-speaking countries of the world.” The Canadian accent is close enough to the USA one to be without the problem some English and Australian films encounter in the American market. Canadian films have quota advantages in Britain and under certain circumstances are eligible for Eady Plan benefits which take the form of a subsidy through allocation of a percentage of the boxoffice receipts. Since there would be just a small number of productions at first, it can be reasonably assumed that foreign markets partially closed to USA and UK films would be open to Canadian ones. Certainly France and Italy would be open, since films from both those countries earn considerable sums in the Canadian market. So that we could garner the much-morethan-50 ner cent we require outside the Canadian market if our films have worthy quality and boxoffice value. UESTION: Do we have the proper equipment and Me it Season's Greetings To Everyone ELL LLL LEE ELIE IIE EGIL EEE EEL CEE EE EEE EE EEE IE EIS es ¥ CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS SARA RASA SS APA SSA RASA SARA PS BA PS SAAS SARA PR SA RAPS PE RAPA RR ¥ * FA FAPA IE PO PA PO PAPA PAPA SA PAPA PARA PAPAPAIASAPAPAPS FA Page 13 tools, as well as the necessary abilities and talents? Answer: Equipment and tools can be imported. As for talent and abilities, the film makers who have given Canada an enviable record for the creation of documentaries and other nontheatrical films could direct their talents to the feature field. It is not too much to expect “a number of very acceptable, creative people” with the ‘rare combination of experience and talent’ required for the making of feature films to emerge. “Indeed, it is possible that we may emerge with a number of outstanding ones. It may be a little difficult at first but surely our innate abilities are as good as those of other countries which have achieved some position in the motion picture world.” Canada has a large acting pool and feature film production would interfere little with the fields they work in now and should provide additional income for many. The importation of star names and key producton personnel until we have developed our own should not detract from the Made-in-Canada label. Studio space is becoming available through the growth of TV production for international syndication. ‘TAYLOR, talking about the would-be and tyro producers who have approached him, said: “I found that primarily they didn’t know what to make or what would be acceptable to the boxoffices of the world. This I consider to be the greatest drawback to potential Canadian film production today. Any would-be feature producer must surely realize that all his pent-up talent is worthless if directed along the wrong lines.” Failure to seek or take the advice of those who know marketing and boxoffice problems leads inevitably to trouble and ‘“‘sets back the establishment of a Canadian feature film industry that much further.” He foresaw a dozen lowbudget features annually, not all necessarily Canadian in content, emphasizing that “the boxoffice must be our goal at the outset.” Having proven that we can make films that will pay their way, we will then move toward our goal, which is ‘“‘to depict Canada as it really is to the peoples of the world.”’ Concluded Taylor: “When the chemistry of the right combination of knowledgability and talent is created we shall see the establishment of a feature film production industry in Canada. There are signs that a start has already been made in this direction.”